for joni mitchell

There’s an abandoned parking lot along the river path not too far from our house. It’s been unused for as long as we’ve lived in the neighborhood, as far as I can tell.

Over the last few years, I’ve noticed that saplings have started forcing their way through the seams in the pavement. Give it 50 years and maybe it’ll be a forest again. For now anyway, it’s a mossy wonderland. So at least sometimes, paving paradise doesn’t have to last, and you don’t even have to go to the “tree museum” to see ’em; good news for Joni Mitchell :-).

neighbor of the week: ready for mardi gras

You may remember this little guy (here too), who lives along the river walk to downtown. Today he’s wearing his best Mardi Gras finery.

snow!

We’ve had our biggest snow in years this week, since 2008 actually. It was 3 days of new snow every day, which I gamely swept off the side walk and porch each morning. (Not shoveled, since it snows so rarely we don’t even have a snowshovel :-)

Here’s the garden in winter — say, wasn’t that a classic 1968 movie starring Kale Hepburn and Parsely O’Toole? (sorry, couldn’t help myself!)

I didn’t get any pictures during that 2008 storm, but  I did back in 2007 when the puppies were younger and had more energy to go romping in the snow.

cabin on the mountain

With the dogs getting old, Nancy and I have to keep our vacations with them close to home and very comfy for them. So for a week at Christmas and another week for our anniversary in January, we found a rental cabin up on Mount Hood, where we could do short easy walks with the pups, and then when they were ready for a long winter’s nap we could get out for some hiking on the mountain.

Travelling in comfort — fortunately all the gear and supplies can fit in the cartop carrier.

Lots of choices for lounging . . .

. . . but it usually ends up like this eventually :-)

Wood stoves are great for drying out wet hiking boots in the evening.

Dave in his natural habitat – lost in a book.

A misty day on the mountain.

Crossing a cold mountain stream (the easy way) <— foreshadowing!

A dusting of snow, a hint of coming attractions.

Up at the snow line.

OK where are we? Good thing I brought a map!

Is this right side up?

Near the Salmon River, below Huckleberry Mountain, if you must know :-)

Uh-oh! A small river to cross but no bridge.

How convenient! A nice set of Crossing-The-River Sticks! (get it???? :-)

Nancy goes first.

This story has a happy ending – dry boots on this hike!

p.s. – I made new jigsaw puzzles from a few of these pictures.

neighbor of the week: festive beaver

There’s a bronze beaver statue in our neighborhood (previously seen here), sitting next to a small bay along the Willamette River trail. Today he seems to be ringing in the new year in a quite festive fashion! :-)

another thing you don’t see every day

Things you don’t see every day: ice on the shore of the Willamette River

senior citizens

We still call Hank and Maggie “puppies”, but it’s undeniable these days that they’re really senior citizens. At over 13 years old, they’ve slowed down a lot, and gotten a lot creakier, with poorer vision too. Walks are shorter and slower, naps are a lot longer, and they need help in climbing up steps. Still, they’re basically healthy, for which we’re grateful every day.

Maggie: who’s a good girl? I am!

Hank: nap time with my favorite toy

To help them out in getting down to the back yard, I built a ramp with a brick landing area.

Update: January 1, 2014 – the next “accessibility” accommodation I added: a fence to help keep them from accidentally walking off the deck. Even with the porch light, they still have some difficulty seeing at night.