when autumn winds blow
where will they go when they fall?
and who will listen?
the maple tree, #113
summer
late summer, #112
deep tree shadow’s edge
thistle purple blooms gone white
soon the autumn winds
Dry waterfall, #111
This year the waterfall below Ivan Carper pass is a trickle. On our hike last year at this time, it was raging, filling the valley with its roar. The mountain meadows, although not as green as previous years, are still a contrast to the brown fields of the Palouse we drove through on our way here. Walking up to Minam Lake in the Wallowas, over Ivan-Carper pass to the lake basin, and out following the glacial valley where the East Lostine River meanders, there are also fewer flowers. The plants and the blooms seemed re-energized from the monsoon rain moisture that had come through a day ago. In the rain and the sunshine that followed we walked by Rainer Gentian, St. John’s Wort, Pacific Onion, Pearly Everlasting, Common Yarrow, Sulphuric Flower, Aspen Fleabane, Dwarf Fireweed, and Indian Paintbrush. I’ve never been one to learn the names of things. Camping at Mirror Lake I woke up in the middle of the night to pee and while out had to use my star gazing app to find out the names of stars and constellations. I learned I was seeing Jupiter and Saturn watching Draco flying between Ursa Major and Ursa Minor and the Milky Way spilling into a rising crescent moon. A sad feeling came over me, not having not paid much attention before to the names of things. I’d spent much of my life walking too quickly passing flowers not giving them the respect and appreciation they deserve for the efforts they give, whether it is a hot and dry or cool and moist.
flow in the meadow
purple and green waterfalls
a dusty trail’s edge
July monthly gallery:
Hands, #109
1.
Rolling from the zucchinis she was holding, a green pepper dropped to the floor.
It bounced and rolled to a stop and I bent over to pick it up.
The green pepper is now in my hand, after leaving the hand that she used to pick it up from its place on the produce shelf.
Placed there by the hand of the produce stocker who pulled it from a box placed there by another’s hand.
Picked by the hand of another from a plant in a field grown from a seed planted by another’s.
I stand up and take a few steps, “Excuse me, I believe your dropped this,” my hand handing it back to hers.
a Chickadee sings
up high in a Cottonwood
swirling smoky air
2.
Trees – Summer Winds, #108
1
clip! -a severed branch
within the camera‘s click
falling leaves wither
2.
in the new pole’s light
the meandering vine winds
in old tree’s shadow
3.
distant wild fire drift
willow branches hang in haze
western summer fog
Related Gallery: TREES
Click on any image to view in the gallery. Use the side arrows to cycle through the images. To exit the gallery, click on the “X” in the upper right hand corner.
Summer – Mid-July, #107
Palouse Sky, #106
1.
fell from the night sky
dripping on the sidewalk green
Palouse morning light
Sixty, #105
hardened, sixty years
heart quivers tending gardens
water’s moon ripples
a break in silence
pop! morning sun in cracked skin
a break in sound
under Sitka Spruce
look! who stops to look at whom?
under Sitka Spruce
The June Gallery is now online with additional photographs from the month at home, Castle Rock State Park, Hiking in the Columbia River Gorge and on the Coast. Please enjoy! (Clicking the link above will open a new browser window)
Tierra Del Mar – Portraits, #104
Mid-September#48
Penetrating smoke and haze…
the sun shines
through another day
Picking tomatoes,
A praying Mantis and I…
Surprise each other!
An umbrella’s palette...
blending
in summer raindrops