Blogging the Infinite Static


Sat, 08 Jul 2023

Partner's Mom passed away early this morning.




Tuesday 29 April 2025... Putzing Around at the Garden

Hawthorn blooms with some leaves of the tree

Hawthorn blooms with some leaves of the tree

I stop by the Flicker nest...

Woodpecker hole in a dead tree trunk

And I make sure I'm looking at the correct hole this time! haha!

Two Woodpecker holes in a single dead tree trunk

Oh, hey! No wonder the Bluebirds didn't use this nest box!

Squirrel standing on a nesting box attached to a wood fence

I was just thinking about all the humans walking by, but the squirrels would be a problem for a nest here as well.

We think of squirrels as just vegetarian, eating all their nuts... but like a lot of others, they will take advantage if they find a nest. Eating eggs or babies probably upsets their tummy, but the extra calories would be worth it.

bleh. I'm glad I'm vegan!

Okay. I'm at the Garden and I am going to do some weeding on the right side of the plot, in the back corner... The right side neighbor isn't around yet and I'm going to be proactive with the grass that's growing on the border. And I'll murder some of that invasive Horseradish as well, as I don't want it spreading to my plot.

Garden plot

The diagonal plot has been tilled and supposedly there's new gardeners there. Last year, that was the plot of the crazy lady who destroyed her daughter's plot, who was my left side neighbor.

The Drama! Hopefully the new people are less crazy.

Garden plot

It's too wet to do real weeding. I just yanked up what I could.

But my goal this year is to stay on top of the grass so I don't get any complaints from the Compliance Checks. I will be breaking the rules with my Borage, I will see how far I can push that, so everything else needs to be up to code.

The Drama, right? Sighs. I love Borage. And the new rules are stupid.

When I dumped the grass at the compost heap, I saw that someone had dumped their clover there! What? Why? It should be tilled in!! That's good nutrients that you've wasted!

Ha, I grabbed it for myself!

Bucket with cut clover in it

This is the the stunted tofu patch of last year! I plan to spread out that good compost dirt and then just leave this area fallow for the season while I throw as much fertilizer on it as I can!

Yeah. I'm too lazy to get the soil tested to see what it actually needs! (Yep, and I'm too lazy to till it in, too! ha.)

Garden plot with cut clover spread out

I briefly admire the Strawberries coming on.

Strawberry blooms

And I still have time for a longer walk, so I head out of the Garden!

A tiny beetle on a Red Osier bloom

Goldfinch standing on a twig with grey sky behind

Haha! Testing for a new colour! But those are huge colour swatches!

Side of an apartment building with swatches of blues, greys and greens painted

American Crows standing in a dead tree with grey sky behind them

Nutria swimming near the bank with many sticks behind him

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Monday 28 April 2025... New Leaning Trees!!!

White puffy clouds and a blue sky

Oh! The first ducklings at this end of the creek!

Mama Mallard and three ducklings at the bank of the creek

But arg, I don't get any good pics. SIGHS.

There's three babies here... more interested in exploring the world than getting their photo taken!

Three ducklings paddling near the bank of the creek

Well. This is just the beginning of ducklings, so I will get many more chances to get cute pics!

Duckling paddling near the bank of the creek

I desperately want to check on the Flicker nest that I found yesterday... but as I'm walking by, suddenly there are stupid humans all over the place. Gah! Go Away!

*laughs* I do manage this one photo, in between the invasive humans...

Old Flicker hole in dead tree trunk, surrounded by leaves

But, haha! This is not the nest! This is an old hole on the same trunk!

I didn't realize it at the time, but there are actually three Flicker holes on this same dead tree trunk! The new and active hole is the middle one.

But I can tell, even with all the humans walking by, that it's all quiet today. As it should be, if the parents have laid some eggs!!

Walking on. I've got some kitchen scraps that I'm dropping off in the garden plot to compost, and have a quick look around.

The big Strawberry plant has survived the winter, but the volunteer Fava that was growing over it, is just a dead stick now.

Strawberry plant growing past dead leaves

I'm really disappointed that most all of the cover crop Fava has died. And I move the leaves around, but it looks like ALL the freebie Strawberries that I planted in the fall, have died as well. Wai!

But the one Strawberry that I bought seems to be strong. There's a little Strawberry in the making!

Strawberry bloom surrounded by green leaves of the plant

So I guess I must content myself with that.

I get back to my walk along the creek... The minnows are back!

blurry minnows swimming in water

ha. I should get a filter for the camera to make it easier to see them! They are so cute and I love to watch them!

I'm making my way at the back of the Events Center... hmm, what's going on?

Men and a pickup in the distance

OH MY GOSH!!! They are planting trees!! Right where the Leaning Tree used to be!!

Men planting saplings

I walk past, but can't help having a little cry...

I'm mourning the Leaning Tree in a new way with these replacement trees and I am so devastated.

...

But I'm also excited ... thrilled! To start my relationship with these three newbies! I love them already! Three little sapling baby trees!

Their tiny trunks are straight up right now... but maybe they will lean in the future. Maybe. :)

I hope they will outlive me.

Despite climate change, I hope they will live.

But this makes me mourn again.

Sighs.

And when I come around the corner I'm so distracted thinking about the trees I walk right on by the Bees! Ha! I come back to look at them!

Honey bees going in and out of a hole in a tree

Close up of Honey Bees going in and out of a hole in a tree trunk

Close up of Honey Bees going in and out of a hole in a tree trunk

Light purple Wallflowers in front of California Poppies

We've got a new flower in the little wildflower Hell Strip... I think it's some kind of Coreopsis!

Yellow and white Coreopsis bloom in front of other wildflowers

Baby Blue Eye blooms

They've got Sweet Peas blooming at the Solidarity Garden... which is a bad idea, in my opinion. I'm not sure everyone understands that Sweet Peas are toxic!

Purple Sweet Pea blooms

I walk past the Events Center again on the way back. Before, they had been placing posts around the saplings, and now they are wrapped with fencing to protect them from beavers, deers and the lawn mower!!

Dandelion seed head, growing in the grass, and bloom in the background

American Crow standing in a tree

American Crow looking down from her perch in a tree

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Sunday 27 April 2025... I Found a Nest!!!

Oh, your poor ragged fur!

Squirrel standing on the ground

I hope he's just shedding out his coat, rather than mange or something! Must be uncomfortably cold in the meantime.

Purple and pink Columbine blooms with grey sky

*laughs* Their white eyelids amuse me.

Three male Mallards napping with beaks tucked under their wing

Oh wow... a big dent has been taken out of the compost pile at the Community Garden. I had gotten the first loads on Friday, and now two days later...

Pile of dirt in a community garden

Salsify blooms in the grass

Salsify! (Pronounced Sal-suh-Fee... sal like sally, NOT like salsa!)

You can eat the root of these flowers, and I'm always vaguely interested in growing some in the garden plot. Maybe later I will gather some seeds!

Close up of a purple Salsify bloom

Camas Lily blooms in front of light reflecting from the water of the creek

Delicate pink Rose bloom and green leaves in front of a wood fence

Haha! I went around this way to get photos of the Wisteria blooms... but they are all on the other side of the fence. Oh well. But isn't the trunk of the vine interesting!

Thick Wisteria vine, wound around a chain link fence

Thick Wisteria vines wound around a chain link fence

Yeah, Wisteria gets pretty invasive here!

Wisteria flowers on the other side of a chain link fence

I'm heading home, but I stop when I hear some very excited Wika, Wika, Wika! I look up and search the branches... Oh My GOSH!!

Northern Flicker peeking out of a hole in a tree trunk

This is a female Northern Flicker, and she's shouting her joy with her mate! They must have just finished carving out their nest!!

Female Flicker yelling from her nest hole in a tree

Flicker hidden deeper in her nest hole

The hole looks pretty snug...

Flicker looking from her nest hole

but look how perfectly it fits her body!!

Flicker standing in her nest hole

And the male is bouncing around so quickly, I can hardly catch him!

Northern Flicker standing on the side of a tree trunk

Male Northern Flicker standing on a stump of a tree branch

Male Northern Flicker up in a tree

Female Flicker in her nest hole

Female Flicker looking out from her nest hole

Totally Exciting!! I can't wait to see what happens next! *grins*

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Saturday 26 April 2025... Saturday Market and River

Okay, this time I've got the car and I'm definitely going to Saturday Market!

I go to my farmer's stall and pick out some veggie starts: Sugar Snap Peas, Lettuce, Beets and a Ring of Fire Sunflower.

They've raised their prices again this year and now the bigger pots are 4.50$. Yikes, it adds up quickly! But I am happy to support a local business and awesome people!!

I wander thru the Farmers Market and Saturday Market. It's fun to see all the offerings. I get back to the car and I won't be going to the Community Garden to plant anything today... especially not Snap Peas or Lettuce! The slugs would eat them right up.

The day is overcast and cool and the veggie starts will be okay in the car for a while. I'm heading for the river for a walk!

Pink Saucer Magnolia bloom on a mossy tree

I've parked at the Rose Garden. It's too early for most of the roses, tho there are these pink ones blooming in the heritage section. The petals are unfurling in a cool way!

Pink rose blooms surrounded by green leaves

Massive Cherry tree and a green lawn

Western Grey Squirrel standing in the grass next to a rose bush

Bleeding Heart blooms

Close up of the massive Cherry Trees trunk

No Ospreys at the platform nest.

Grass growing in the Osprey platform nest in the distance

Oh, this is cool! A Pacific Dogwood!

Pacific Dogwood bloom on a tree

The Pacific Dogwood is of course native to the Pacific Northwest of the US and Canada, and you can tell it's closely related to Flowering Dogwood which is native on the eastern side of the US... But Pacific Dogwood has 4 to 8 bracts on their flowers, mostly six but it seems to be kind of random, where Flowering Dogwood just have four.

And here is one of the ends of the green 420 line that goes thru Eugene. This is RiverPlay and the trees in the background are part of Skinner Butte.

Green line on the path with a slide playground equipment

The Downtown Riverfront Park.

Art pavilion and heron statue in front of the river

Chrome Great Blue Heron statue in front of the river with trees on the far bank

A Bald Eagle was yelling from this nest, having returned for another year!

Looking up at sticks in a tree

There was a guy with a long lens, but he was just waiting for a potiential shot... I looked from all the angles and the Bald Eagle could not be seen! haha!

I'm getting back to the Rose Garden.

True fir trees

Park bench past some purple Iris blooms

Purple Iris blooms

I don't know what these pink flowers are.

Pink flowers

Forget Me Not blooms with purple Spanish Bluebells and the unknown pink flowers

Close up of Forget Me Not blooms

Purple Rhododendron blooms with blurry Forget Me Not blooms behind them

I live in such a beautiful place and I'm so happy that we invest so much love and money into our local parks!!

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Friday 25 April 2025... Odds and Ends and Garden Work!

I am tackling the Porch Room for my Tiny Cleans. and today I moved the plant shelf so that I can get to the blinds and the floor and the wall and all.

The new configuration makes me feel a little overwhelmed. The plant shelf is blocking the porch door and there's just so much to be done.

But the Tiny Cleans keep getting done and building up!

Hawthorn buds on the tree surrounded by green leaves

clumps of Hawthorn blooms on the tree, surrounded by green leaves

It's cloudy today and the forecast says 30% rain after 3pm. Hm. Can I trust that?

Nope. With the camera, if there's even the tiniest chance of rain I take the rain jacket to protect it.

But it's too warm to actually wear it, so I stuff it in the small backpack and take that. It's kind of a pain... but it turns out it was a good thing!

Camas Lily blooms in a field of grass

Close up of some of the Camas Lily blooms

Seven Spot Ladybuy standing on a Camas Lily blossom

The Seven Spot Ladybugs love Camas Lilies, I'm not sure why. And they're never very cooperative with the photography either! *laughs*

Two Seven Spot Ladybugs on Camas Lily blossoms

Close up of Camas Lily blossoms

Great Blue Heron flying by the top of a fir tree

And the yellow flowers are our native Western Buttercups.

Camas Lily bloom in the grass with yellow flowers in the background

Okay! Moving on!

And when I pass the Community Garden...

Pile of dirt on the other side of a wire and wood fence

Ah! The free compost from Love Food Not Waste has arrived! There's enough for each plot to get four wheelbarrow loads.

I walk on by... but I'm thinking!

Tulip bloom with Spanish Bluebells

It's Friday... so there are going to be a ton of gardeners there tomorrow. Ugh. Maybe even so many gardeners that it will be difficult to get a wheelbarrow and shovel. There are only so many.

But right now, there's just a handful of people!

Pink and yellow Tulip blooms with Spanish Bluebells in the background

And I'm pretty sure the garden gloves are in the backpack, under the rain jacket. That's all I need to haul my four wheelbarrow loads. Lucky thing I brought the backpack!!

Yeah. Let's get this done! I make a loop and head back to the Community Garden!

When I get inside, I drop off my bag at my plot and dig out the gloves. Kevin, our volunteer Site Coordinator is wandering around and I chat with him for a moment.

I ask him if he thinks I can handle a full wheelbarrow load of the compost. He gives me a look that says Huh? and I clarify, how heavy is it going to be.

He gets it and tells me the compost is surprisingly dry. But if I need to, I can estimate with half wheelbarrow loads.

Nods. I get to work!

Wheelbarrow load of dirt dumped in a garden plot covered with leaves

This is heavy. A full wheelbarrow is right on the edge of my capability... I don't have far to push it, but going thru the lumpy grass along the path takes some serious work!

I get my fair share of four loads. And I'm glad it's not 5 or 6 loads!

By the time I'm done, there's fewer people in the garden and I walk a couple aisles to look at stuff.

Crimson Clover blooms

Here's a Seven Spot who is more cooperative with the photography! Thank you, my dear!

Seven Spot Ladybug standing on a furry leave

And these Pansies are unusual with the green on their petals!

White and purple Petunia blooms

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Thursday 24 April 2025... Stewart Pond

Pink, double petal tulips blooming next to a Prickly Pear

Deep pink, fringed tulip bloom with orange blooms in the background

Orange Tabby squinting in the sun

Flame Point Siamese Cat laying on a wood fence

oh foo. Little bird didn't stick around for decent photography.

Lesser Goldfinch standing on a twig in front of green leaves

oh foo some more.

Chickadee hanging from a blooming willow branch

Hello? Excuse me? Any chance you could look at the camera?

Chickadee behind willow blossoms

You're busy?

Chickadee flutters her wings behind willow blossoms

Oh. sighs. Okay.

Chickadee standing on a willow twig, looking away

The ponds are starting to dry out and the only bird I see today is a single Killdeer.

Killdeer walking in mud

Killdeer grabbing a bug from the mud

There is a huge patch of Camas Lilies blooming!

Camas Lilies blooming in the grass

The native people here, Kalapuyans, cultivated Camas Lilies for the super sweet bulb.

Camas Lily bloom with other blooms in the distance

Seven Spot Lady bug standing on a Camas bloom

Snowberry blooms on a twig with green leaves

Book Cover, Symes Letter Writer

Aw! This is nice! Article at NPR.

The delightfully analog art of letter-writing

The book looks interesting as well... Syme's Letter Writer: A Guide to Modern Correspondence About (Almost) Every Imaginable Subject of Daily Life

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Wednesday 23 April 2025... Today with a Green Line

I was able to keep the bedroom window cracked about one inch last night, all thru the night. *laughs* Chilly, but it's so nice to have to cold air streaming down while I am tucked under the winter quilts!

And the sun shines and it's warmed up to 54° (12°C) by the time I get going... The forecast says the high will be 69°, which is uncomfortably over the normal of 63°.

Apple blossoms in front of a blue sky

Apple blossoms on the tree with green leaves

Ha! I stop to talk to this pair and the sweet girl is just calmly walking toward me.

Pair of Mallards on the path

*laughs* I have no treats for you, my dear!

