A little Halloween fun from the late, great John Hartford: "Now, first thing is to say this: Much further out than inevitable, Halloween's thy game. Sky King has come and Wilma's done, Uncertain as it is uneven. Give us today hors d'oeuvres in bed, As we forgive those who have dressed up against us. And need us not enter inflation, butter, liver, onions, and potatoes. For wine is a shingle, ...
Seasons
A Perfect Autumn Weekend Morning
A boy, his cat, his comics and his pumpkin. What more could you ask for? ...
Fall Garden
Fall gardens are an interesting dichotomy. While many plants are winding down and dying away, keeping time with the happenings of Nature all around them, the cool season crops are just getting started. For whatever reason, fall and winter gardening have always seemed a bit mysterious and tricky to me. With the help of hot-houses I feel like I've gotten early spring gardening down, but things I've ...
Equinox
With the official turning of the seasons toward fall, there is much to enjoy and be thankful for around here. The woodshed is filling up with the last of my firewood I cut and split last year, and a load of wood we had delivered. It is mostly thanks to my hard working mountain man, working diligently to get all our seasoned wood protected from the torrential fall rain in spare hours here ...
Wildflower Seed
"Wildflower seed in the sand and wind, may the four winds blow you home again." ~Robert Hunter ...
Spring on the McKenzie River
It's finally here! Happy April! ...
Spring Equinox Eggs
To celebrate the Spring Equinox, my children and I carried out our usual tradition of naturally dyeing eggs. Even in the middle of life's busy shuffle, we managed to fit this in late last night, and I'm glad we did, because they were a cheery thing to wake up to and usher in the turning of the year towards Spring. We have been doing this for several years now, and have our reliable standbys ...
Sowing the Seeds of Dreams
Every day, I am noticing more and more signs of the seasons shifting towards Spring. Green grass and wild plants are emerging from the soil, the biting cold has gone out of the air, the light lingers a little longer in the evening, frogs are singing their choruses at night, and wild geese are returning from their journeys south. As all the wild weed seeds are germinating in the soil and popping ...
A Frost Fantasia
For several days now, we have been socked in under a layer of frozen fog here in the Willamette Valley, and although this has been a somewhat cold and dark mid-winter experience, I have been noticing some breathtaking frozen formations on the trees, plants, leaves, spiderwebs, and even tiny water drops of fog. I often find a lot of cheer in taking the time to notice these things when Winter is ...
First Snow of the Year
Yesterday morning, we awoke to find the first snow of the year had fallen during the night, covering the orchard in a blanket of white. We wasted no time in running out to enjoy the changed landscape and even before breakfast, there were tracks trailing across the driveway and little snowmen appearing here and there. I got a warm fire roaring in the woodstove, some hot coffee brewed, and ...