Beyond the Fence

I went into the backyard to check on the comet. I found this.

Oregon's purple sunset. October 16, 2024

A Walk in the Park: Day Seven

In mid August Dale and I took our Tuesday Travels to another park along the edge of Fern Ridge Reservoir, just west of town. 

Zumwalt Park is maintained by Lane County and the US Army Corp of Engineers. It's quite large. It's a great place for dogs run off leash and play in the water.

We didn't find the closest parking spot, so had our lunch in an older, less-well-maintained part of the park on this crumbling, moss-covered picnic table 

under tall, tall trees. 

We walked down the path to the main part of the park where we saw clusters of picnic tables and barbecue pits under the trees. Great for group gatherings. 

Then we followed our GPS to a geocache that was extremely easy to find and a great cache for kids. I crossed the big open field 

and walked down to the lake's edge. 

What a lovely day! On the way back to the car, we got mountain views 

over fields of wetlands littered with cattails. 

This butterfly followed along.

Bathtime

We had a first today!

I was standing at the kitchen sink this morning and noticed some movement between the window blinds. For the first time, I saw a bird standing on the edge of our birdbath getting a drink of water.

Then it hopped in and took a bath. It was so enjoyable to watch it splashing around the fountain.

I took the pictures with my phone's camera propped between the window blinds, so the photos aren't very clear. But the memory is.

This gave me a much needed smile and lifted my spirits.

International EarthCache Day 2024

This weekend, Dale and I decided to participate in International EarchCache Day. For 20 years, EarthCaches have encouraged geocachers to explore and celebrate the extraordinary geologic features of our planet. EarthCaches do not have physical containers. Instead, they take you to a unique geological feature. To earn this cache, you study your surroundings, then answer the questions listed in the cache description.

We chose a close cache in an area I've been wondering about for a while. There's a rock quarry along the Willamette River just off the "Beltline" highway. I first heard about this area in a rock-painting group because there are river rocks there in many sizes that are smooth, making them excellent for painting. After a couple tries, we found our way to the river. Unfortunately, we weren't in a 4 wheel drive car, so had to get creative about parking. All the other vehicles in the area were SUVs and pick-ups. Our little VW beetle doesn't have the proper clearance to traverse the rocks.

We learned about how the river constantly carries rocks from the local mountains downriver. They get deposited here. The rocks flow when the river runs high; they get deposited as the water recedes. 

Wood snags also get deposited here under the highway.

To earn this cache, we needed to examine the various sizes of rock, gravel, and sand and take some photos. Then we were to estimate the distance from the current shoreline to the concrete freeway support there in the middle of the river. Finally, you let the cache owner how you might use these various sizes of rock around your home.

This isn't an official park in Eugene, but I've often seen folks sunning themselves, dogs splashing in the water, and people fishing.

There were lots of birds flying, singing, and dive-bombing under the bridge and at the water's edge.

An entire chorus!

On the way back to the car, I found

A heart-shaped rock, of course!

A Walk in the Park: Day Six

Mimi (me) and Papa (Dale) had the extreme pleasure of taking care of our local granddaughter for most of the day yesterday. Besides feeding and napping and bathing and playing and more feeding and napping, we got to take her for a walk. We ended up here:

Menlo Park is a small neighborhood park in the Springfield/Willamalane park system. This park is mostly an open field, but has a small playground area and a little sand pit.

Our little girl had her first ride on a slide and a whirligig, with a little help from Mimi. 

The rides actually scared her a little, so we didn't stay long. She did enjoy being outside on a nice autumn day looking all around, listening to the birds ... and trying to keep the sun out of her eyes.

A Walk in the Park: Day Five

Mangan Park is lovely. It sits in a family neighborhood close to our doctor's office. It's a local treasure.

The large play structure has lots of climbing and sliding and twirly and spinning apparatuses. 

The paved perimeter path leads to bouncy and swinging areas for little kids

and jumpy, hoppy courts for bigger kids.

The play area lies at one end of this large open field. There are plenty of picnic tables available, including some with spots for wheelchairs. 

The entire park is beautifully maintained ... except for the horseshoe area

which is in need of sprucing up.

Just Us

I like this photo taken of me and Dale yesterday. Wanted to share.

My very best guy. Love being his life partner and wife.