Pair of Mallards stepping off the path into the grass

Hawthorn blossoms on the tree

Hawthorn blossoms on the tree

Honey Bee on a Baby Blue Eye bloom

Fivespot blooms

Orange Wallflower blooms

Fivespot blooms with some Baby Blue Eye blooms

Such a pretty little patch of wildflowers. But Look! The Green Line has been repainted!

Spray painted green line along a sidewalk

This is the contour line that is at 420feet above sea level! Just a fun, quirky Eugene Thing!

Spray painted green line along sidewalks and streets in a neighborhood

It meanders thru downtown Eugene. I know where it begins and ends but haven't ever followed the middle of the line.

Spanish Bluebells with Forget Me Nots and orange Rhododendrons in the background

Spanish Bluebells with Forget Me Nots and orange Rhododendrons in the background

My brain said: The wind made that bit of trash look like a mouse!

Silhouette of a mouse in the shadows

*laughs*

Blurry Mouse standing in the shadows

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Tuesday 22 April 2025... Stewart Pond

It's a lovely day. And the ornamental Cherry blossoms are starting to fall apart... the petals gather in drifts like pink snow.

a paved path thru a park with cherry trees shading

This flower bed isn't as bright as it was the other day, but it still has beauty.

Purple Tulip blooms and Spanish Bluebells

Oh... the photos don't do justice to these tangerine coloured Poppies.

Bright orange and white Breadseed Poppies

With a mention of orange opium poppies google found this interesting post for me to read!

Bleeding a Poppy

Closeup of a bright orange and white Opium Poppy

Pink Dogwood blooms with yellow Tulips below

First ducklings at the creek! But, aw foo, I only caught a glimpse thru a thicket of Willows and they paddled after Mama too quickly.

Open pinecone hanging from a tree with pine needles in the background

There are still some big puddles at the Ponds... it's been ten days since the last rain. Apr11 we had 0.08 inch.

Shallow pond in the grass with trees in the background

And there are Swallows swooping above, going after the bugs! I don't get any photos, sadly, and I'm not sure if they are Violet Green Swallows or Tree Swallows.

Still plenty of water in the ponds on the south side of the street!

Shallow pond in the grass with trees overhead

But eventually this will all dry out to the summer prairie phase of Wet Prairie.

It really is so beautiful out here.

Pond in the grass with trees in the background

I get into the little patch of forest, and I'm listening to the birds singing... and I totally trip over the damn root in the path AGAIN!

Path thru the forest

*laughs* I mark it with a stick, again. sheesh!

At the back of the park, there's a mixed flock of sparrows. White Crowns and Golden Crowns.

Sparrows standing in the grass

But they don't let me get close enough for decent pictures. Oh well.

Blurry White Crown Sparrow standing in the grass

Scrub Jay standing up in a bare tree with blue sky behind her

They are doing construction on the other side of the creek.

digging machine, past the trees of the creek

how sad.

Digging machine and trees past an orange fence

Bright pink Rhododendron blooms and leaves

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Monday 21 April 2025... Garden

It's chilly. I had to close the windows yesterday afternoon, and they stayed closed all night. I think about wearing a heavy shirt for my walk today.

I'm just taking kitchen scraps out to the garden to dump as compost in my plot. And when I get here, ah! No other humans! So I have a walk about!

Pink Tulip blooms in front of a raised garden bed

There's signs that humans have been working, all over the place.

Raised garden beds

Looks fancy, huh? But it makes me *roll my eyes* big time! And that black plastic is so cringe.

Purple and white Pansy blooms in a pot

And here's my boring old plot! Volunteer Elephant Garlics.

garden plot covered with dead leaves

Oh NO YOU DON'T!!

Comfrey leaves poking up

That grassy stuff is what's left of the Crocuses. But those other leaves are Comfrey, which I've been trying to murder for a while.

I dug them up, but I couldn't get deep enough to find the root that they are springing from.

Violet blooms

Cool leaves

Squirrel sitting on a wood fence

I walk a bit after leaving the garden and find a new patch of Camas Lilies!

a path thru the grass with flowers and a tree and a wood fence to the left

Camas Lily blooms in front of a wood fence

Close up of a Camas Lily bloom with more blooms in the background

Camas Lily blooms

Camas Lily blooms in front of a wood fence

I know. I'm such a sucker for the flowers!

Pink tulip blooms with some orange tulips

Pink tulip blooms with some Camas Lily blooms

The Unknown Fruit...

Flat, red leathery looking fruit hanging from a tree

This angle makes it look plumper than it actually is... but it's very flat. I wonder if there's a seed in it. Or a pit, I guess?

There are definitely not so many fruits on the tree now, so it's being eaten by the wildlife. And it's been a week since I sent an email to the extension office asking about it. They've not replied.

IDK, maybe they don't take questions from the public. That's a bummer. Because I keep asking google, and I keep finding nothing!

Trees with spring colours

I know, more stupid Camas Lilies... :)

Camas Lily blooms in a field with yellow flowers and trees in the distance

Most of the yellow flowers in this wet prairie are our native Western Buttercup. But this is a patch of some kind of invasive, it looks like dill.

Dill flowers and leaves

Okay. I got kind of carried away with all the photography today! *laughs*

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Monday 12 May 2025... Safe House

This resonated with me.

Short: Parkrose Permaculture... How do I tell certain people My House Is Safe?

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Sunday 20 April 2025... Sunday Stroll

With the usual flowers!

Pansy blooms in many colours

Yellow Pansies in front of purple blooms and red violet blooms

Purple Pansies in front of many different coloured blooms

Light blue Pansies in front of red violet blooms

Light blue Pansies in front of purple blooms

Red Violet Pansy blooms

Aren't they all lovely! But these are lovely in a different way!

Three white Tulip blooms on a forest floor

White Tulip bloom in front of red and yellow striped Tulips

Pink Rhododendron blooms and blue sky

Striped white and red violet Tulips in front of Spanish Bluebells

Striped white and purple tulips

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Saturday 19 April 2025... River

I was going to drive out to Saturday Market and buy some veggie starts for the garden.

I usually start the garden with the first Saturday Market of the year. Which was Apr5. But there's been so much rain over the winter and spring, the garden is still mud.

I can't plant anything in that. The slugs will just eat it!

And thinking about it, as I head out the door with the car keys... I spontaneously decide to drive out to the river instead. I'll worry about the garden another time.

looking across the river at the trees on the other side

Ah. It's been ages since I've been out here.

I haven't wanted to drive the car, and it's almost an hour by bus to get here. So I've not been coming out.

I've missed it terribly, tho.

Two Canada Geese paddling on the water with five goslings

I wasn't expecting the goslings!

Canada Goose paddling in the water, followed by two goslings

Two turtles sunning on a branch emerging from the lake

And here's another Canada Goose family!

Two Canada Geese paddling on the water with three goslings between them

They are so cute!

Three goslings paddling on the water

And their little feet!

Canada Goose gosling paddling in the water, their feet trailing behind them

And so fluffy!

Two goslings paddling on the water

Three Canada Goose goslings paddling between their parents

Three goslings paddling on the water

Moving on. At the other end of the ponds there's birds twittering in the bit of forest, a robin in the distance saying Cheery! Cheerily!. A Downy Woodpecker taps at the top of a snag. A Scrub Jay turns over leaves, looking for a snack on the forest floor. A Turkey Vulture soars overhead. And a Stellar Jay bounces around with their partner.

Silhouette of a Stellar Jay standing on a branch with bright sun lit leaves

Past the ponds, I'm at the river again. Some domesticated geese are preening happily... escaped from their terrible fate with humans and free in the wild.

Five Greylag Geese preening on the grass

A white domesticated Graylag goose preening on the grass

This beautiful place on the river is my turn around point today.

Looking across the river at the trees on the other side

And back at the ponds, three species on a log...

Tiny Turtle, damselfly and a duck standing on a log

A tiny Turtle and a Damselfly!

Turtle and a Damselfly standing on a log

The three baby family has moved up to the bank.

Canada Geese parents with three babies sitting and standing on the bank over the pond

Canada Goose parent with baby on the bank

As I go back across the walking bridge, there are swallows swooping.

Looking down at the silhouette of a swallow flying over the water

In the past, Tree Swallows swoop here... but these birds are a dull brown colour, not the blue of Tree Swallows.

Looking down at a swallow flying over the water

Oh! That flash of white from the forehead... They are Cliff Swallows!

Cliff Swallow swooping up

And it looks like they've got a place to hang out under the bridge.

Looking down from a bridge at silhouettes of swallows flying over the water

I wonder if they will nest there!

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Friday 18 April 2025... Up Hidden Trail with Turkeys and Deers

Red violet Wallflower blooms

Striped red and white tulip bloom surrounded by leaves of a tree and Spanish Bluebells

oops... that stupid car in my shot is actually the owner backing into their driveway. ha.

Striped yellow and red tulip surrounded by other flowers, a blue car in the corner

I run away :) and look for the next set of tulips to photo!

Orange tulip bloom with Forget Me Nots in the background

Orange Tulips and Forget Me Not blooms

Yellow and orange Tulips surrounded by Forget Me Nots

Purple Oregon Iris bloom

Rude!

Dark grey cat with a collar, sitting in front of a fir tree, looking away

Western Grey Squirrel sitting on a paved path in a forest

Also Rude!

Towhee standing on a branch among green leaves

I gave up with the Towhee and I realized a lady with a dog was waiting for me! When I turned she asked, Can we go by? Oh, yes! I figured you saw something.

I laughed and said, There is a Towhee in there, I pause and note the Towhee is still singing, but there's branches in the way! She replies, Damn Trees! BAHAHA!!

Fawn Lily blooms on the forest floor with ferns

Forget Me Not blooms

Three Wild Turkeys walking next to a path

Wild Turkey walking in the grass

Black Tail Deer walking down a hill

Three Black Tail Deers standing next to a road

Here's the fourth!

Four Black Tail Deers along a road

They make their way across the street and head up the hill. And I continue on my way down the hill.

Fawn Lily bloom

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Thursday 17 April 2025... Today

*laughs* This one was right outside my bedroom window...

Squirrel climbing down a tree trunk

I don't think he's Mr Unnamed, I think this is someone new.

I head out the door for my walk...

Trees in the distance

But as I'm looking at the trees on the hill, I also see the camera battery is flashing red! Oh crud! I didn't notice the power was getting low!

And then one of my bike path people stops to chat with me! ha, she wonders what I'm taking photos of... Oh, just the trees in the distance, all their spring colours!

She went on to say there used to be Quails who lived here. They used to not mow the berm and you could hear them in the grass, with their cute Quail voices, talking to each other.

It's a little sad to learn of the wildlifes who don't live here anymore. Just like the lady who told me about the Green Herons who nested near one of the bridges along the bike path. Until they built the medical clinic that's there now.

Sighs.

And then I just kept running into more of my bike path people... The lady with the black pug, who used to also have a little white dog. Then Eric waved as he went by on his bike. The lady on the recumbant bike. And then the dog Petunia and her human.

*laughs*

Two Crows perched in a fir tree

Female Bluebird standing on a wood fence

I guess these two are still thinking about using this nesting box at the Community Garden. It's not a great place... Humans will be here in droves before too long, working their garden plots.

Bluebird at a nesting box attached to a wood fence

Tho of course _I_ would Love for them to nest here! Bluebird fledglings are the cutest!

Bluebird fluttering his wings to look into a nesting box

But back to the camera that's running out of energy. There's usually about four or five minutes left, once the icon starts flashing. And I think if I can snap a few photos quickly so the camera doesn't warm up too much, I can maybe get some more shots before it dies.

Camas Lilies blooming in the grass

And I really should save the energy for any birds who I run into or other unexpected wildlife... I shouldn't waste energy on these flowers which will still be here tomorrow!

Camas Lily blooms

*Laughs* I can't help it!

Camas Lily Blooms

Camas Lily blooms

Oh, Hello!

Great Blue Heron walking in shallow water in the creek

Great Blue Heron walking in shallow water

Great Blue Heron looking into a pile of dead branches, hunting

A red columbine! I am just too much of a sucker for the pretty flowers!

Red Columbine bloom

Red Columbine bloom

And the camera keeps going!

Red Columbine bloom with a dandelion seed attached to it

Two red Columbine blooms in front of a wood fence

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Wednesday 16 April 2025... Todays Walk

Pink, double petal Cherry blossoms with more blossoms and blue sky in the background

Close up of pink, double petal Cherry blossoms with more blossoms and blue sky in the background

Scrub Jay standing in the grass, looking slightly away

oh, dang it! That blur is the Bluebird who must still be thinking about using this nesting box!

Blurry Bluebird standing on a wood fence next to a blurry nesting box

Roly Poly, not a bug! They are crustaceans! They have gills! When they roll up, it's called Conglobation! ha! Fun little creatures! I love them!

Close up of a Roly Poly walking on the sidewalk

More of these weird fruits...

Weird red fruits hanging from the tree

I've not heard back from my email to the local extension office, yet. I figure I will give them a week and then try again.

Dark purple Lilac blooms with leaves and blue sky

Apple Blossoms surrounded by leaves on the tree

Apple Blossoms surrounded by leaves on the tree

Aw! There's a pair of Golden Crown Sparrows bouncing around!

Two Golden Crown Sparrows standing on the ground next to the root of a tree

Golden Crown Sparrow standing on the ground with pine cones

They have a ways to fly before they get a nest going... Golden Crowns migrate north to Canada and Alaska! But it's sweet to see them pair up here!

Golden Crown Sparrow standing on the ground

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Tuesday 15 April 2025... Stewart Pond Continued

There's a wet prairie pond on the other side of the street, just before the park parking lot... It's looking lovely today as well!

Pond with trees and grass and geese in the distance

There's a pair of Canada Geese here, and that's a Northern Shoveler. There's other smaller ducks back there, too, but I can't tell who they are.

Grassy pond with Canada Geese and a duck paddling past a tree

As I walk into the little patch of forest, I hear Wika, wika, wika of woodpeckers talking to each other! That's exciting! Who could it be?

The pair are bouncing around like crazy birds, and finally I get a glimpse.

Acorn Woodpecker standing on a tree trunk

Ha! Acorn Woodpeckers! Here?

Yep, definitely!

Acorn Woodpecker standing behind a branch stump, holding something in her beak

Here's the male.

Male Acorn Woodpecker hanging from the side of a tree trunk

And the female.

Female Acorn Woodpecker hanging from the side of a tree trunk

Unfortunately they stay a bit too far away for decent photography.

Acorn Woodpecker hanging from the side of a tree trunk in a forest

That's okay, it's awesome to see them here!

They are obviously looking for a place to raise a family. And Acorn Woodpecker's families are big and complicated!! They are just a pair right now, but a family group can have up to three females, seven males, plus possibly the kids from last year! All taking care of babies in a single nest!

They are fascinating creatures!!

But this pair won't be staying here. There are lots of oak trees making acorns for them here. But Acorn Woodpeckers use dead Douglas Fir trees as their granery trees. And there are no fir trees at all here, let alone nice soft dead ones.

I'm definitely wishing them luck on their search for a territory!

Acorn Woodpecker hanging from a bent tree trunk

Oh, you found somebody to eat?

Golden Crown Sparrow with a worm in her beak, standing on a thin branch

Golden Crown Sparrow with a worm in her beak

Golden Crown Sparrow with just the tip of the worm coming out of her beak

Golden Crown Sparrow looking over her back from a twig

And I've spotted more flowers on the way home!

Pink and yellow tulip blooms with white tulips

Pink and yellow tulip blooms with white tulips

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Tuesday 15 April 2025... Stewart Pond and a Beautiful Day! Part 1 of 2.

Aw, look at this cute little glade! Doesn't it look peaceful and lovely.

Trees surrounding a patch of purple Spanish Bluebells

The purple is Spanish Bluebells.

