Gulliver's Garden

A recent reading of a book on digital photography introduced me to the macro lens view of garden life. The f/3.5 aperture coupled with the "tulip" icon brought me into a Lilliputian world of pollen, ants, flowers within flowers, minuscule new growth and fuzzy framed single blossoms.

Strolling through the garden this morning, having missed the dawn light so highly sought but needing an alarm clock to meet, I found treasures in the focusing ability of my camera to see what the naked eye cannot find: intricate structures of plant and animal life. 



There is joy at seeing the world in minute detail. The petal colorations that escape a quick look come to capture my attention in the macro lens. The tiny but busy life of bugs is fascinating to watch as they busily attend to their food and grooming chores, oblivious to the giant human hovering near. The energy of these little creatures puts our daily duties to shame as we exhaust ourselves in a mere eight or ten hours of work.

Backlighting from the morning sun highlights petal structures and veining.

The growing light level makes it possible to see into the inner form of seed heads and unfurling leaves. The shallow depth of field through the lens gives a soft backdrop to the sharp image of the closest or farthest view. To see the garden at its tiniest gives pause to think of life around us. What charming or intriguing details do we often miss in our hurry to get somewhere? The adage of "stop and smell the roses" really takes on a deeper meaning when looking at the expanding display of a two-toned Rose 'Double Delight'.  Grab your camera and take a macro stroll through the delights of nature right out your back door.

Peach Time!

Red strawberries and cherries are gone. Blueberries are dwindling. But peaches are here! Those golden globes of drippingly juicy sweetness are finally ripening and ready for picking. The trees are kept short to accommodate pickers and the grassy lanes between the rows keep the shoes relatively clean. The bees and yellowjackets are not yet at work as there is not much fruit drop.

Now is a great time to pick and process these delicious varieties for winter eating and baking. The early varieties like Red Haven and Sun Star are freestone, meaning the pits don't cling to the flesh. They are fairly easy to peel when allowed to rest for a day or two after picking. The later varieties will come soon to extend the season with intriguing names such as Elberta and Suncrest.

In addition to canning peach slices or halves, you can mix up pie filling, eight cups per gallon bag, and store it in your freezer for quick winter desserts such as pies, cobbler or crisp. Peach jam is always a favorite, either canned or frozen types. That sweet taste of summer on a chilly fall or winter day will bring memories of warm afternoons rushing back. Peach jam on toast with a cup of coffee in January will quell the winter blues and give you hope for another season of fruit.

Many orchards are close to residential areas. My special field is a mere ten minutes from my front door. Because the season is only 40 days or so long, it is imperative to get out and fill your boxes before regret settles in over another missed crop.  Grab them now and enjoy another fabulous Northwest fruit crop. Don't let any of those sunny peaches fall to waste on the ground. 

Take Me Out To The Ball Game!

A random drawing at a local employer left us with tickets to "batter up!" with the new Hillsboro Hops Class A Short Season team at their new ball field. The setting for this spectacular field, reputed to be the best of its kind in the nation, is back-to-back with the Hillsboro Stadium, a soccer and football facility just off Highway 26 at exit 61. The field, looking absolutely perfect, is entirely artificial including the "dirt" around the playing field.

Under a bright summer afternoon sky, the seats filled up quickly, fans waving styrofoam hands and sporting various team paraphernalia. Seats on the main deck provided a full view of the field plus all the activities in the stands. The getcha-cotton candy-lemonade-peanuts-popcorn hawkers were in full voice, eyes scanning the crowd for raised hands and $5 bills. Their banter with patrons was hilarious as they kept enthusiasm revved in between pitches. Crowd control staff, glowing in their neon green shirts, kept a watchful eye out for running kiddos, fly balls (heads up!!!) and high fived anyone who caught a fly ball. The local paramedics were on hand with ice bags for the stinging palms of anyone trying to catch a ball without a mitt.


In the fight against patron boredom during the slower innings, there was the Bunny Run with little kids chasing a rabbit-headed mascot across the field, the tee shirt toss, the tire roll contest, the eat-the-cookie-on-your-nose contest as well as the seventh inning stretch and multiple attempts at The Wave. The game provided exciting moments of double plays, outfield catches and an over the fence home run as well as lots of fly balls right over the crowd, one even smashing the relish container at the  hot dog stand behind us!

