Azalea's Turn

In the parking lot at our doctor's office ...

the azaleas are bursting with color

and whispering the secrets of Spring.

Daffodil and Deer

Jodie reminded me that today is Daffodil Day. 

I took these two pictures while at the Raptor Center with our Idaho grandkids last week. On that same outing, we saw this deer.

Precious moments.

Eugene Park Tour: Delta Ponds

It's been a few months since Dale and I visited a new-to-us park here in Eugene. I'm hoping to visit 25 this year, so I'd better get to it! I'll have to visit one or more per week to achieve that goal. I have 17 more to visit, but there are only 16 weeks left in the year!

Since it's approaching our favorite time of year, Dale and I will enjoy getting out to the parks in Autumn.

Yesterday we visited Delta Ponds. As the name suggests, these ponds nestle in the lowland delta of the Willamette River. The park is primarily a paved walking path around the untamed ponds.

It felt good to be out and about in the late morning while it was still cool. It's been in the high 80s and 90s lately.

I've heard for years that painted rock enthusiasts like to hide rocks in this park, so I brought a couple along. I didn't find any, but I left two. The first? This sailboat. It seemed like appropriate subject matter for the setting.

I hid it at the base of a park bench

that looked over a grand pond view.

Further along the path, we searched for a geocache. We found an excellent cache container under a bridge that looked a lot like this.

There's lots of wildlife to see here, including a huge hawk that was riding the air currents high above the pond, then dipping down into the water.

Returning to the car, I found a nook in a tree beside the path that begged for another painted rock.

This turtle looks right at home there.

We will return to this park, for sure, picking a different parking lot for a different view. I'll try to remember my telephoto camera lens!

Ruff Park Magnolias - 11

 Before the bloom

The Nursery

Ruff Park Magnolias - 10

Centerpiece

Ruff Park Magnolias - 9

Time to share more of that ideal morning in the magnolia garden.

Under the Canopy

Follow Our Geotrail! - Part 3

Here are the final photos from our birthday/Mother's Day geocache outing. Geocaching is the ideal sport / game for us!

A surprise along the way ... this gnome lives in a hollow tree.

Cache of the Day - a pirate themed cache! It earned a Favorite Point from me.

Cap'n Pete's Hidden Treasure

This guy hung around in the trees, guarding the treasure chest.

Jodie found a travel bug

And so did I! 

And finally, a heart charm came home with me after I exchanged some swag.

It was a lovely, lovely, lively day outside in nature with two of my favorite people in the world.

Follow Our Geotrail! - Part 2

Here are more photos of our birthday/Mother's Day geocache outing. Oregon is beautiful in the Springtime!

Flowers, flowers everywhere

Beauty blooms around the rust.

Texture on texture. Looks prickly to me.

Watch out for thorns if you want to smell a blackberry bloom.

These tall bright torch lilies (red hot pokers) were blowin' in the breeze.

To photograph the itty bity blooms, I got down on my knees.

CITO (Cache In, Trash Out)

Jodie does her bit to keep cache areas clean. 😇

Follow Our Geotrail! - Part 1

To celebrate Dale's birthday and Mother's Day for Jodie and me, we had an excellent day of geocaching. We drove out to the countryside north and west of where we live. We found 10 caches and saw lots of beautiful scenery. 

Take a look!

The scenery

Christmas tree farm. The trees look itty bitty next to the neighboring forest.

A seven layer cake of exquisite Oregon.

I'm pretty sure this is Mt. Washington ... in central Oregon. We had clear skies!

I don't often see old silos made of brick or wood.

Orchards

The Parks

We stumbled across this wildlife refuge. We'll definitely need to return to take in all it has to offer.

This is where we stopped for our picnic lunch.

Part 2 tomorrow!

Ruff Park Magnolias - 8

My dog spot

Macro Monday

Ruff Park Magnolias - 7

Fantastic fuchsia color!

Pollen Hunter

Diving in head first

#FlowersForFriday

Ruff Park Magnolias - 6

Clustered

Ruff Park Magnolias - 4

Buddies

I appreciate the black and white version, too.

Ruff Park Magnolias - 2

 Morning meditation reminder:

Look for the Small Wonders

Amen

Update: This picture won FAN PHOTO OF THE DAY in my photography group!

Sailing

 ♫  If the wind is right you can sail away and find tranquility ...  ♫

I found this painted rock under a magnolia tree at Ruff Park yesterday. 

... many magnolia photos to come.

p.s. This makes me itch to paint rocks again!

Signs of Spring: Magnolia

The magnolia tree in our neighbor's front yard is in full bloom. Magnolias are such odd ducks - all limbs with flowers hanging out at the end of each branch. No leaves at this time of year.

With all the rain we've been having, the flowers don't quite know what to do. Some are in bud.

Some are in curly full bloom.

Some are strewn on the ground like a white carpet. 

All are finding a way to survive in the rain.

When I see this tree in bloom, I know it's time to drive to the magnolia arboretum in Springfield. That sounds like a delightful outing for our upcoming Tuesday Travels.