Spanish Bluebell blooms

Red Tulip blooms in front of purple Spanish Bluebells

Wow, I caught this flower bed at it's most colourful!

Tulip blooms in different colours

Orange and Yellow Tulip blooms in a flower bed

Different coloured Tulip blooms in a flower bed

And here's another beautiful display!

Orange Tulips blooming in a flower bed the shade, some catching the light

All different colours of Tulip blooms in a flower bed

Blooming tulips in flower bed

Just making sure everyone knows that I LOVE bright colours!! *laughs*

Looking down at blooming tulips

Okay... moving on! Hello My Dear!

Downy Woodpecker on the side of a tree trunk

*laughs* oops!

Blurry Great Blue Heron behind some budding branches

Great Blue Heron at the edge of the creek

Finally arrived at the ponds!

Far off Great Blue Heron walking in a shallow pond with trees in the background

I don't see Herons out here very often, but this one found someone to eat as I was watching! I missed the catch, unfortunately.

Great Blue Heron standing in the grass

There was someone else hunting here today...

Long Bill Dowitcher walking in shallow water

I don't see shore birds very often and I'm terrible at identifying them. I studied this helpful page: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife: Shore Birds and I think this might be a Long Billed Dowitcher still in their winter feathers.

But don't quote me on that! ha!

I'm heading for the little patch of forest, but stop to admire the view before going on.

Grassy pond with trees in the background

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Monday 14 April 2025... Walk with Fruit Tree Blossoms and Birds!

Apple Tree Blossom

Downy Woodpecker on the side of a tree trunk

Oh! Female Anna Hummingbird!!

Female Anna Hummingbird standing on a twig with blue sky

I hardly get to see the girls, since they are quieter and don't draw attention to themselves like the males do!

Female Anna Hummingbird standing on a twig with blue sky

And Look! I've found another Not Cherry Tree with the weird fruits. Exactly like the other one, these flat, bright red, leathery looking things.

Red fruits hanging from a tree

Google is still not helping... maybe some kind of Plum? But there's nothing with these flattened fruits!

Red fruit hanging from the tree

So maybe both trees have a disease that's deforming their fruits? The two trees are a bit more than a mile apart.

I'm just not figuring it out... and I kind of wonder if I'm missing something obvious! *laughs*

... I wonder who I can ask. Maybe the University Extension Office.

Yep! I've sent an email with these two photos of the weird fruits to the local University Extension Office! Let's see what they say!!

Anyway! Back to my walk!

Lilac blooms and a blue sky

White Lilac blooms in front of the blue sky

The Honey Bees are still here and I'm glad!

European Honey Bees going in and out of a hole in a tree trunk

There's fewer Bees flying around now. They are settling into their new home!

Honey Bees moving in and out of a hole in a tree trunk

Oh, these are different!

Five Spot Flower blooms

They are called Five Spot Flowers and they are native to California!

I love it when the name is so descriptive!! :)

Close up of two Five Spot blooms

aw, bummer. Someone planted Lettuce at the Solidarity Garden and the stupid hot sun has wilted them!

Wilted Lettuce plants in a garden bed

There's some Beets there too. Will they live? It's not looking good.

Here's another fruit tree that I don't know... It's right outside the dog park near the Solidarity Garden, and growing with, entwined in an Apple tree.

Pink fruit tree blossoms

(Or I assume they are separate trees... It is entirely possible that this could be another grafted tree! haha! I will have to look more closely at the branches and trunks!)

I think last year I got to look at the fruits but never got around to IDing them.

Pink fruit tree blossoms and leaves in a dark, shaded part of the tree

Keeping a variety of Bees happy!

Bumblebee and Honey Bee flying over pink fruit tree blossoms

Grape Hyacinth blooms and Dandelion blooms in the grass

Walking by the Community Garden... are we thinking about using this nesting box? :)

Bluebird looking in a nesting box

You're not sure?

Male Bluebird standing on a wood fence with green in the background

You're not sure, either?

Female Bluebird standing on a wood fence with blue sky behind her

hmm.

And the Apple Tree right outside the Garden.

Apple blossoms on the tree with blue sky peeking thru

Apple Blossoms on the tree

Well. That was a lot of photography for the day! But everything is so beautiful!

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Sunday 4 May 2025... Eugene Vegan Fest

Partner saw the ad in the Eugene Weekly last week and really wanted to take me to the very first Eugene VeganFest!

Eugene VeganFest poster

I looked it up and I wasn't sure... 10$/person just to get in the door, was too spendy for me. What if it was too crowded and I wanted to leave right away?

But Partner was saying, oh they just want to make sure the bills are paid! And if this one is successful, the VeganFest will be bigger next year, and maybe it'll only be 5$. And yeah, it's important to support good things like this!

So we went. I didn't take the camera, I get so self-conscious taking photos around humans and I just didn't want to deal with it. But I missed having the camera, once I was there! ha.

It was fun. Pretty crowded, mostly you could move around but sometimes it was about the same as a Saturday Market.

We went thru the building and looked at all the different Vendors. There was some art, some sanctuaries, some places giving out food samples. Just all kinds of stuff.

Out back there were some food trucks. We should have gotten some lunch, but the line was long on the one that Partner said was the best.

And then they also had some presentations as well, in the other building, which we didn't check out.

One of the vendors was Cottage Crafts by Erika who had cute little amigurumis... Crocheted stuffed animals. I loved her little Triceratops, but Loved her adorable Axolotls even more! I nabbed a green and purple one!! (I'll post a photo at some point!)

And Partner bought a chocolate bar! They had samples... very very tasty!!

So it was good. And I'm glad we went!

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Sunday 13 April 2025... The New Sunday Stroll with Pansies

looking up at pink Columbine bloom and buds with a white tin wall in the background

This is the third time I've walked this way... and the first time with sunshine!

Pansies and Tulips in a flower bed

I think these almost light blue ones are my favorite.

Pale purple Pansy blooms

Purple and Yellow Pansy blooms

Purple Pansy blooms

Purple and Yellow Pansy blooms

But all the colours together is delightful!

Tulip blooms over the Pansy blooms

And then there's a little quiet spot, right before going thru the neighborhood.

Pink and red Tulip blooms near a tree stump, in front of grass and a wood fence

White Tulip budding out

Daffodil blooms in the shade of trees

Pink Saucer Magnolia blooms against the blue sky

Purple and White Tulips with Narcissus blooms in the background

Tulips of all colours with some Spanish Bluebells

And this is that grafted Cherry tree that I was talking about the other day...

Ornamental Pink Cherry blossoms with White Sweet Cherry blossoms

The tree is the ornamental pink, double petal Cherry blossoms on the left. And then the white Sweet Cherry blossoms are on a branch that's grafted onto the pink!

Pink Cherry Blossoms and White Cherry Blossoms

Ordinarily, the white Cherry blossoms bloom very early and are quite done by the time the pink, double petal blossoms come along! But these bloom together!

Pink Cherry Blossoms and White Cherry Blossoms

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Saturday 12 April 2025... Library Used Book Sale!!

Oh yeah! I'm heading to the Events Center for the annual Friends of the Library Book Sale!

Books are just 2$ and I'm taking my small backpack so I don't go overboard!

Plus the fact that I'm walking to the Events Center which is two miles away... I HAVE gotten used to carrying a heavy pack, since I've been hauling mud and invasives home from the Community Garden...

But no! That is not the attitude I am going with! Just a FEW books! Not a lot!

*Laughs*

It is a lovely day! Last year, it was sprinkling.

Sky of white puffy clouds over the hill and trees

Trees on the hill

Female Green Wing Teal paddling on the water
Male Green Wing Teal paddling on the water

Looking up at pink Cherry blossoms with the blue sky beyond

pink Cherry Blossoms with leaves and the trunk of the tree

Pink, double petal Cherry blossoms

Okay! I can't get stuck here, looking at Cherry Blossoms! I've got stuff to do!

Silhouette of a squirrel sitting on a wood post with the blue sky behind

oh!

Camas Lily Blossom

The very first Camas Lilies!

Camas Lily Bloom

Okay, I am allowed to get stuck here! *laughs*

Sun shining on Camas Lily blooms in the forest

Camas Lily blooming in the forest

I've arrived at the book sale! I get a map at the door and head straight to the two aisles of science fiction books!

I've arrived quite a bit later in the morning than I did last year, and I'm a bit shocked at the lack of books. Last year, the books were stacked on their edge so you could only read the spine. But today there's enough space to lay some of them out flat!

Books on a table

I nabbed that Flight in Yiktor book by Andre Norton! I already own it, but it's packed away in a box. It would be nice to read it again!

I got a couple other books and then wandered around aimlessly. And then I got in line to pay... Last year the line wound around the entire room, snaking in on itself! But today there were just a dozen or so people in front of me.

The guy ahead of me looked at the little pile I was holding and smiled and said, That's it? Yep. He had a backpack too, and I assumed his was full. You've got restraint! *laughs* He got distracted and I wasn't able to tell him I needed to be able to carry what I bought for two miles!

The line moved fast. 8$ and I shoved the extra 2$ into the tip jar.

And... heading home. But this thing catches my eye... I thought this was a Cherry Tree!!

red fruit hanging down from a tree

What is that thing? Is it deformed? But all the fruits on this tree look like that.

flat red fruits hanging down from a tree

That is really weird! So weird. And google tells me nothing about it. Weird!!

And a Heron, hunting past the trash. Sighs.

Great Blue Heron walking thru shallow water near the bank of the creek

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Friday 11 April 2025... Today

It's sprinkling this morning and I wonder if I can get into the Community Garden to dig up some more invasives. So I've got my backpack with me again... but nope. There are several people wandering around the garden.

Oh well. I walk on by.

Ha! It looks like she's up there, standing on air!

Squirrel looking down from a budding out tree

She's eating the new leaves. A yummy salad!

Squirrel up in a tree, eating the tiny leaves budding out

Squirrel standing in a tree with new leaf buds

Oh Nice! This is a Golden Crown Sparrow with breeding plummage! Smart black feathers!

Golden Crown Sparrow standing on a twig with green in the background

And of course, I have to continue to be a sucker for the ornamental, double petal Cherry blossoms!

Pink, double petal Cherry blossoms

Pink, double petal Cherry blossoms with some leaves

Looking up at pink, double petal Cherry Blossoms

I'm making a loop in a different direction... and this tree catches my eye!

I'm not sure... but I think this is a Cherry Tree, with a graft from a Apple Tree, which is currently blooming!

Haha! The Parks People do that every once in a while. There's a Ornamental Cherry Tree, with the pink blossoms near my house that has a grafted branch of Sweet Cherry, with the white blossoms. They bloom at the same time, instead of being separated in time like the normal ones!

Flowering graft branch next to non flowering tree branches

I get back to the creek.

A pair of Green Wing Teals paddling on the water

Are we thinking about taking a bath?

A pair of robins, one standing on the mud of the bank, another standing on a branch over the water of the creek

A sunny day would be nicer for that? Yeah, I hear ya!

Robin standing on the mud of the creek bank

And the Apple tree outside the Community Garden.

Apple Blossoms

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Thursday 10 April 2025... Wind and Flowers

Hi Henrietta!

Great Blue Heron standing near the creek bank

Standing on litter, sighs. I wonder how much plastic he has to eat every day. Like humans have about a credit card of plastic, in our bodies... how much does he have?

Pink, double petal Cherry Blossoms with leaves and sky

Pink, double petal Cherry blossoms

I've got the backpack and stuff, just in case I can go into the Community Garden for more volunteer work... But nope. The sun is shining and people are gardening!

That's okay. I've now got just over 5 hours of volunteer work. Well over the 4 that's required!

New Ash tree leaves

And really, I should be gardening too. It's Late! I usually get started at the beginning of April.

It's just so stinkin' wet! There's still puddles! It's pointless to plant anything... the slugs are right there and will gobble everything up!

So I walk. I wonder how long it will take to dry out.

Pink Lilac blooms

Pink Lilac blooms

Ha! The Honey Bee swarm is still here!

Honey Bees swarming in a hole in a tree

I'm glad!

Honey Bees walking and flying in and out of a hole in a tree trunk

I wonder how much room they have in there. This tree is alive, that hole can't be that big, can it?

Honey Bees walking and flying in and out of a hole in a tree trunk

Red Tulip blooms with yellow Tulips

Red Tulip bloom with some small Snowdrop blooms

Spanish Bluebell blooms in purple, pink and white

Pale pink Tulip blooms with purple Spanish Bluebells

Yellow flowers

Purple Rhododendron bush blooming outside a yellow house

Purple Rhododendron blooms with pink cherry blossoms in the background

I should walk along this street more often!

Tulips blooming in a flower bed in front of a yellow house

Tulips and Narcissus blooms in a flower bed

Purple flowers

As I walk home, the clouds are rolling in.

Clouds over silhouettes of trees

The wind builds from 6mph to 12mph... and I wonder if I'll get rained on. There was 60% chance of rain after 4pm. It's only noon, and I don't have my rain jacket. I suppose I can put the camera in the backpack, wrapped in a trash bag?

But no. Not even a drop of rain falls. The wind continues to pick up and it's 20mph in the evening. And still no rain.

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Wednesday 9 April 2025... Last Garden Volunteer Work with Flowers

Mmmm! Apple blossoms!

Apple blossoms

This tree is a bit further along than the Apple tree outside the Community Garden!

Apple Blossoms

Apple Blossoms

I get to the Garden and I am momentarily distracted by the flowers!

Yellow Peony bloom with red and pink flowers behind it

Pink Tulips blooming with green leaves

Okay! There's a couple clumps of Lesser Celandine in this front plot... their little greenhouse has fallen apart!

Broken Greenhouse in a garden plot

Probably the 19mph wind of this week. It was hiding their against the rules Olive Tree, so I suppose they will rebuild it.

And then I move back to the flooded plot that I started the other day. There's still some puddles here, but it's a bit better.

Garden Plot

I fill up my bag with Lesser Celandine, but there's still some left growing here.

Garden Plot

There's nice weather on the way, and I think this will probably be my last day of wandering around other people's plots to murder their invasives.

I head out. This yard, in the Garden neighborhood, delights me with all the colours!

Flowers blooming in a yard

Those layered spikes of purple are Heal All!

Heal All and Tulip Blooms with other plants

White Rhododendron blooms

White Rhododendron blooms

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Tuesday 8 April 2025... More Garden Work

Red Wing Blackbird in a tree with budding leaves

I'm at the Community Garden again today. Yesterday, in my wanderings I saw that a plot close to my friend Roz's, had some Lesser Celandine growing in it. There's several blooming clumps in the front, and then hiding behind this... is it Chives?

Lesser Celandine blooming next to some Chives, with a white trash bag of plants

Shoot. It's really well established. I should have been more on the look out.

Got that dug up, and there's a bit more room in the bag. So I return to the plot that is diagonal across the path from mine. There's raised beds in the front, someone has planted some Marigolds...

Raised beds in a garden

... but they are ignoring the infestation at the back of the plot.

Garden plot

There are dozens of invasives coming up all over the damn place. I dig until my little trash bag is full.

And then I just go around, hacking at the leaves of the rest. I don't know if I'll be able to do this again tomorrow... I was lucky that the bit of extra rain is keeping people away from the garden for me today.

Lesser Celandine growing outside a raised bed

Sighs. Fighting off the inevitable invasives is starting to feel a little bit hopeless.

But then I look up! There's a pair of Bluebirds!

Bluebird standing on a wood fence in the rain

Sprinkles have turned to rain, and the camera lens is getting wet. But oh my gosh they are so cute!

Bluebirds fluttering around a bat house

They are so interested in this thing!

Bluebirds

I think it's supposed to be a bat house but no one lives here. A Flicker made that hole, but once they could see in, they realized it was inappropriate for a nest!

Female Bluebird

Sorry! Ya'll need to keep looking for a nesting spot!

