…as viewed from Nutrea Henge (sun rises directly over Mt. Hood on the equinoxes).

A Great Egret foraging at Nike World Headquarters, Washington County, Ore. I think She’s hiding her feet so the shoe police don’t kick her out for not wearing Nikes.

Another beautiful morning in the valley

A nice crisp morning in the valley today.

A little behind here, but here’s what the front door of Chez Wacky looked on Halloween. Before all the lights were up and pumpkins carved, little Miss Missy intimated that it was kind of a half-cussed attempt at decor. When all was said and done, I think she agreed it was a worthy effort.

moon keepaway

Originally uploaded by Steve Rawley

Helping the moon rise on a fine Autumn eve.

I’m going to start calling our house Nutria-henge. On the Autumnal Equinox, the sun rose directly over the peak of Mt. Hood. Ten days later, it’s slipping south.

The sympathetic vibration of wood has brought me great pleasure on this plane. Even though its first purpose is aural, there is great visual beauty in a finely purposed slab of wood. Herewith is a photo appreciation.

Do me a favor; if you’re interested in these photos, view full screen. (After you press the play button, click on the little four-arrows icon in the lower right corner.)

The weather’s wetter, which means…

the froggies are back, which means…

the snakeys are back.

Junior and I have gone from being fascinated by snakes to being kind of creeped out by them (after our snake ball sighting last weekend).

Oh, and we had another mantis sighting today, but we didn’t get any good pix. Here’s one from a couple weeks back.

Jr. and I spent the afternoon at Tualatin Hills Nature Park doing a little bit of a scavenger hunt. “Something a deer might eat” was easy, since we saw a couple deer eating leaves right off the bat. Jr. noticed there was no check box for “snake” (he frequently declares on our nature walks, “We’re not going home until we’ve seen at least one snake or a frog”), but we decided “Something a bird would eat” covered it, since raptors love snakes.

It wasn’t long before we started seeing snakes. Then more snakes. Then a great big ball of snakes. Holy smokes, never have these two boys seen so dang many snakes!

(The girls, meanwhile, were dealing with their own special kind of wildlife at the mall.)

I drive past this 222 acre preserve on my way to work every day, but this is the first time we’ve visited. We’ll be back!