As the sun faded towards sunset, the wind picked up and anyone without a jacket hunkered down for the final four innings. The sky turned golden in the west and pink and purple in the east, the silhouetted  "flying" roof of the stadium taking on the aura of a ship at sea. Fresh air, happy cheers and lively chatter were the reward for this close to home outing. Nature is all around us, just waiting to be enjoyed by your attendance. Grab some tickets and come on out to the ball game!

Willow Prairie Horse Camp

Remember those fun camping trips with the kids? You packed everything but the kitchen sink....no wait, you packed that too! Something for everyone and every possible eventuality. Horse camping isn't much different but instead of hot dogs you pack bales of hay, bags of bedding material, supplements, horse "cookies", saddles, bridles, pads, blankets, buckets of all sizes, rakes, grooming gear and then you start on the human amenities!

Load 'em up!

Lug 'em into the hills.

The lure of wilderness riding and camping fuels horse lovers to work tirelessly to load all possible equine accoutrements and human necessities into shiny trailers and diesel trucks and lug it all up steep gravel roads to remote places of peace, quiet and beauty not experienced in the urban or suburban settings. Even as the animals lacked for nothing, the humans packed in gourmet dining menus of lettuce wraps, watermelon-jicama salad, pit fire bbq'd marinated flank steak (rare), omelettes, "ugly" muffins, baklava, iced tea and the ubiquitous s'mores.

Lantern light dinner

Lettuce wrap happiness

The caravan began on the northern Oregon part of Interstate 5 at 5:30 a.m., joined others halfway south and ended in southern Oregon to pick up the last of the passengers, horse and human. Once we finally arrived in camp, the setting sun spurred us to get the animals settled, get camp basically set up and make dinner by lantern light. We would ride at dawn.

Self-explanatory but necessary?

Pumping water for the horses

Curious campsite deer

Simple fire

It was THIS wide!

Dusty trail ride

Horse Trough Lake

Trail order

Fish Lake

Dog butt hat thanks to Joy

Flawless, a beautiful Halflinger

Esmerelda

Leery cows

Squirrel attack

Simple lunch table

Joy in her fave rest position

Morning riders

The dark of wilderness camping eliminates so many distracting sights and sounds that the dazzling night sky becomes the theater to view. Stars and constellations not visible in the city glow show up brightly against the black sky. The rising moon then lights the ground for those who need to find their way through the shadowy forest. The faint lowing of cattle running on the range bring a gently calming ambiance. Foraging deer step lightly amid the underbrush and busy ground squirrels reconnoiter the campsite for possible attack positions.

Horse bath water warming in the sun

The taste buds are always keener in the crisp morning air, attentive to the coffee resting in the French press, omelette fixings sizzling on the grill. Squirrel bite marks in the bagged but unsecured cocoa mix are a sharp reminder to put all food items in tough plastic bins or in locked vehicles if you want to enjoy them later in the trip.

Trough resident

As the sun rises shyly through the stand of pine, Douglas fir and Hemlock we clean up the breakfast array and begin to tack up the  horses for the morning ride. Hooves stamp in impatience as hides are brushed down, morning flakes of hay are munched and saddles, bridles and saddle bags are loaded on the broad backs of our equine companions. A final snort of water and they're ready to hit the trail. Carrying a park map we head out for a looped trail to view the largest white pine tree on the continent, reputed to be over 350 years old.

The dust kicks up under foot and the horses line up, nose to butt, for a leisurely walk along a narrow, rock-strewn trail that winds through meadows of dry grasses and forests of more lush growth. There are no water-filled streams this trip, the weather being in the high 90's, so we are mindful of the thirst factor as we head for the site. The undergrowth is dry and littered with downed, dead trees, perhaps victims of a pine beetle infestation or small fires. The horses follow the trail as the riders chatter, laugh and point out sights of interest along the route. Hills wind the older horses so rest stops are provided and trail positions rotated so that the same horse is not always in the lead. This develops a more well-rounded equine character and behavior. The click of metal shoes on the rocks is a reminder that these sure-footed beasts have twice the feet to manage as their human counterparts. This provides a more secure ride as one foot slips or stumbles and three are there to catch the weight and balance the animal and rider.

As we approach camp, the pace quickens once the horses smell the familiar stalls with their water buckets hanging alluringly and fresh feed awaiting their stomachs. The scanty grazing along the trail was not sufficient to meet their constant munching requirements. As they are relieved of their tack, the horses settle into their morning snooze and the campers pick up the stalls and rustle up some easy lunch snacks. A dip in the Horse Trough Lake, a.k.a. the water trough, cools one camper after the dusty ride.