Pair of Bluebirds perched on a bat house

They fly away and I load up my bag of invasives into my backpack to haul home.

Squirrel standing on a wood fence eating something

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Monday 7 April 2025... Wet Garden Work with Flowers

I'm unfortunately heading to the garden for more volunteer work, murdering invasives...

Sky with clouds above silhouettes of trees

It's puddle-y wet. And digging invasives out of puddles is not my idea of fun.

But I'm running out of time to kill Lesser Celandine!

Not only are they going to die back soon, I'm also fighting against the wave of humans who want to start gardening...

I would rather do my work by myself. Especially since I am working in other people's plots. I just don't want to have to explain myself. It wouldn't be a problem... people would understand immediately.

I just don't want to talk to anyone!

And when I add up my time, I've got 3h 50m of volunteer work so far. The requirement is for 4hours but I want to go well over that.

So, I'm going to work in puddles today because of all that.

But first, I have to get there. The Ornamental Cherries are looking lovely.

Pink double petal Cherry blossoms

Pink double petal cherry blossoms

And one of my Common Merganser friends sped right by.

Female Common Merganser paddling on the water past rocks along the bank

I thought I had just missed the others... or is she alone today? hm.

Okay, I am going to dig at the far edge of Plot 15 today. ugh, you can see how puddle-y it is. Part of the tarp is underwater, even.

Garden plot

Someone has come along and thrown some leaves on top of the Lesser Celandine. Yeah, that didn't even slow them down!

I moved the one wood plank, so I can get under the tarp, because the tarp didn't slow them down either.

I'm digging in water, and I hate it. I just want to get it over with, and so I go as fast as I can. I'm just filling the bag with water instead of taking the time to squeeze any out.

Garden plot with a trash bag full of plants

Which is kind of dumb, now that I think about it... If I had taken the time to get the water out, that would have added to my volunteer time! ha. oh well.

White trash bag full of plants, on the ground with puddles and a hand spade

I double bag it before putting it in my small backpack. Wow, that is heavy! It'll be a good workout walking that home. But first I go around and look at the flowers!

Tulip blooms in red and white, with one yellow and red bloom

Red Tulip blooms and pink and white blooms on the right

Oh! These are an exciting colour!

Hot pink Tulip blooms

Hot pink Tulip bloom with pink and yellow blooms in the background

Pink Tulips

I love them so much! And I'm crouching down here, then moving over to there, to get all the different shots I want...

Pink and hot pink tulip blooms

Basically doing squats. With my heavy, water filled backpack! I'm starting to wish I had left it somewhere.

Hot pink Tulip bloom

... And then, suddenly, I can't get up! Bahaha!

My leg muscles simply refuse!

*laughs* I'm a bit embarrassed, but I have to put my hand down in the mud to brace myself to get up!

So, okay! I guess I'm done getting down with the flowers! ... Looking down at the daffodils...

Looking down at daffodils with Grape Hyacinths and Dead Nettle

Well, that's no fun. I guess it's time to leave.

I don't have to crouch down for the Apple tree right outside the Community Garden!

Closed up Apple blossoms with tree branches in the background

I love the tree branches going every which way!

Closed up Apple blossoms with tree branches in the background

Pink, double petal Cherry blossoms hanging down in front of the truck

Pink, double petal Cherry Blossoms with brown orange leaves

Pink, double petal cherry blossoms with the grey sky

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Sunday 6 April 2025... Sunday Stroll with Rain

It was sprinkling when I woke up this morning. I had kept the window open all night, so I was able to listen to the rain for a while before I got up. It's a lovely way to start the day!

And it makes yesterday's beautiful weather for the protest, all the more amazing! I'm still very excited that I went.

White Rhododendron blooms surrounded by dark green leaves

Sparrows standing in a tree

Too dreary for photography today.

White Crown Sparrow perched on a twig

And it continues to sprinkle off and on.

Chickadee standing on a wood post

I am walking the same route I did last Sunday, with the Pansies and then the neighborhood flowers.

Different coloured Pansies past yellow blooms

blue and red violet Pansy blooms

Purple Tulips blooming over different coloured Pansies

Different coloured Pansies blooming in clumps

Different coloured Pansy blooms

Little Free Library with daffodils blooming under the trees

Pink and white Saucer Magnolia blooms on a tree with wet leaves

Close up of a Saucer Magnolia bloom with rain on its petals and a wood fence in the background

A flower bed with blooming Tulips and Grape Hyacinths

The bed frame at the end of their flower bed cracks me up!

Flower bed along a sidewalk with Daffodils and Tulips blooming in front of a wood fence

When I got home, I discovered it had rained into my room thru the open window! GAH! Stupid Wind!

I close the window and try to soak up rain from the blankets and beanbag on my bed. And it gets stuffy in the house almost immediately.

Sighs. Remember the good old days before climate change when I never had to think about the damn wind!

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Friday 4 April 2025... Neighborhood Walk with Bees!

You have to put your nose in the shadow?

Squirrel standing on the steps

It doesn't make for good photography, you know.
*humph* ... Some people! They just don't care! *Laughs*

The Red Maples are making seeds.

Red Maple seeds hanging in clumps as they grow on the tree

Red Maple seeds hanging in clumps as they grow on the tree

Goldfinch perched on a twig, his face behind another twig and blud sky behind

Well, sheesh. I guess nobody wants to show their whole face today!

Scrub Jay perched behind twigs

I come around the corner from the Events Center and Oh My Gosh!

Honey Bees swarming in a hole in a tree trunk

Wow! This is so cool!

The air is just filled with Honey Bees, flying all around! And this tree where they are swarming is right here, my head is maybe six feet (1.8meters) away from their hole!

I don't get any closer, but I'm not concerned at all, altho one Bee accidentally bumps into me... Ha! They are obviously preoccupied!

Honey Bees swarming in a hole in a tree trunk

I walk on, but I wonder if the swarm will be removed. It's not a great place, right next to the sidewalk. But I'm thrilled that I got to see them!

Red and Yellow Tulips in a flower bed

Pink Tulips with yellow centers in the shade of a tree

Spanish Bluebells just about to bloom in pink, white and purple

Two Lawn Daisy blooms with Grape Hyacinth blooms in the background

Close up of an English Daisy

I'm back at the creek and Wood Duck!

Male Wood Duck paddling on the water

haha, he gets one look at me and he's outta there!

Wood Duck paddling away on the water

And his girlfriend, too!

Female Wood Duck paddling away on the water

Oh well. Maybe next time.

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Thursday 3 April 2025... Today

Flowering Quince blooms with blue sky peeking thru

Flowering Quince blooms

Puffy clouds over a walking bridge

Two American Crows standing on a path light

Squirrel standing in the crook of a tree, holding a nut in her mouth

Foo. But this is an American Goldfinch, who has gotten his bright colour back for the spring!

American Goldfinch standing behind twigs in a tree

The ornamental cherries are just starting to bloom.

Pink cherry blossoms with a blue sky

But most of them haven't opened up yet.

Unopened pink Cherry Blossoms with blue sky

Unopened pink cherry blossoms with a bare tree and  blue sky in the background

Unopened pink cherry blossoms

Yep, I am such a sucker for the flowers! Even when they haven't quite arrived! :)

Unopened pink cherry blossoms

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Wednesday 2 April 2025... Veganic Garden Thoughts

There's an email from the Community Garden when I get home... Oh, this is cool!

The Garden is getting a big shipment of free compost from Love Food Not Waste later this month!!

This is awesome!

This is a local trash pickup service where residents put their food waste into their yard debris bin. A local company composts it then offers it back to the community for free.

It's a brilliant thing, very important! But it's not vegan.

You should not put meat or dairy into ordinary compost, if you're doing that at home. But this is an industrial composting site and they make sure the temperature gets hot enough to kill pathogens.

For the most part, my plot at the Community Garden is veganic. Organic in that I would never, ever use any kind of pesticide or poison. And Vegan in that I don't use animal based fertilizers... No blood meal, no bone meal, no fish meal, no bat guano, no cow manure, etc.

Yeah, there's a lot of dead animals in fertilizers. It's sad.

The Love Food Not Waste compost does include dead animals, and I would never BUY it. But it's free. So I'm not paying to have the animals murdered.

And the dead animals will only make up a tiny portion of the compost. Most of it will be plants.

It's not a great excuse for going against my ethics. But no one can be a perfect vegan in the world we live in. Animal suffering is a part of civilization unfortunately, and it works itself into just about everything.

And, regardless: Composting is a good thing... Everyone should do it! And it's great that my city makes it relatively easy to do for most folks who live here.

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Wednesday 2 April 2025... Hidden Trail with Flowers

Loads of flowers!

Orange and pink Tulips in front of a shadowed wall

Forsythia blooms catching the sunlight

Fawn Lily blooms

Fawn Lily bloom with the forest in the background

Sweet Cherry blossoms

Red Flowering Currant blooms

Red Flowering Current blooms in the light

Fawn Lilies blooming around fern leaves

Fringe Cup and Ferns on the forest floor

Trillium blooms wit Ferns and Fawn Lily blooms

Haha! Someone has a Frisbee Golf goal in their yard!

Waterfall with forest on the left and a yard on the right

Small waterfall in the forest

Fawn Lilies blooming in front of rushing water

Fawn Lilies blooming

Daffodil blooms in front of blurry Grape Hyacinths

Narcissus blooms

Pink and mixed colour Tulip blooms

I like these!

Pink and yellow striped Tulips

Okay, yeah. That was a lot of flowers.

It's a bummer when I don't get to see the Turkeys or the Deers when I go up Hidden Trail. But there's so much beauty in the neighborhood and in the forest, I can hardly complain! *smiles*

And it starts to rain as I get home. Good timing!

Golden Crown Sparrow mostly hidden behind tiny red leaves of a bush

Golden Crown Sparrow mostly hidden behind tiny red leaves of a bush

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Thursday 24 April 2025... Something Owlish

Not a rant! Yay!

*laughs*

This is what I've been watching the last couple days...

Great Gray Owl nest cam, on Explore.org

So cool and amazing!

Great Gray Owl sitting on a nest in a snag

The web cam is on tribal land... Confederated Salish Tribe and Kootenai Tribe!! Thank You!

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Tuesday 1 April 2025... Solidarity Garden

Great Blue Heron hunting in shallow water

Oh hey! Another girl has joined my Common Merganser friends!

Two female and one male Common Mergansers paddling on rough water

Male and two female Common Mergansers on the water

Female Common Merganser paddling on the water

Female Common Merganser paddling on the water

Female Common Merganser paddling in the water near the bank

Zig and Zag the Hooded Mergansers are here too!

Female Hooded Merganser paddling on the water
Male Hooded Merganser paddling on the water

Chickadee perched on a twig which is budding out with new leaves

At the Solidarity Garden, someone has planted lettuces!

Daffodil bloom in front of small lettuces growing in the dirt

oh, their Fava is blooming! I'm jealous... the Fava I planted is all dead.

Fava plants blooming

Red Flowering Currant blooms in front of a wood sign

Sweet Cherry blossoms

And then I wander thru the downtown neighborhood.

Snowdrop blooms next to unopened tulips

Snowdrop blooms with a yellow tulip bloom

Purple wallflower blooms in front of green leaves

Pink Camellia blooms

Pink, red and yellow tulip blooms

White puffy clouds

Pink Tulip blooms

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Wednesday 23 April 2025... Rant

Democrats meet with students abducted by Trump administration

What happened to Mahmoud Khalil pisses me off to no end. He was the first student to be kidnapped by the government, and is imprisoned in Louisiana.

This is not a due process thing. This guy is in the US legally, he did nothing wrong and there are no charges against him.

The thing that is happening here: pure evil.

And exactly the same thing is happening to students all over the States... Here's what we are dealing with in Oregon.

Federal judge temporarily blocks deportation of UO student

Four students at the University of Oregon and 13 students at Oregon State University, have had their Student Visas revoked.

And at least 1,000 other students at 150 universities across the nation have had their Student Visas revoked.

Just... why? To be cruel? Is that it?

Seems to be.

I feel for these kids. I remember university. It was a wonderful learning experience for me especially since I had grown up a bit sheltered. My time at college made me a better person.

And these 1,000+ kids, too. They want to broaden their horizons. They want to learn!

Instead they get to learn about discrimination and racism and the State's new xenophobic policies.

They get to unwillingly participate in the fall of democracy as our dictator kills America.

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Monday 31 March 2025... Garden Work

On the way, I see my friends the Common Mergansers.

Male Common Merganser paddling on the water

His girlfriend is here too, but the photography was crap. heh.

Sweet Cherry blossoms

Oh my gosh! She is Right There! I could almost reach out and touch her!

American Crow behind sticks

She's breaking off twigs! She must want them for a nest!!

Crow reaching for a twig with her beak

How cool is that!!

Crow standing on a mossy twig looking away

I'm at the garden and these are new!

Mason Bee nesting house on a wood post with garden beds behind

It's a Mason Bee nesting house! There are a couple more houses on each side of the Community Garden.

It's too bad they are on the outside of the fence... will people steal the straws?

I find out later that this is an Eagle Scout project! Aimed at supporting Oregon's native species in our community garden spaces.

That's so awesome! THANK YOU Troop 152!!!

Anybody in there?

Mason Bee straws in the nesting box

Okay! I go into the garden and settle in a plot on the west side that has several clumps of Lesser Celandine.

Lesser Celandine in a white trash bag on the ground next to a hand spade and a hole

When I shake this bag down, I thought I could fit a bit more in. There's some more growing at the edge of the plot, in the pathway...

Lesser Celandine blooms with Dead Nettle growing in the grass

This thing was big! Very mature. And very satisfying to pop it out!

Lesser Celandine plants coming out of the white trash bag, a hand spade next to the hole thats been dug

Kind of a pain to jam that into my small backpack, tho! I cussed a bit! *laughs*

And then I go round to my favorite Garden plot, to take pictures of their flowers!

Close up of purple Violet blooms

And a precious little Lady Bug, who I didn't notice.

Grape Hyacinth blooms with Dead Nettle and a Dandelion bloom.  Blurry Lady Bug is not in focus.

And the sky is so pretty I put the camera down in the grass to try that angle!

Grape Hyacinth bloom with Dandelion blooms in the background with blue sky and puffy white clouds

Double petal Daffodil blooms with the sky in the background

Pink tulip blooms all in a row

There is a single Daffodil here that's peach coloured... I love that!

Pink tulip bloom with a white and peach Daffodil bloom

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Tuesday 22 April 2025... Earth Day Vent

Just Sighs.

Hundreds of scholars say US is swiftly heading toward authoritarianism

Al Gore draws parallels between Trump 2.0 and early Nazi Germany in speech Former VP said the administration was creating its 'own preferred reality' and slammed it for green energy U-turn

Don't believe the doubters: protest still has power Demonstrations rarely lead to immediate policy change. But they are essential to building community and long-term resistance

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Sunday 30 March 2025... Flowers on a Rainy Day

Not sure what this is, but pretty!

Purple blooms in a planter in front of a red wall

Bright pink Primrose blooms with green leaves

Blue and Red Primroses with light purple violets

Zag and Zig, the Hooded Merganser pair.

Hooded Merganser pair, paddling on the water

And then it started pouring down rain! And I decided to walk a different way. West on the bike path and then cross the street to the south. I'm familiar with the neighborhood, but coming this way makes it feel new and different!

The rain didn't keep the camera hidden under my jacket when I came across these colourful Pansies!

Many colours of Pansies blooming

Oh My Gosh! They are so wonderful!

Light blue Pansy blooms

Light blue Pansy blooms with yellow blooms in the background

Purple Pansy blooms with pink and red violet blooms in the background

Wow. I think I will keep this Sunday route for a while!

Forsythia blooms

Rosemary blooms

Now that I know that this is Rosemary, I'm finding it everywhere!

