Month: August 2011

Pt Defiance Garden, Again

If you love flowers, this might be the best time of the year to visit the Pt Defiance
“Rose Garden.” Although some of the early-blooming roses are past their prime, late-blooming varieties, like this yellow rose

roses

and yellow-red rose

A Yellow-Red Rose

are at their very best.

More importantly, the dahlias are in their prime, too. Virtually all the dahlias were in full bloom. Whether you love traditional varieties like this purple-white beauty

Purple and white dahlia

or more unusual varieties like this one,

Orange-Yellow Dahlia

you’ll find something to love. My only problem was that the sun was so bright that the brilliant colors were overwhelming, and it was sometimes hard to make the flowers look “real.”

And the Living is Easy

Considering how much of my time is spent alone walking and camping, recent weeks have been downright hectic. I’d just barely finished camping with my kids for two weeks when Leslie’s brother Jeff and his wife Debbie came for a visit. Luckily they enjoy walking nearly as much as we do, so we took them to Theler Wetlands for a walk, along with granddaughter Mira.

It must be late summer because the Cedarwaxwings are back feeding on nearly-ripened berries.

Cedar Waxwing

I even managed to capture a shot of (I think) a Hammond’s Flycatcher,

Hammond Fly Catcher

though it wouldn’t surprise me if if was another kind of flycatcher.

As I suspected, the Goldfinches were out in numbers taking advantage of the thistles that have finally bloomed. We saw lots of Goldfinches.

Goldfinch feeding Young

However, I think this is my favorite shot,

Goldfinch in Thistles

a perfect illustration of how easy living can be in the summer.

Life is also easier if great-uncle Jeff is willing to carry you the last half mile up the hill to the parking lot.

Mira and Jeff

Another great summer day.

Hummingbird Redux

The Crocosmia was so late this year that I didn’t get many hummingbirds until mid-July, and by then I was into backpacking and hiking in the mountains. As a result, I haven’t spent lazy mornings sitting on the front porch swing waiting for them to show up. Instead, I’ve glanced out semi-regularly and grabbing my camera if I do see a hummingbird.

Needless to say, that (lack of) technique hasn’t resulted in as many good pictures as in past years, but it’s hard not to get some good shots when you grow these hummingbird magnets:

Hummingbird

Of course, after five years of shooting hummingbird shots, I’m getting a little jaded and it’s getting harder and harder to get a shot that is as ones I’ve shot in the pass. This one

Hummingbird

is probably the only one I won’t end up deleting because it’s a different pose than I’ve gotten in the past, and reminds me of how amazing their flying abilities really are.

However, I couldn’t imagine going a whole year without publishing at least a couple of hummingbird shots; no matter how many times I see them, they always amaze me.

We Are Family, Too

The best thing about last week’s trip to Mount Rainier was sharing it with Tyson and his family. As an avid environmentalist, I’m constantly amazed when people say we’re more concerned with trees and wildlife than we are people, and, as far as I am concerned, nothing could be further from the truth. Experiencing Nature is a vital part of what it has always meant to be “human.” The best times I’ve spent with my kids have been while hiking or backpacking.

Unfortunately, Tyson maintains a pretty hectic work schedule, and even though he was officially on vacation, he got a phone call when we were at Paradise, the only place you could actually get cellphone reception.

Tyson on Phone


It almost seemed heretical to me to be talking business while on the mountaintop, but here I was taking photographs for my blog instead of focusing on the moment and interacting with those who were there.

Loren Taking Photograph

Luckily, I was able to rationalize that I was taking photographs so that I and the others would remember this trip in the future.

I’m not sure that hiking is really Zoe’s favorite activity, but she’s actually a pretty good hiker, even if she’d prefer to listen to her iPod.

Zoe Walking Down Trail

It wasn’t long, though, before she’d put away her headphones and was helping us take pictures of the Avalanche Lilies along the trail, pointing them out before we could reach them.

Logan, the oldest, was an even better hiker and spent most of the day in front with Jen, except when he waited for us to catch up with him.

Logan Waits for us to Catch Up


I’m not too sure about Sydney, the baby, though. At this stage she wouldn’t even consider hiking without her iPod, and wanted to be carried much of the time.

Sydney

Luckily she’s still young and hopefully before long she’ll be keeping up with her brother and sister. I’m pretty sure that her mother loves hiking or she wouldn’t have gone to all the effort it took to make this hike take place.


Jen and Waterfall

Personally, I don’t know of a better way to build family togetherness than to go camping and share the joy of a beautiful hike.