In the heat of the day riders rest, relax, read and plan the next ride. The birds are now busily searching for food bits, the squirrels and chipmonks scouring the ground for dropped morsels. The cows trample through the perimeter on their way to the meadow for afternoon cud chewing, calves in tow, bell-necked females keeping the watch. The constant  hum of flies and their occasional bites are annoying and bug spray fails to reduce their attention on us. Hummingbirds flit through the tree branches in search for constant sweetness to nourish their busy wings. Blue jays pair up for a run at the dog kibbles and the squirrels tag team the table when our backs are turned. A failed food security detail amounted to the loss of an entire box of mocha truffle cookies and a dish of fruit, the squirrel last seen dragging a whole apple into the underbrush. We were sure we heard it scream "score!" but it may have only been the cows.

Manure run

The week passed quickly in its busy routine, lazy afternoons and occasional dips in a lake or two, the food cache slowly diminishing but never completely disappearing. The evening campfires gave time for deep conversation, belly laughs and song writing. All too soon we were packing up the gear and animals, wondering aloud why we brought so much "stuff", but remembering how useful it all was. Minimalist campers we are not. The e-port on one tent gave rise to a hilarious list of electronic and electric items the dude camper might think to bring: hair dryer and curling iron, big screen TV, A/C, cell phone chargers, electric blanket. If you can pack it, you can bring it. Nonetheless, next year we are sworn to lug less into the forest as we hone our wilderness women image. Single bucket gourmet meals are the goal! Peace and quiet for the soul. It all works to make us whole. Get out and experience the backcountry for a change of pace and perspective!

Shadowy wilderness woman a.k.a. dudette

Training Ride

The Eola Winery 45 mile bike ride through wine country in the Willamette Valley needs preparation....like lots of miles on a bike, with hills, valleys, curves, traffic, intersections and plain miles of road. Today's training ride roughly followed the Tour de Cure ride route that was held in Washington County. The bicyclists gathered at the Coach's house, rousting him out of bed for an early morning ride. Communications are a necessary part of training. He expected us an hour later, but the Tour de France was on the TV so we had a brief discussion of the finer points of the day's ride in France while sipping coffee and contemplating our own 30 mile tour de jour.

Chilly temps gave pause for clothing considerations, but talk of The Hills tempered any concerns we had. Heat would follow energy expenditures. We followed the leader along a low traffic area route to emerge on to a newly painted bike lane along Evergreen Parkway. We all felt a bit safer as the traffic whizzed by, each traveler in their own designated lane. The countryside soon enveloped us as we took the back roads connecting to Jackson School Road heading north and west.

A stop for a flat tire on the freeway overpass gave the Coach an opportunity to teach the riders about changing a tire. Such skill and speed he exhibited as he quickly replaced the inner tube, remounted the wheel and pushed us on our way. The Hills did indeed provide heat to the lightly clad riders and the chance to practice gearing up and down again and again. The motto is "let your gears do the work and not  your legs." Nice sentiments as the legs screamed in protest at the long, long hill. The summit finally appeared, along with spectacular views of the Tualatin Valley and Coastal range.

Fields of lavender, wheat, corn, nursery stock and other assorted crops rolled into view as we mounted hill after hill. The Coach kept a sharp eye out for approaching cars, calling ahead "car back!" quite frequently. Seems as if many folks were out for a Saturday morning drive today. Just as we arrived at the top of "Pallet Hill", so named for a pallet factory there, another cry rang out. "Flat!" For the second time the Coach pulled out his tool kit, but this time the riders were given a hands on experience in changing the tire tube. It went more quickly this time and confidence grew.

As the miles rolled by, the riders marveled at the vineyards and the vistas from the higher elevations. The downhill coastings were thrilling in their speed but unnerving in that too. Once the hills were conquered, the riders enjoyed a final ten miles of relatively flat terrain, chatting in between passing cars and other bicyclists. By early afternoon we had 30 miles in the bag and were ready for some lunch. The Coach's wife, a fellow rider extraordinaire, prepared a quick feast from her yard and freezer and we dined on the patio, enjoying the lovely yard and garden and conversing over a range of topics as the nourishment elevated blood sugar levels.

By mutual agreement, we will ride again before the big day next month, training so that the long ride will seem like a piece of cake. We are ready to meet the challenge. Dust off your bike and hit the hills of western Washington County for views that will take  your breath away, if the ride doesn't.

30 training miles in the bag!

Lunch on the patio