Rosemary blooms

Close up of Rosemary blooms

Red Violet Tulip blooms and Grape Hyacinth blooms

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Saturday 29 March 2025... Today

This is the Heron I've been calling Not Knotty.

Great Blue Heron standing in water behind some sticks

And this is not Zag! *laughs*

Male Hooded Merganser paddling on the water

And his girlfriend who is not Zig.

Female Hooded Merganser paddling on the water

Haha! The dog noticed I was looking at her chickens and came to the fence to bark at me! Good Dogg-o!!

A Chicken standing on a lawn, with a dog running in the background

The chicken notices me too, but isn't interested enough to come much closer. oh well.

Chicken walking in the grass

A male and female Mallard, sitting in the grass

Cherry Blossoms in front of a blue sky

Flowering Quince blooms

Flowering Quince blooms in front of a chain link fence with a padlock

The padlock amuses me.

Flowering Quince blooms in front of a chain link fence with a padlock

Flower beds filled with blooming Tulips in a yard

Four white Tulip blooms surrounded by leaves

Oh foo. My friends the Common Mergansers were not interested in a visit today.

A pair of Common Mergansers paddling on the water behind many small tree trunks

And Henrietta, so good to see him!

Great Blue Heron standing in shallow water

JD Vance Visit Confined To Remote Greenland Space Base Because Everybody Hates Him. Threatening a NATO territory and expecting the wife to get invited to the dogsled race, classic JD!

*giggles* Hi World Leaders! This is how it's done. Just fucking ignore them until they go away!!

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Friday 28 March 2025... Today

Flowering Quince blooms

Flowering Quince blooms

The trees are showing the first tints of spring green! And the Wet Prairie ponds are still full.

pond in the grass, under some trees

The Common Merganser pair are still here!

Common Merganser pair paddling on the water

Female Common Merganser paddling on the water

Lesser Goldfinch perched on a twig thats budding out with leaves

Lesser Goldfinch perched on a twig with leaves and grey sky

Closeup Lesser Goldfinch showing the pattern of feathers, her face is behind the twig

Red Flowering Currant bush with many blooms

Daffodils and Tulips in a front yard

Pink and orange tulips blooming in front of grass

Parkrose Permaculture: The Wave of Resistance is Rising

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Thursday 27 March 2025... Wind. and the Named Wildlife!

The day started out with sun, but clouds rolled in and it's overcast by the time I'm up and about. The wind is up too... 14mph when I leave the house.

But it becomes even more blustery as I walk and when I get back the weather page says 17mph with gusts as high as 33mph. Sheesh.

And the few warm and sunny days we've had, did not dry out the Wet Prairie ponds at all!

Female Mallard paddling on water surrounded by grass

I'm dropping off kitchen scraps at the garden to compost under the leaf mulch. The Crocuses are quite done, but I still have a flower in the plot!

Dandelion blooming in the leaf mulch

Back to my walk. Zig and Zag are hanging out with another Hooded Merganser couple, who declines the photography.

Hooded Merganser pair, paddling on the water next to each other

Male Hooded Merganser paddling on the water
Female Hooded Merganser paddling on the water

And a little bit further along... Oh my gosh! A pair of Common Mergansers!! That's different!

Ducks paddling on the water behind trees

Female Common Merganser paddling on the water

I'm remembering that boy-o last year who was hanging out with the female Mallard who had the messed up wing. I'm betting this is him!

Male Common Merganser paddling on the water

And his new girlfriend is so cute!!

Female Common Merganser paddling on the water

I hope to see ya'll around!

Pair of Common Mergansers paddling on the water

Green Wing Teal standing on a branch over the water

Purple Iris bloom in front of a wood fence with dandelion blooms

American Crow standing on a wood fence

American Crow flying away from the wood fence

Hmmm. This is Not Knotty. with some stupid litter.

Great Blue Heron standing near the bank with litter

And I think this is the Heron I've named Henry.

Great Blue Heron standing in the water

*laughs* It's wonderful that there are so many Great Blue Herons hanging out here that I can't figure out who they are!!

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Wednesday 26 March 2025... Hidden Trail with Flowers

Two pink Tulip blooms

Dead Nettle blooms with a Dandelion bloom

narcissus blooms with purple Wind Flower blooms

narcissus blooms with some Wind Flowers

Orange Tulip blooms with a purple Hyacinth and narcissus in the background

Three Trillium blooms

Light purple Rhododendron blooms

There's a Crane Fly standing on the path!

Crane Fly standing on the path

I used to call these creatures Skeeter Eaters... but they don't actually eat mosquitos. In fact, most Crane Flies don't eat at all and only live 10 to 15 days.

Wikipedia says Crane flies first appeared during the Middle Triassic, around 245 million years ago, making them one of the oldest known groups of flies. Wow, that's cool... there are over 15,000 species!

I scoot this one off the path before I move on.

small waterfall in a lightbeam

Western Grey Squirrel looking down from a branch

a modern cairn next to the waterfall

Fawn Lily bloom

Close up of a Fawn Lily bloom

Daffodil blooms

Trillium blooms

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Friday 18 April 2025... Screaming Rant

Image of White House tweet

This is so utterly horrifing and it makes me sick to my stomach.

What the hell is wrong with people?

If this doesn't cause you to panic at the state of fascism in America... Well, let me just break this down for you.

This is an official White House social media post. They are making a joke about human rights violations that they caused.

This is government sanctioned kidnapping. Zero due process.

...

I just can't. I will finish my thoughts another time.

...


More commentary here:

Let's unpack this social media post. It's from the White House. So you know it's crap.

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Tuesday 25 March 2025... Looking Up and Chopping Down

It's another blue sky day, and I'm trying to capture something of the gorgeous trees... And I'm just not getting it!

Looking up at a blooming cherry tree with the blue sky

Looking up at some blooming cherry tree branches with the blue sky

Looking up at blooming Cherry tree branches and pine tree twigs with teh blue sky

The warm weather has brought out some Cabbage Whites! But they are not going to sit around for me, dangit!

White butterfly flitting next to the creek

*laughs*

Blurry white butterfly, flying over green grass

WTFH. Oh. Oh No. They've murdered this beautiful Douglas Fir.

Well, that's depressing. This tree was always in the background when I would take pics of the Leaning Tree. And that one is long gone too.

I'm walking thru the neighborhood, making a big loop so I can walk around the murdered fir. Oh, there's smaller trees they are murdering as well.

And will they plant replacement trees? I have my doubts. Because Eugene has less than average urban canopy cover... which is ridiculous for a place that gets so much rain! So I think there's a long history of just murdering trees and not planting more.

Sighs.

White and yellow Jonquil blooms with Grape Hyacinths along a city sidewalk

I have to work to bring myself back to center. But it's a beauful day, and spring is springing. Nature works her healing magic.

White and yellow Jonquils blooms and leaves

Orange tulips in front of white flowers

And then I return to Looking Up.

Pink and white Saucer Magnolia blooms against a blue sky

The Red Maples are making seeds.

Red Maple seeds hanging down in clumps

Red Maple seeds hanging down

When I was a kid, Doctor Who came on at 10pm on PBS, was it friday night or saturday? They would show an entire story arc, which was ususally 4 or 6 of the half hour episodes... So it was midnight or 1am when it was over.

Pretty often I would accidentally fall asleep. And I'd awaken to the intro of the next show, which was this AWESOME little astronomy show. It was short, maybe 5 or 10 minutes long and I would watch it before going to bed.

At the end of his segment, the host would say,
Keep! Looking! Up!

So that always made me happy, even tho I had slept thru part of the show I actually wanted to watch! *laughs*

Let's see...

Wikipedia... Jack Horkheimer: Star Hustler

Aww! They are still making this show! Jack Horkheimer died in 2010, but they kept going!! ♥!

StarGazers

Scrub Jay standing on the ground, looking over her shoulder

I thought this was Knotty... but now I'm not sure. I think there are new Great Blue Herons moving in this year and everyone is different! (Except Henrietta is still around, for sure.)

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Monday 24 March 2025... Neighborhood Zig Zag on a Sunny Day

Oh the sun. It's shining and warm, and I need to re-think my layers today! No rain jacket, that will be weird, I will feel naked without it! heh. But light shirt or heavy shirt?

I chose poorly: the heavy shirt was too hot! *laughs*

Hello Henry!

Great Blue Heron walking in shallow water next to the bank

Ah, the beautiful trees with all their different Spring colours!

Trees in pink, white, spring green and some reds

The apartments here are going to be awesome. It's a great neighborhood with the school on one side and a big church on another side. But, I just realized...

Building construction past green lawn

... the building is going to block the view of the hills here! That's a bummer. When it gets very cold, you can see the snow on the hills. And now I'll have to walk a good bit further to see that.

Oh well. A few people in the apartments will get to see that beautiful view every day!

Red Flowering Currant blooms

Cherry Blossoms and a blue sky

Daffodil blooms and leaves

Daffodil blooms in front of a house

Pink Hyacinth bloom in front of Daffodil blooms and some sage

The front yards along this street are just lovely!

Purple Hyacinth bloom with Daffodil blooms and a single red Tulip

Red Tulip bloom with two Daffodil blooms

Cherry Blossoms over a sidewalk

Close up of Cherry blossoms

Close up of Cherry Blossoms

Here's Stumpy the Willow Tree, from an angle that does not show his stump.

Willow tree next to a blooming cherry tree

Winter Heath blooms in front of Grape Hyacinths

Blue sky over the bike path

And back around to the same trees I started with!

Trees in spring green, white and red, in front of Douglas Firs in the background

What a lovely walk.

A lovely day and a lovely walk!

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Sunday 23 March 2025... My First Protest!

National Association of Letter Carriers: Fight Like Hell!
Hell No! to dismantling the Postal Service... Stand with Letter Carriers Rally to Save USPS... Protest at Noon at the Federal Courthouse in Eugene

oh, I am nervous! Having to deal with people is never fun. Crowds are terrible. And it's been ages since I've ridden the EMX.

But I get going. I leave the house at 11:20am. I get my ticket and the bus is a minute late at 11:30. And it's empty! Ha! I wonder if I should move up to the front and say hi to the bus driver. But, no. People get on at all the next stops and soon the bus is getting towards full.

I always shout Thank You! to the driver as I get off!

I double check the location of the bus stop to get me home, and then I'm walking a little ways down to the Federal Courthouse.

Protesters at a street corner

I had wondered why the protest wasn't at the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza in front of the county courthouse... but as I arrive, I understand why they choose this spot instead... This is a BUSY cross street! Lots of drivers will see us, it's very visible!

I'm early, it's 11:50am, and there aren't too many people here yet!

Protesters at a street corner

I cross the street and wander up the steps where they've set up a table. I ask if the tee-shirts are free and the guy pulls one out for me!

He asks if I am a current Postal worker or retired and I reply, Actually, I'm a happy Postal user!

I find a place along the back wall where I can sit and think about putting the shirt on. Most everyone else is wearing their shirts. But, nah. I stuff it into my small backpack with the waterbottle.

I am people watching. Lots more people have come, in the last few minutes. There are cars honking as they go by, the drivers waving, and everyone cheers and waves back!

It's even more exciting when a postal truck goes by!!

Protesters along a city street corner

The crowd is getting bigger. Behind me, there are several guys carrying stacks of pizza! haha! The pizza is dispursed almost immediately to the protesters, and they go back for more!

Later, there's a lady going around giving out tea... so that's nice. Something for the vegans as well. :)

Protesters

Around 12:10, the guy at the table starts talking.

Protesters

And then he introduced Peter DeFazio, who was an Oregon Representative for over 30 years! He retired in 2023, but I think he did great work for Oregon in his time at the House.

Peter Defazio speaking into a loud speaker, surrounded by protesters

They took a break so the protesters could cheer at the passing cars again. And then at 12:20 there were a couple more speakers.

At this point, there's probably 200 people here, or more.

Protesters along a city street

I'm winding down. Not sure if there will be more speakers or not, but I'm ready to leave.

Looking back at protesters as I leave

I left at 12:40 and was home at 1:05pm and I surprised Partner who thought I'd be gone all day. Haha, very unrealistic expectations about my tolerance for humans!

But this was fun! I had a good time, and will definitely go to another protest!

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Saturday 22 March 2025... Hidden Trail... and an Idea for Tomorrow

Yellow and orange Narcissus blooms on a grey day

The very first Trillium is blooming!

Trillium blooming on the forest floor

Red Flowering Currant blooms, with more in the background

Always trying to capture the beauty of the waterfall here... but probably the beauty has something to do with the sound of water falling.

Small waterfall going past mossy rocks

Light purple Rhododendron blooms in the forest

Osoberries are blooming too!

Osoberry blooms

Dark red Lenten Roses blooming among the ferns

I get to the top and the frogs aren't singing today. That's disappointing. But I do hear a Mourning Dove cooing! That's somebody different!

Silhouette of a Mourning Dove surrounded by winter bare trees

He's a bit too far away for decent photography. And then he flies away.

Mourning Dove flying in a grey sky

But then I hear another one over here!

Mourning Dove standing on a branch with grey sky behind

Ha. They are all over the place. Are they moving in? I wonder if they will make good neighbors with the Acorn Woodpeckers.

Who I don't see today. eh, that's okay. Heading back down the hill.

There are Fawn Lilies coming up!

Fawn Lily leaves growing from the forest floor

hmm, I wonder what makes the dark ones.

Fawn Lily with purple on the leaves

Oh! The Black Tail Deers!!

Three deers in the forest

Oh, hey... There's a fourth one hiding back there!

Four deers in the forest

Their cute lil faces!

Close up of a deers face

And their cute lil feet!

Black Tail Deer butts

And their big ol' ears!

Black Tail Deers

*laughs*

Teeny tiny wild Violets.

Purple Violet blooms

Heading home thru the neighborhood, I see this flyer...

Protest flyer that says Hell No

Hm. That's tomorrow. I've never been to the Federal Courthouse, but I think that address is easy to get to from the EMX.

As I walk, I'm thinking... maybe I should go!

National Association of Letter Carriers: Fight Like Hell!

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Friday 21 March 2025... More Rain

More sprinkles today. The annoying kind where I was constantly adjusting the rain jacket... hood up, hood down. Open zipper, camera out. Camera tucked back in, zipper up. Repeat! Sheesh!

*laughs*

Cherry blossoms

Cherry Blossoms

Well, the wind is bugging me today, too.

Cherry Blossoms

Here's Zag and Zig, both working on their feathers!

Hooded Merganser pair preening on the water

Just past Stumpy the Willow Tree...

Willow tree just greening up with a big stump on the left side

There's a little section of wet prairie. Almost all the green you see here, is not grass...

Little pond under a tree

They are Camas Lily leaves!

It'll be a month or more before they start blooming. But on such a dreary day, I have to pause and imagine how lovely they will be!

Daffodil blooms

Are you eating the leaf buds?

Squirrel up in a tree

You just need some greens, after eating nuts all winter? Yeah, I hear ya!

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Monday 14 April 2025... The Dictator

So much for checks and balances, huh.

PoliticsGirl: Emergency Announcement Fascism is here.

Parkrose Permacuture: This is extremely bad. It's a red alert.

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Thursday 20 March 2025... Rainy Day Flowers

Rained thru the afternoon yesterday, and thru the night as well, and off and on sprinkles this morning... the rain just keeps coming even after declaring a state of emergency for the floods.

And the wind is blustery and annoying again today, 19mph.

Pine Siskin standing on a twig surrounded by willow catkins

Red Flowering Currant blooms

This Red Flowering Currant bush near Blazey's old spot on the bike path, is just so prolific!

Red Flowering Currant blooms

Pale yellow Daffodil blooms with Grape Hyacinths under them

Flowering Quince blooms

Pink Camellia bloom

I swing around past the dog park... and what the heck.

Dog park

Aww... There used to be a big concrete planter here! There were five or six planters here and now they are gone...

They were blooming with Daffodils, and later there would have been day lilies. And someone put Mums in the other ones last year. They were so pretty!

dog park

And, just... WHY?! Why did they take them away??

We are supposed to leave the world a better place!

So sad and disappointed.

Sighs. well, here's Stumpy, trying to cheer me up.

Weeping Willow tree just budding out with a cherry tree blooming behind

Oh, ha... His greenery looks like baby corn cobs!

Willow tree budding out

Cherry Blossoms

Zag and Zig paddle by.

Male Hooded Merganser paddling on the water
Female Hooded Merganser paddling on the water

Lenten Rose blooms in yellow and pink

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Wednesday 19 March 2025... Garden Work with Mustard and Floods

Hmm. I thought this was Knotty again... but now that I'm seeing her shoulder patches better, that's too big a patch of blue for it to be Knotty!

Great Blue Heron standing in shallow water

We'll call them Henry for now! :)

spring coloured trees

I'm at the garden again for more voluteer work. The Lesser Celandine growing in this plot is Very Healthy.

Garden bed

Much better!

Garden bed with a white trash bag filled with plants

I've decided to start chipping away at the huge patch over here. This is plot 15, and plot 16 is the black plastic.

Garden plots

Yeah, that is going to take some time to dig all that up!

Garden plot with Lesser Celandine growing in the corner

I'll start at the pathway. Prepare to DIE!

Grassy area in front of a garden plot

Well. There were some little Comfreys growing here too. Thats another plant that's been banned from the Community Garden in the new 2025 rules. It's from Europe... related to Borage, but it gets established and can get huge and it's hard to kill because the tap root goes down to the center of the earth!

I started killing a couple of Comfreys in my plot starting in the fall of 2023. Dug them up, all thru 2024. And will probably contine to dig them up, all thru 2025! *laughs*

They will probably never die, and I am not interested in murdering someone else's Comfrey problem. The ones that were here, I just chop the root a couple inches down.

Purple Hyacinth bloom with yellow blooms in the background

Walking along the bike path, the lady who rides the recumbant bike was gathering these and I'm all What'cha doing? and she replies Oh! I eat these!

Mustard blooms

What are they? They are Brassicas... She looks down, these are a type of mustard.

Huh! For salad? I ask. She shakes her head, no. I cook the leaves and put them in soup or whatever! She says she gathers them all thru the spring, and it's quite a bit of food!

Mustard leaves

So this is awesome. When I get home, I look it up. Mustard is an invasive here, there are no poisonous look alikes and easy to identify once they've flowered! Definately safe to forage!

Mustard you buy in the store is made by crushing the seeds. But the internets say you can make a mustard spread from the flowers as well. I guess if you have enough of them!

Here's a great article... it's so old, from 2011, there's a few broken image links. good info tho!

Wild Mustard - Foraged Food

Here's another bright spot of yellow! Lesser Goldfinch!

Lesser Goldfinch standing on a twig with grey sky behind

Green Wing Teal paddling on the water


We've had so much rain, all acros the state...

Oregon Governor Kotek declares emergency for floods and landslides

One person has died.

Here in town, our flood controls have mostly held up. The only problem I've heard of was that West 11th Ave -- a major thoroughfare which is the only road going west out of town -- got flooded enough to make driving iffy for a few hours.

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Tuesday 18 March 2025... Garden Work

Partly cloudy again today and the clouds are moving around a lot! It'll rain this afternoon, but at the moment the sun is making it a bit too warm.

Clouds over silhouettes of trees

Knotty? What's with the stick?

Great Blue Heron with water in the background, a stick across her lower neck

Maybe she's got an itch.

I am going to dig up more invasives again today. I get into the garden and... Gah! These dug up clumps of Lesser Celandines are still here.

Clump of plants

So much for my hope that humans would pick up after themselves! Damn them anyway... they are starting to bloom!

Well. I guess I will pick that up today, since no one else can be bothered. But I'll go around and see where I want to start work today.

This... yikes.

Garden plots

That is way too much for me to deal with!

But I dig up some singular clumps in the pathways and all. That's where I can actually make a difference!

invasives bagged up and sitting on the grass

And now I'm wandering around. This is the current state of the Crocuses in my plot.

patch of green leaves coming up thru leaf mulch

Ha. There is one little bloom left.

Purple Crocus bloom next to green leaves

And the beautiful plot at the back, with their hyacinths!

Pink Hyacinth bloom in the grass

Purple Hyacinth blooms with yellow blooms in the background

On my way home, I see that Golden Crown Sparrow with leucism again... But she flies away even faster this time, and I don't get any photos of her. Sighs!

The trees showing off their spring colours are amazing.

Spring trees in pink, white and spring green

Knotty is still in the same place... Good hunting?

Great Blue Heron standing in front of the water

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Monday 17 March 2025... A Break in the Rain!

wow. Some sunshine today! That's different! *laughs*

Squirrel standing on a mossy branch

I've decided to walk out to Steward Pond Park... and on the way...

Cat laying behind some green leaves

A Pine Siskin, thinking about taking a bath... but he got shy when I showed up!

Pine Siskin standing near a puddle

A Point and Shoot and Hope... and this Yellow Rump Warbler is technically in frame!

Yellow Rump Warbler behind tall dried grasses

And here's another semi-successful Point and Click and Hope! Bushtit!

Bush tit standing on a branch that's starting to bud out

Oh humph... there's no one on the pond today!

White puffy clouds over a reflecting pond with trees in the distance

But over here... a flock of hundreds of Cackling Geese!

Clouds over a grassy area at the edge of the pond

Cackling Geese in the grass

Their cute little snub faces!

Cackling Geese in the grass

There are a few pairs of Canada Geese here as well.

Canada Goose standing in the grass

Canada Goose standing in the grass

I walk thru the little forest.

Trees beyond a small pond

But it's the clouds today that keep my attention!

White puffy clouds in a blue sky

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Sunday 16 March 2025... Sunday Stroll with rain and floods

Rained all night, yet again, and still sprinkling when I head out the door.

Cherry blossoms in front of the tree trunk

Cherry blossoms on a grey day

The creek is as full as I've ever seen it!

full creek

Some bright spots of a Yellow Rumped Warbler on a dreary day!

Yellow Rump Warbler standing on a twig over the water

Oh, this must be that Golden Crown Sparrow I saw the other day with leucism!!!

Golden Crown Sparrow standing on a stick

But I Still can't get decent pics. arg.

Blurry Golden Crown Sparrow standing on a stick

The bike path is flooded big time, under the bridges!

Bike path flooded from the creek

Looking down at the bike path flooded from the creek

I walk by the front of Gudu-Kut... but there's no frogs singing here today. bummer.

Trees over a puddle in the grass

Zig and Zag are the two on the right! The pair on the left are unnamed because I can't tell them apart from the third pair of Hooded Mergansers who are currently hanging out at the creek.

Two pairs of Hooded Mergansers paddling on brown water

The rain continues thru the day again... It's been raining almost solidly since Wednesday.

March IS part of our rainy season, but this is starting to get ridiculous! And nothing but more rain in the forecast!

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Saturday 15 March 2025... Rain and Floods

The house is chilly this morning, and I turn the heat back on for a few hours before I get moving!

Squirrel standing on the sidewalk

It's sprinkling as I leave the house, but it turns to a good rain pretty quickly.

A flood watch starts tonight. The bike path here under the bridge is just minutes from going under water! Will I be able to walk back this way??

Creek  next to the bike path, going under a car bridge

Oh cool! Downy Woodpecker!

Downy Woodpecker standing on a thin branch

He's a male. And he's busy trying to get bugs out of this little branch!

Downy Woodpecker in motion, pecking the branch

Downy Woodpecker standing on a stick, surrounded by sticks

Downy Woodpecker standing on a branch

I visit the Solidarity Garden... they've got some Pansies going.

Pansy blooms in dark mulch

I wonder what that is, coming up on the right. I don't recognize it at all!

Their Lettuce looks really good... very non-munched by slugs. I'm jealous! *laughs*

Purple and green leaf Lettuce growing in dark mulch

a small Red Flowering Currant with a couple blooms next to a sign that says Red Flowering Currant

Red Flowering Currant bloom

I continue on and walk a bit thru the downtown neighborhood and look at front yards. Oh, this thing is cute!

Yard cat decoration made of metal with green, glass eyes

Pink Hyacinths blooming with a few Rosemary blooms behind

Heading home... the creek has only risen a couple inches so far, and I am still able to walk under the bridge.

Water coming up from the creek over the bike path

I can hear some frogs singing from the back of the Gudu-Kut nature area!

A puddle in the grass under trees

I love the willow trees over there... but it won't be long before I can't see past the willow trees along the creek!

Willow trees budding out past winter bare trees


Oh, this made me giggle!

Oh This Poor Dumb Trump Lawyer Trying To Defend Military Trans Ban In Court! At least read your own filings next time maybe?

And just how many people are there serving in the military with gender dysphoria, anyway? Government lawyers did not know. Not only do you not have the data, you have no access to get the data because the military does not track people by gender identity, she noted. Yeah, it's kind of hard to find evidence that trans people are single-handedly bringing down the entire US military with their disruptive pronouns, when the government does not know how many of them there even are, or how they even define who they are.

And then the judge made the stupid Trump lawyers read the reports they had submitted, and then they all went thru them, line by line... Only to discover The government's own reports found that transgender individuals receiving gender-affirming care experience 'literally no regrets' and 'very high levels of satisfaction.'

Heh.

So maybe we could just let trans people live their lives, and get the health care they need... hmmm?

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Friday 14 March 2025... Wind

Some sprinkles today and a bit of gusty wind that the weather page said was 9mph. But the last mile or so the wind picked up, like crazy. 25mph! Sheesh, I guess we live in Kansas now!

trees on the hill with fog

Blazey's old spot on the bike path... Red Flowering Currant, with the Cherry tree in the background!

Red Flowering Currant blooms along the path

ha, the wind is making the photography difficult... branches waving all over the place! So I give up pretty quickly here.

Cherry Blossoms on a dreary day

Daffodil blooms and leaves with grey sky above

Oregon Grapes are starting to bloom.

Oregon Grape blooms and leaves

Close up of closed up Oregon Grape blooms

Oregon Grape blooms and leaves

Squirrel on the side of a tree trunk

It's Zig and Zag!

Hooded Merganser pair on the water, the male has his beak tucked under his wing

Female Hooded Merganser on the water

Zag barely wakes up from his nap when his partner paddles upstream a little.

Male Hooded Merganser on the water


Oof. There's an article in the newspaper today about an 80% surge in flu patients in the ER...

Riverbend converts rooms into patient care space to keep up with surging emergency room demand

This is the same hospital that closed it's downtown hospital and Emergency Room in Dec 2023. I wonder if they regret that now.

And ever more upsetting stuff from the current regime.

Arlington Cemetery website drops links for Black, Hispanic, and women veterans

No more DEI at Arlington Nat Cem! Which means we can't have women, Black people or Latinx here.

White men only. Because no one else contributes to our military or our defense.

Effing despicable.

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Thursday 13 March 2025... Stewart Pond with Kestrels

It's raining. And the wind is blowing and it's making me so cold until the walking warms me up. And then the wind dies down, and the day becomes more tolerable!

Pink Saucer Magnolia blooms

Huh. I've never seen a stray out this way. Cute face, tho!

Orange and white tabby cat crouched in the mud behind some vines

Two nights and two days of rain, not to mention all the other extra rain we've gotten. This is a place where they let the creek spread out for flood control.

water puddled

It can still handle a lot more water... but, as I suspected, the bike path is flooded under the bridge.

Flooded bike path going under a car bridge

That's okay. I back track a bit, and go up to the road. There's a pedestrian light for the EMX stops, so I don't have to die when I cross the street! That's always nice!

There isn't a paved path to get back down to the bike path on the other side. But there's a muddy trail that goes between the railing and the fence.

And then I walk down to Stewart Ponds. Today there are Northern Shovelers on the main pond!

Northern Shovelers paddling on water behind reeds

Male Northern Shoveler paddling on the water behind reeds

And some Canada Geese. The one goose is standing and you can see how shallow the temporary, Wet Prairie pond is, even with all the rain we've gotten.

A pair of Canada Geese paddling in the water with grasses at the edges of the pond

I walk on up the road to the park. As I'm approaching the parking lot, I hear some raptors yelling. Oh my gosh!!

A pair of American Kestrels standing on a branch

A pair of Kestrels!!

American Kestrel pair standing on a branch

They've let me get a little bit closer, but I don't get any good photos. Oh well. It's awesome just to see them!!

Very blurry Male American Kestrel standing on a branch

The trail into the park starts out at the prairie. Up the hill are some huge old Oak Trees. But here, there's just grass... and a single shrubby spot where some Cherry trees have gotten established.

It's a haven for birds, and today there's a little flock of Golden Crown Sparrows here!

Golden Crown Sparrow up in a tree

Golden Crown Sparrow up on a twig

Too bad we can't have some blue sky with our Cherry Blossoms... but honestly, I'd just settle for no raindrops on the camera lens! Haha!

Golden Crown Sparrow standing on a twig with a few cherry blossoms

Um... oh? Are we eating the Cherry Blossoms?

Golden Crown Sparrow eating on a twig with cherry blossoms

Well, that's interesting! Do they taste good?

Golden Crown Sparrow looking down on a twig with cherry blossoms

I move on and walk thru the little patch of forest. There are little birds twittering all around, but I don't see any close enough for photos.

But then I find some sparrows just above the trail.

White Throat Sparrow standing on a stick

Oh my gosh! White Throat Sparrows!!

They are winter visitors here, just like the Golden Crowns and the White Crowns. But I hardly ever get to see the White Throats for whatever reason.

So that's really cool! This has been a spectacular walk today!!

On the way home, I notice that one of the little shops I enjoyed window shopping at... has changed hands? I get closer, and yeah, it's not a shop anymore...

It's a painting studio!

Cardboard Bob Ross in a display window with paintings of Oregon Coast ocean views

ha!

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Wednesday 12 March 2025... A Rainy Day

I'm not sure when the rain started last night, but rain during the night is always nice! Still sprinkling this morning, and then raining pretty good as I'm heading out for a walk!

Cherry blossoms with rain drops on them

I love to walk in the rain. It's peaceful.

Purple Primrose blooms

Hello Zag and Zig!

Hooded Mergansers paddling on the water

This Nutria was running away, and I'm all Oh! Wait! Wait! and she did! Haha, she stopped in her tracks!

Nutria sitting in the grass

*laughs* Thank You Dear!

Close up of a Nutrias face

Yes, you are very cute!

Nutria sniffs the air

Solar Baby? Is that you?

Red Shoulder Hawk standing in a winter bare tree

Close up of a Red Shoulder Hawk

*laughs* Yep.

Blurry hawk standing on a solar panel behind winter bare bush

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Tuesday 11 March 2025... More Garden Volunteer Work

Another dreary day! It was misting first thing this morning, but the clouds moved around a little and now we are settled into some solid, grey overcast!

oh, this Flowering Quince!

Flowering Quince blooms

Okay! Back at the garden and oh, hey. Someone has traded the raised beds that were here yesterday for some tunnel hoops. good for them.

Garden

I dig up the Lesser Celandine, and then find a good bit more growing nearby. I've filled up my bag quickly today!

And going around to see the flowers! These Irises are such a pretty colour, but why are they all messed up like this? They didn't feel like growing a long stem? ha.

Light purple Iris blooms growing under leaves

Yellow Hyacinth bloom

Close up of a pink Hyacinth bloom

The Hooded Mergansers who aren't Zig and Zag! *laughs*

A pair of Hooded Mergansers paddling on the water

Oh Cute Squirrel? Hello? If you turn around, this would be a great portrait of you with the Cherry Blossoms?

Squirrel standing at the base of a tree with some Cherry Blossoms

Or not. ha!

Cherry Blossom blooms

Cherry Blossom blooms

Cherry Blossom blooms

Orange and white Daffodil blooms and a chain link fence

purple Lenten Rose blooms

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Monday 10 March 2025... Garden Work

I head straight for the Community Garden. I'm digging up Lesser Celandine again today for my required volunteer work.

I'm kind of wandering, digging a couple clumps here in the pathway...

Small white garbage bag next to a hand spade in the grass

Another couple clumps here at the back of someone's plot.

Small white trash bag and a hand spade lying on leaf mulch

When the bag is full, I wrap it up and stuff it in my backpack to haul home.

White trash bag full of dug up Lesser Celandine

And now I'm looking at flowers!

Pink Hyacinth blooming in front of other hyacinths

Hmm. I wonder what the white tubes are for. Whatever they are, they are messing up my photos! ha.

Purple and yellow Hyacinth blooms

Purple Hyacinth blooms

Daffodil blooms

Daffodil blooms

There's some Crows here at the Garden with me... but they are not interested in photography.

American Crow standing on dead leaves, looking away

They are busy doing other things... looking for treats in the leaves!

American Crow looking down into the dead leaves

Before I leave the Garden, I glance around for more Lesser Celandine to dig up next time. There's some in a western plot, but the plants in the pathway there are going to be tough to get out... the grass is growing tall around it.

Garden Plot next to a fence

Oh, ugh. There's some blooming here at the front, right next to the tool shed. Maybe I'll work on this next.

Garden

Also, there's some free raised beds... If you install those in your garden plot, the Garden Director will let you get away with breaking ALL the Community Garden rules! *grumble, grumble*

What the...?

Grass

Goddamnit. Someone has dug up some Lesser Celandine and just left them here. *cussing* I suppose I have to clean up after everyone.

GAH! But it won't fit in my pack today. And hey, maybe they will come back and finish the work they started. Maybe??!

Chickadee standing on a twig with grey sky behind

*laughs* Sometimes I wish I could take photos of Chickadees! *shakes head*

Chickadee standing on a twig with grey sky behind

A pair of Green Wing Teals at the creek catch my eye on the walk home.

Female Green Wing Teal paddling in the water

The day is too dreary for decent photography, but they are still cute!

Male Green Wing Teal sitting in shallow water

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Saturday 5 April 2025... Hands Off Protest

It's 11:20 when I finally get out the door. I had meant to leave earlier but I'm so nervous, I had trouble getting a move on! haha.

And this one was right outside.

Squirrel standing on the sidewalk

And I was able to take a breath and have a moment to center myself with a friend.

Squirrel standing on the sidewalk

I headed down to the bus stop and got a ticket and waited a few minutes. I spontaneously wave at the bus driver as he pulls up, and he waves back! :) I get a seat, but there's quite a few people riding today. And more people get on at most every stop.

There are a couple people with protest signs who get off a couple stops before I do... and I wonder what they are up to!

I get off at my stop, and go to wait for the light to cross the street. Two older women are waiting with me and they strike up conversation. Are you going to the protest?
I am!

What's your message? ha. I pause for a moment because my brain is all, oh... where to begin? *laughs*

Finally, I just wave my hand and say, We just need to get rid of them!

They laughed and agreed, Dump Trump! and the one lady had a small cardboard sign with an American flag stickered to it. We need to take back the American flag as OUR symbol!

We went across the street, and I kinda wanted to walk with them for a while. But they were going slow, and I was excited to get there. So I bid adieu and told them to Have Fun Today! and I raced ahead!

Yellow Tulips

I get to the Riverbank Path, and oh my gosh! There's an Osprey up in the platform nest, yelling!!

Osprey up in a platform nest, looking to the left

How cool is that!!

Osprey up in a platform nest

I really miss coming out here... The bus ride is so long tho. I wish I had a car!

Platform nest with an Osprey standing among the sticks

Osprey standing in a platform nest

Okay! Focus! There's a protest to get to!!

There are a good number of people coming up the bike path, some holding signs. I pause for a moment at the Downtown Riverfront art pavilion.

Chrome Heron statue next to a river with a suspension bridge in the distance

I can see people going across at the walking bridge down stream. And I can hear people cheering at the city hall. It's a few minutes after noon, now... which is the time the protest is to officially start.

Protesters walking along the bike path

And there are a LOT of people here.

Eugene City Hall with hundreds of protesters!

Protesters with many different signs

Protesters with many different signs

We are blocking the bike path... there's a few bikers coming thru, they have to walk their bikes tho to get thru all the people.

I've found a place to hang out where I am comfortable, at the edge of things. Behind me, there's a steady stream of people coming in! I have no idea where all these extra people will fit, but the crowd is moving around constantly and somehow ever more people make their way in!

Speakers started at 12:20pm.

The first person to speak said there were 2,100 people registered to be here on the MoveOn website alone. And this protest was the combined efforts of ... I'm not sure how many different groups!

We've got 50501, Indivisible, MoveOn, Womens March, and more.

The next speaker was Stan Taylor, with ACES, Activists Coalition of Eugene Springfield.

Stan Taylor speaking to the protesters

He reminded us to take care of each other. And to remember your de-escalating training!

I stayed for a few more speakers. I couldn't hear their names when they were introduced, tho. I've not found a list of speakers, online, yet. I'll add that later, if I find it.

Around 1pm I decided to walk around to the front of the building to see what was going on over there... There was no way I was going to attempt to walk thru the crowd, so I backed up the way I had come in and went the long way around.

And wow. There's a LOT of people up here too. I couldn't find a higher vantage point here, so the photos I did take don't do justice to the crowd.

All the groups were tabling here, but I didn't stop to look at them all.

Protesters and a table set outside of city hall

City Hall covered walkover with protesters below.  A protester sign says Deport All Felons

The protest was set to run until 3pm, but I'm heading out.

Chrome Heron statue in front of the river, with bikes along the railing and trees on the other side of the river


The protest estimate is 3,500 people!

Eugene Weekly: Hands Off! Thousands in Eugene Protest Donald Trump and his administration
Brilliant photos here!!!

KEZI, Eugene ABC news station: Anti Trump 'Hands Off' protests in Eugene see thousands in attendance

The Register-Guard, the corporate Eugene newspaper: Eugene crowds join national day of protest against Trump policies
Gallery of photos and some videos here, as well as the write up.

Oregon Public Broadcasting: Protesters across Oregon stand against public services cuts under Trump and Musk
(They didn't have any reporters in Eugene, but they covered quite a few other cities across Oregon!)

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Saturday 5 April 2025... I am Antifa!

Yep, I'm heading to the protest today!!

Hands Off 2025

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Sunday 9 March 2025... Sunday Stroll

Bright pink Primroses in a planter

Yellow Rump Warbler, buried in the sticks!

Yellow Rump Warbler surrounded by sticks

Anna Hummingbird standing on the tip of a stick

Willow tree catkins

Bath time for this Ruby Crown Kinglet!

Ruby Crown Kinglet standing in shallow water for a bath

Their companions must be over that way.

Ruby Crown Kinglet standing in shallow water

Ruby Crown Kinglet standing in shallow water

Splish splash!

Ruby Crown Kinglet splashing in water

And then we are off to preen.

Graffiti on a short wall, Be The Sunshine

I'm coming back thru the park and almost home when I hear a ruckus from the sky!

There's a hawk being mobbed! The hawk comes in for a landing in a nearby Douglas Fir...

Cooper Hawk in a fir tree

Hm. Juvenile Cooper Hawk.

But he's looking back the way he came.

Ah! He was waiting for his friend... There's another Cooper Hawk flying this way!

Oh... they are being mobbed by some Acorn Woodpeckers!! I'm so disappointed that I didn't get their pic... but I just saw a flash of them and then they turned around and flew back home.

The other hawk flies on by and this one picks up to follow.

Wow!

Cooper Hawk taking off from a fir tree

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Thursday 3 April 2025... Deleting People

This is a good article at the National Parks Conservation Association, which is a non-profit that works to be the voice of America's National Parks.

(I have donated to them in the past, and they do good work!)

The Unsung Heroines of Stonewall

LGBTQ history is American history...

In February, the National Park Service removed all references to transgender and queer people from Stonewall's website. As a result, we are facing the literal erasure of history at the site where the modern LGBTQ rights movement was born. This sets a dangerous precedent for American history. If we pretend queer and transgender Americans have not and do not play a critical role in shaping this country, whose stories will we erase next?

The write up about Stormé DeLarverie was fun to read! But all the people here are interesting!

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Saturday 8 March 2025... Wayside, with Flowers

Canada Geese standing in the grass beyond a grassy puddle

Great Blue Heron flying in a blue sky

(Ha... I don't know who that is from this angle!! *laughs*)

Zag, the Hooded Merganser...

Male Hooded Merganser paddling on the water

... and Zig!

Female Hooded Merganser paddling on the water

Oh cool!

Red Shoulder Hawk standing amongst sticks

Red Shoulder Hawk, and not easy photography with all the sticks! Most of the photos look like this...

Blurry Red Shoulder Hawk with sticks

haha. Oh well.

Red Shoulder Hawk standing among sticks

Red Shoulder Hawk standing amongst sticks

Bewick Wren standing on a twig with blue sky behind

Daffodil blooms in the neighborhood

Daffodil blooms catching the light in front of a shady fence

Close up of a Daffodil bloom

Daffodil blooms catching the light in a shady spot

Grassy area of Crocus blooms

I do love the stripy ones!

Purple and white striped Crocus blooms in the grass

Yellow and striped Crocus blooms

Cherry Blossoms

Close up of Cherry Blossoms

Cherry Blossoms

Red Flowering Currant blooms

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Wednesday 2 April 2025... Rant

I don't really read news articles any more. It's just too terrible.

I just look at the headline...

And then I watch another little section of my soul get darker.

And then I move on.

This morning's headlines (don't bother clicking, Wired has a paywall): The CDC Has Been Gutted And The DOGE Axe Comes for Libraries and Museums

America will never recover from DOGE. Kids are dying from the lack of USAID. The medical research that NIH funded will never get back on track. People will start dying of Bird Flu (or something worse!), but we won't know about it without the CDC. More than 100,000 federal workers fired so far, and all those people were important to keeping America as the leader of the free world.

And now we're tumbling into being a third world country, run by a filthy dictator who ignores the Constitution. And everybody just lets him and DOGE do whatever they want even tho all of it is FUCKING ILLEGAL!

It's disgusting. And I'm pretty upset about everything when I head out for my walk. It takes a while to get out of my head and let Nature do her healing.

...

On my way back down the hill, I come around a corner and see an older guy. He's stepped off the path, with his walking stick... not like a cane, but the kind that looks like a ski pole. He's staring intently at something on the ground.

I'm coming down steps, and when I look at him again, he's leaning over and reaching down for something on the ground.

As I pass him, I see that he is gently, gently picking up a skeletonized leaf.

I smile and my heart fills up with love.

This guy is noticing the beauty around him!

I want us all to be this affected by the wonders of Nature!

And, ya know. That is why I share my photography here. I want to share my experience of Nature with everyone.

There are beautiful things and there are sad things, and that's all okay. Empathy makes us better humans, and the rest of Nature will heal us.

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Friday 7 March 2025... More Garden

Dang it, Little Bird. Why you gotta be that way?

Blurry Yellow Rump Warbler standing on a twig with pussy willows

*laughs*

Okay! I'm digging up Lesser Celandine again today... this plot is right across the aisle from mine, ack!

Garden plots, tarped on the left and raised beds on the right

I dig up those blooming invasives right on the border between plots. But then I realize there's a lot more coming up all around those raised beds.

Gah. I already have a lot of disdain for raised beds, and this one, spreading invasives so close to my plot... is def not helping my attitude!

Well. I finish up and load the bag of plants and dirt into my backpack to dispose of at home. And then I look to see what flowers we have today!

Some of my Crocuses are starting to die back, but this clump still looks lovely.

Purple Crocuses blooming in leaf mulch

Purple Crocuses blooming in leaf mulch

Hyacinths need a few more days.

Purple Hyacinth budding out

*laughs* Daffodils with a garden pig!

Daffodil blooms with a decorative ceramic pig behind leaves

Awww!

Lady bug walking on a Dead Nettle

A cute little Seven Spot Ladybug on some Dead Nettle!

Lady bug walking on a Dead Nettle

And the tiny little Speedwells.

Speedwell blooms coming up past grass

Well. Heading home... but who's this??

Little bird up in a winter bare tree

Hmm. There's some European House Sparrows in this brush, could that be a female??

Hello Up There?

Little bird up in a winter bare tree

Oh! Haha! She's a Golden Crown Sparrow! When she looks over, I can see a bit of her Golden head...!

Golden Crown Sparrow looking down and showing a bit of her Golden head

*laughs* You're funny, trying to trick me!

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Thursday 6 March 2025... Garden Work and a Honey Bee

Gonna murder me some invasive plants at the Community Garden today for my required volunteer time.

On the way...

Male Hooded Merganser paddling on the water

I mentioned a while ago that I didn't want to give names to this pair of Hooded Mergansers because I couldn't specifically recognize them.

And since then, I've come to realize there are actually at least three pairs of Hooded Mergansers hanging out here!

But one of the pairs, I might be recognizing... not this pair, but there's one male who goes around with his hood not all they way up. So maybe I could name that pair!

Female Hooded Merganser paddling on the water

Okay. I'm working at the garden! This is west of my plot, a few plots away. and I'm digging Lesser Celandine out of the grassy pathway.

Blooming Lesser Celandine in a white trash bag on the grass

This garden plot has Fava growing... and it looks a lot better than the mostly dead Fava in my plot!

When my bag is full and stuffed into the backpack, I relax with a garden walkabout! Here's the Crocuses in my plot.

Purple Crocus blooms

Three purple Crocus blooms surrounded by leaf mulch

Purple Crocus blooms

I wander around to the Rosemary bush in the back... Aw, there's a Honey Bee here!

European Honey Bee on a Rosemary bloom

Ugh, the sun is so stinkin' bright! I can't see the screen so I'm not sure how my photos are coming out!

Honey Bee on a Rosemary bloom, facing away

European Honey Bee on a Rosemary bloom

There's Speedwell blooming. Tiny, the flowers are less than a centimeter acros, but pretty!

Speedwell blooms

And heading home!

Scrub Jay standing on a twig in a winter bare tree

Oh hey! Here's the Hooded Merganser pair I was talking about earlier. The male who doesn't hold his hood all the way up!

Hooded Merganser pair paddling on the water

I think I will call them Zig and Zag! *smiles*

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Wednesday 5 March 2025... A Walk and A Tiny-Clean

I was heading for the Community Garden again today, with my backpack to murder some invasives. But when I got there, there was a car in the parking lot, and a human walking in the garden.

ugh. I don't feel like dealing with humans today. So I walked right on by!

Daffodil blooms in a forest

Closeup of a Daffodil bloom, with other blooms in the background

The linear leaves in the background are Camas Lilies... they won't bloom until May or so, and the Daffodils will be long gone.

Daffodil bloom with Camas Lilies coming up in the background

There's still a couple Snowdrops blooming...

Snowdrop bloom and a green seed pod

... But most of them are trying to make seeds now.

Snowdrop bloom and a green seed pod

I decide to walk by the Solidarity Garden. I like their signs! We've got some Raspberry canes, and the sapling says Italian Plum.

Garden bed with sign that says Rasberry

And over here, we've got Black Currant, Mulberry and Red Flowering Currant! The next bed down says Blueberry!

Garden bed with signs

It'll be interesting to compare the Black Currant with the Red Flowering Currant, almost side by side.

Hmmm... Looking up info. The internets say Black Currant is not drought tolerant. I wonder how that's going to work out. It doesn't rain here in the summer at all... do they have access to water at this garden??

Back at home, my Tiny-Cleans are going Awesome!

When I finished the living room window, I moved on to the Porch Room. I've been cleaning 1 or 2 blind slats for a week. And now I've started working on the sliding glass door.

The houseplants are going to be an issue, once I get that far... I'll have to move them and the shelf they are on, and there's really no place to move them to! The porch room is pretty cramped.

I'll have to think about that. But I've got a while! 3 to 5 minutes of Tiny-Clean every day doesn't get much done!

But doing it every day makes it inexorable!!

And really, that's the awesome part...

If I had cleaned the living room window the usual way... with several hours at a time over one or two days?

You know how I would feel? I don't ever feel a sense of accomplishment after I clean things... that's part of the reason why I hate to clean so much.

So nope... I'd feel exhausted. I'd feel utterly disappointed because there's no way to make it perfect.

And I'd be done with cleaning for about 10 years!!

But my new Tiny-Cleans!! I just keep chugging along!

Everything is dirty enough that I can see actual progress in just 3 minutes. But 3 or 5 minutes doesn't overwhelm me, I can get it done every day!

And thus, the inexorable!

*laughs*

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Tuesday 4 March 2025... Today

Henrietta and the rubbish. Sighs.

Great Blue Heron standing near the bank of the creek with litter

The Creek really needs some clean up!

Great Blue Heron standing near the bank of the creek with litter

All the crap the wildlife has to deal with from humans. Ugh.

Male Hooded Merganser paddling on the water

Daffodil bloom surrounded by leaves

Daffodil blooms

Cloud in a blue sky past a winter bare tree

American Crow silhouetted in a tree with old maple keys

American Crow standing on a brach, grey sky behind

A single Cherry blossom surrounded by many unopened buds on a tree

Close up of a Cherry Blossom, surrounded by unopened buds

Oh, hey! Is that some nice soft moss for your drey?

Squirrel sitting on a branch with moss in her mouth

Birds only build nests for their babies. But squirrels build their dreys to sleep in!

Clouds over the trees

We are having some maintenance done in the house today... and the shower problem had befuddled the one guy so he called in the plumbing expert.

So now there's two guys, coming and going, all thru the afternoon! Pretty disruptive... Especially when our expert guy says they may have to break some tiles in the shower to get to the problem with the pipes! ACK!

But they got it done without breaking tiles. And plus we now have nicer faucets - that don't leak! - in both bathrooms and the kitchen.

And the water pressure in the shower is wonderful again! Yay!

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Monday 3 March 2025... Community Garden

I'm at the Community Garden today, to murder some invasive Lesser Celandine for my required volunteer time!

But first I'm going to wander about and look at the flowers!

Daffodil blooms

Two Daffodil blooms with some blooming Dead Nettle in the background

Single Daffodil bloom with rain drops on the petals

Hm. I don't know what this stuff is...

Rosemary blooms

Ah ha! It's Rosemary! *laughs* another Rose that isn't a Rose. :)

Rosemary blooms

It's a pretty plant, but this is another example of people, who aren't me, getting away with breaking the rules. We aren't supposed to have woody plants.

It is nice tho... I wonder if I should grow some. The internets say it will thrive in a Mediterranean climate, which is what we have here!

Rosemary blooms

I've wandered around to my plot. The big clump of crocuses is still blooming!

Purple Crocus blooms

And there are a couple more blooms here and there!

Purple Crocus blooms surrounded by leaf mulch

Single Crocus bloom surrounded by leaf mulch

And my Columbine is peeking thru!

Columbine leaves coming up thru leaf mulch

The leaves are so pretty!

Close up of Columbine leaves, several holding drops of water

What the heck?

Columbine leaves

Uh. Yeah, I have no idea??!

Seriously, what is that???

A little monster watching me from under the leaves! ha.

Okay. I have to get some work done here!

I dig up the couple more sprouts of Lesser Celandine from the west side neighbor's plot. And then I get started on some clumps in the pathway to the north of my plot.

yellow bloom of Lesser Celandine growing in grass

It's a major pain to try to dig in the grass. But I get the small bag filled up.

small trash bag filled with grass and Lesser Celandine

I double bag it and stuff it into the small backpack to haul home. I'll toss it in the trash there.

As I'm walking around the garden, to get back to the bike path... A Bluebird of Happiness! He's preening...

Western Bluebird standing on a wood fence, stretching his wings back

um. Excuse me? Could you just look normal for a minute?

Male Western Bluebird preening on a wood fence

Oh! Thanks! You are so Floofy!

Western Bluebird standing on a wood fence

Western Bluebird standing on a wood post, glancing back

The female is over here on the apple tree, but she's not interested in photography and flies away!

Blury female Western Bluebird standing on twigs

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Sunday 2 March 2025... Sunday Stroll

Purple, double petal Lenten Rose blooms

Purple Lenten Roses with other colours in the background

Ha. All the flowers called Roses that aren't Roses! Lenten Roses above, and here are Primroses!

Pink Primrose blooms

Canada Goose standing on the other side of a grassy puddle

White Crown Sparrow up on a twig

Golden Crown Sparrow standing on a branch

And this guy, an Anna Hummingbird, who flew away before I could see about decent photography! ha.

Anna Hummingbird standing on the top of a twig

A pair of Canada Geese sitting and standing on the other side of a grassy puddle

A pair of Canada Geese sitting and standing on the other side of a grassy puddle

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Saturday 1 March 2025... Flowers and Bees!

Blue sky with cirrus clouds, past green Magnolia leaves

Knotty? and the rubbish. bleh.

Great Blue Heron standing in shallow water near the bank

Cirrus clouds in a blue sky

White and purple striped Crocus blooms

Yep, I'm still being a sucker for the Crocuses!

White and purple striped Crocus blooms next to a sidewalk

Oh look! It's warm enough to wake up a Honey Bee!

European Honey bee flyiing over a crocus bloom

European Honey Bee hovering in a Crocus bloom

Haha! Honey Bee doesn't appear to be quite awake! Needs Coffee! Um, Dearheart? Licking that petal will do nothing for you... You gotta lick somewhere else!

European Honey Bee licking a Crocus petal

Daffodil blooms with forest trees in the background

Close up of Daffodil blooms with forest trees in the background

Lesser Goldfinch standing among the twigs

I stop to admire the Cherry Blossoms again.

Cherry Blossoms

Aw! There's a Bumblebee working these flowers too... and doing a better job of it! *laughs*

Bumblebee on a Cherry Blossom

She's got a red butt... Makes her easy to identify!

She's a Red Form Black Tail Bumblebee and they are widely distributed across western North America, from the Pacific to the Rocky Mountains, and from Alaska to Baja California.

The Red Forms are found primarily in higher latitudes of Oregon and points north, and in the Mountain West whereas the Dark Colour Forms are most common in California and southern Oregon

Nice! I'm glad we get the more colourful variety! *laughs*

Oregon has 25 species of Bumblebees!!! We are awesome! Check this site:

Bumble Bee Field Guide (for North America)

You can filter the bees by your own state or province, and if you mouse-over you can see the different forms!

So cute and precious!

Black Tail Bumblebee hanging from a Cherry Blossom

Red Flowering Currant bloom

Ruby Crown Kinglet standing among twigs with blue sky background

Bye!

Ruby Crown Kinglet flies away from her twig

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Friday 28 February 2025... rant

President Zelenskyy says Ukraine won't enter peace talks with Russia until it has security guarantees

The show Felon45 put on here is absolutely disgusting.

I am so pissed! Fuck Trump. You do NOT disrespect President Z. Ever!

President Zelenskyy did the right thing by walking out.

It's just gross. President Z should not have bothered coming to Washington DC to talk face to face with our stupid dictator... and honestly, I hope other world leaders pick up that lesson as well!

I was happy to see this, tho, at the end of the article:

European leaders were quick to reiterate their support for Zelenskyy and Ukraine. In a post on X, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Zelenskyy's dignity honors the bravery of the Ukrainian people. Be strong, be brave, be fearless, she added. You are never alone, dear President.

Good.

President Zelenskyy is a hero. The American people support President Zelenskyy and Ukraine, regardless of our idiot dictator.

And to try to set things right, I've donated directly to the Ukraine government here...

United24, Ukraine

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Friday 28 February 2025... Flowers! More Flowers! ... And cool bird behavior!

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Thursday 27 February 2025... Even More Crocuses!

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Wednesday 26 February 2025... Tiny-Cleans and More Crocuses

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Tuesday 25 February 2025... A Walk with the Crocuses

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Monday 24 February 2025... Bob Ross Tribute

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Monday 24 February 2025... Rain and Wind

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Sunday 23 February 2025... Sunday Stroll in the Rain

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Saturday 22 February 2025... No Luck at Stewart Pond

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Friday 21 February 2025... Spring Flowers

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Thursday 20 February 2025... Hidden Trail

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Wednesday 19 February 2025... Today

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Tuesday 18 February 2025... Garden Volunteer Work

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Monday 17 February 2025... Getting Some Work Done!

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Sunday 16 February 2025... Sunday Stroll with Birds!

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Tuesday 18 March 2025... America Sucks

Does the U.S. deserve the Statue of Liberty? Not anymore, one French politician says

oh. My heart. It's being ripped out.

Majority of French, Germans and British think Trump is a 'dictator'

Yeah? Because he is.

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Saturday 15 February 2025... A Nice Day

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Friday 14 February 2025... Still Snow

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Thursday 13 February 2025... Snow Day!

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Wednesday 12 February 2025... Hidden Trail

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Tuesday 11 February 2025... Hidden Trail with Sadness

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Saturday 15 March 2025... The Ides of Trump

Not my most poetical moment, perhaps... but heartfelt!

Written postcards

And yeah, I wrote Dear Donald! Haha, it's just automatic, I didn't even think about it! That pos is definitely NOT dear to me, or anyone.

Oh well. Maybe I'll write some more this weekend.

Pretty cathartic.

Especially the I hate you one! Ha!

Altho, I don't actually hate him or his copresident Musk. I don't care enough about them to hate. But I'm not sure how else to convey my complete and utter loathing!

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Monday 10 February 2025... Garden Tour

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Friday 14 March 2025... The Ides of Trump

Oh. We're doing this again, huh?

Sounds good...

We're working on a short schedule here BUT: Let's do postcards

Write a postcard to that Traitor and Rapist in the White House, and put it in the mail tomorrow, 15 March. The Ides of March.

Postcards to the White House

Back in 2017, I made a free printable PDF... If you have a printer, please feel free to grab this:

Free Printable PFD: Two-Up Postcards to send to the White House on March 15th

And seriously. I've been having trouble taking in all the political news here lately. And I'm really down about what I do read.

The USA is no longer the Leader of the Free World.

And it's becoming increasingly obvious that America will NEVER recover.

Unfortunately, it's not just the people in American who will suffer.

People have already died from the destruction of USAID.

Medical Science has been set back by decades with the destruction of the NIH.

And then, everything that Traitor does is accelerating climate change. With the destruction of FEMA, more people will die after climate disasters.

The Sixth Mass Extinction will continue apace, or accelerate. And at some point, Nature will just break. We won't be able to grow food enough for everyone on the planet.

And at the rate we are going, not even Cockroaches will survive. A runaway greenhouse effect and the oceans will boil. The Earth will be Venus Part 2.

But let's step back to reality here. We're not dead yet!

Download this thing. If you don't have a printer, that's the address you'll write on your own postcard.

Free Printable PFD: Two-Up Postcards to send to the White House on March 15th

If you do have a printer, print that on cardstock. Cut it up. Write your thoughts on the back. Put a postcard stamp on the front.

Postcard stamps are currently 56¢. If you don't have a postcard stamp, a Forever stamp will work as well.

Then drop it in the mail on Saturday!

And now... Remember! We are NOT DEAD YET!

Go cuddle your pet. Hug your human family. Spend some time in nature...

or look at some nice nature pics here!

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Sunday 9 February 2025... Sunday Stroll

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Saturday 8 February 2025... Todays Walk

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Friday 7 February 2025... Spring is happening!

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Thursday 6 February 2025... Getting Organized!

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Wednesday 5 February 2025... Today with Reading

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Tuesday 4 February 2025... Today

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Monday 3 February 2025... Today

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Sunday 2 February 2025... Sunday Stroll

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Saturday 1 February 2025... Today

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Saturday 8 February 2025... About The Rants, part 1

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Wednesday 12 February 2025... A Screaming Shit Fit

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2025... Archived Blog Posts

January 2025



2024... Archived Blog Posts

January 2024 (partial)

February 2024

March 2024

April 2024

May 2024

June 2024

July 2024

August 2024

September 2024

October 2024

November 2024

December 2024



2023... Archived Blog Posts

February 2023 (partial)

March 2023

April 2023

May 2023 (partial)

June 2023 (partial)

July 2023

August 2023

September 2023

October 2023

November 2023

December 2023



Saturday 16 July 2022... New Osprey Nest!

So I've looked at a map, and I hope I get around the new Downtown Riverfront Park without getting lost this time. It's closed because they are using it for the World Athletics Championships, which started yesterday and runs until the 25th.

This amazing mural just outside the Rose Garden was finished just in time for the Championships.

Mural of birds and roses

And, of course, you can't go by the Rose Garden without obsessively taking photos of the roses.

Strike It Rich, Grandiflora rose

Grande Dame, Hybrid Tea rose

And then we gotta check the Osprey nest on the other side of the river. There's one child there today, and she takes off ... only to make a loop and come back to the nest.

Osprey flying back to the nest platform

Osprey lands in the nest

XXX... Goal: Finish this post!

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I'm archiving the 2022 posts...

January 2022


February 2022


March 2022
Story of nesting Anna Hummingbird begins here!


April 2022
... And the nesting Hummer story continues here, until the babies fly away in mid-April!


May 2022


June 2022


July 2022





2021... BLOG POSTS

(completed 28 May 2023...)

January thru July 2021 Archive

August 2021 Archive

September 2021 Archive

October 2021 Archive

(No entries for November 2021)

December 2021 Archive

Goal: revisit August 2021... Road Trip to Utah!

And then keep filling in posts from there thru the end of 2021.

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2020... BLOG POSTS

(completed 27 Dec 2020 thru 5 Jan 2021...)

2020 Archive... January thru July

(posted 21 Apr 2023...)

2020 Archive... Aug thru Dec

GOAL...

Revisit the Aug thru Dec archive page and add photos and clear out the xxx!

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2019... BLOG POSTS

(Posted 22 Dec 2020...)

The new archive is HTML5, and completely validated!

2019 journal entries

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2018... BLOG POSTS

(Posted 18 Dec 2020...)

I have managed to move all of the 2018 journal entries into an archive page. I did not write very much in 2018, so I decided not to divide them up into months, like I usually do.

The new archive is HTML5, and completely validated!

2018 journal entries

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2017... BLOG POSTS

(Posted 19 Dec 2020...)

I have managed to move all of the 2017 journal entries into an archive page. And again, I didn't write very much, so the posts for the entire year are on one page.

The new archive is HTML5, and completely validated!

2017 journal entries

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Welcome
rifts avatar
I am rift vegan!

I live in the Pacific Northwest of the USA, with my Partner in a tiny townhouse. I am vegan for ethical and environmental reasons, my love for animals and nature is a very important part of my life.

This blog is currently a place for the photos I take while out walking.
Topics include...
Nature! Flora, Fauna, Funga and Phenomena.
Clouds and the fog on the hill.
Trees, native plants, blossoms and botanicals.
Wildlife! Mostly birds and squirrels. Occasionally other creatures, including bugs.
Reading and Journaling.
Veganic Gardening.
Rants!

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Sat, 08 Jul 2023
Partner's Mom passed away
early this morning.




Yep, you can email me. and you can write to me.
Email

rift vegan
PO Box 23724
Eugene OR 97402
USA


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