Happy Halloween Everyone!

Dracu-pumpkin is dying, but I think he'll hang on through Halloween night.  Witchy Witch and Ghost Friend, are our latest creations.  

Just wanted to wish everyone a safe, warm and happy Halloween night!

Cool Stuff! Leaves and Mums.

Fall is so gorgeous this year!  We haven't had the wind like normal to blow the leaves away, so they continue to stay on the trees and turn fantastic autumn shades.  I've really been enjoying my walks and hikes with the leaves in full swing.

Also- our neighbor has been enjoying his latest hobby of growing really crazy crysanthemums. Nothing about these flowers is "normal"- they are huge, wild, weird and meticulously pampered.  Some of them look like curly hair, some look like fireworks- the list goes on and on of interesting shapes, colors and designs.  It's amazing that nature could grow something so

 perfect and intricate.  He just returned from a flower show where he cleaned up on blue ribbons.  

Sunday evening he had all the neighbors over, showed off his ribbons and gave the flowers away.  Lucky for us, we now have some gorgeous arrangements of giant colorful mums!  

Dracu-pumpkin

Here he is.. last night's creation!  Isn't he scary-cute?  Happy "early" Halloween everyone!

The Goodness of Life

Does anyone else out there find it easier to be pessimistic than optimistic?  Nature itself causes us to question, doubt and produces fear for various reasons.  Instead of dealing with something, it's easier to scowl, grunt and brush it under the carpet- keeping that bitterness to fester.  I think as I get older, it's easier to do that.  I've had more practice, I guess.  

Lately, I've felt like I've let too many of those small things fester into a much larger ball of stress. Seems like work "noise" keeps my mind busy and serious with too many details and frustrations (at times) to stop and laugh a little during my day.  Election year- whew.. what's to come?  Poachers in the neighborhood, killing our protected wildlife.  Short days up ahead with darkness at both ends.  

Don't get me wrong.  There are a MILLION more things that are good.  Halloween costumes and happy kids, sunny crisp fall days, Maui vacation in just over a month, progress on house projects, etc.  It's just that sometimes, the bad are "heavier" on the scale than the good.

One way to fight this giant ball of stress and grunts, I've found... is to take a few minutes out of your day and look for something of beauty.  Maybe it's something simple- leaves changing colors, or a phrase or poem that brings warmth.  Sometimes it's kindness that reminds me of how good it feels putting someone else first- letting someone with a fussy infant go in front of you in the line- or a simple courtesy wave when driving.  

The internet is packed with wonderful pick-me-ups and I have a few sites that I visit that put my smile on straight and put some welcome weight on the good things.   I thought I'd share a link to a neat presentation.  It's about 5 minutes, so only click it if you TRULY have 5 minutes to do nothing.. but breathe and enjoy.  Life is an amazing gift.  

Click here for "The Goodness of Life" presentation

Sad Day for Elk...

Imagine my surprise on my walk this morning to come across three elk hooves complete with leg from the last knuckle down in the middle of the road.  First thought "where is the cougar?".

Upon closer inspection, it was a poacher- cleanly cut and purposefully left behind.  The legs were fresh and wet from a passing rain this morning.  I suspect this happened last night.  Hunting is illegal in our area- it's a neighborhood and a protected reserve.

There had been a cow and her calf hanging out near where I found the feet, and I suspect the poacher took one or both.  For the last couple years, the elk hunters can't seem to leave this neighborhood alone.  It's just too tempting for them.  The elk up here are used to seeing people and while they aren't "tame" they are very comfortable looking up from their grass, then continuing to graze when you drive by.  Several of the neighbors have named them, and there are few we have come to know.  I was so saddened by this and all I could hope was that it was done humanely and perhaps the person who took it really needed food.

This morning I had taken my camera on the walk to snap some pictures of the changing trees- luckily I was able to document the situation and report it to the Department of Fish and Wildlife.  After the photos, I gently kicked the legs off the road.  The feel of the hooves bending at the joint as they moved and the weight of the leg made me realize how strong it was, and how healthy this elk had been.  Again, a sigh of sadness.   This had been a magnificent creature. 

As I suspected, writing about this is therapeutic and one of the great things about keeping a blog. Hopefully next spring we will again see a healthy elk population.  I'll spare you the graphic pictures- they are hard to look at.

Annette Lake

This last weekend was cold, crisp and beautiful- a perfect October day.  We took advantage of the afternoon by heading up this beautiful valley to Annette Lake.  There was frost on the ground in places, so despite the sunshine, nature kept reminding us that winter isn't too far away. These photos are a bit out of order as they didn't want to load- then I couldn't seem to move them into order. Anyway, here they are! Enjoy.

This was taken when we arrived back home.  The evening sky was beautiful.



An amazing old log- now used as a bridge...

Need a sunshade, but still a neat picture...

On Friends

Have you ever met anyone that you feel like you've known forever?  Someone that "gets you"- simple as that?  Today I met up with an "old friend"- actually I've known her for over 2 years, but we've never been able to sync schedules until today.  I enjoyed our hike and conversation a lot and I realized how precious having an old/new friend is. 

I believe life delivers friends to us when we need them.  There always is a reason for their visit and a plan for their stay.

*Sometimes we need an "in the moment" friend- say someone who is standing in line at a grocery store who strikes up a conversation about what a great wallet we have.  Maybe we needed them at that moment to give us a confidence builder.  Or simply to make us remember that strangers are often kind people.

*Sometimes we are delivered a "short-term" friend, who comes into our life, then moves on.  This person might be a friend you meet at a part-time job, who ends up going to coffee with you on a bad day- or the woman who used to trim your hair- you could talk to her and not worry that your conversation would go beyond the salon.

*Sometimes life gives us the "forever friend".  This person can pop into your life at anytime, and you will have them forever.  These are the friends that you can call whenever you need them and they will listen, advise, make you laugh or beat you up for having too much self-pity.  They know your life, your choices, and your faults.  They may fade in and out of your life, but they'll always be just a phone call or email away- and you'll pick up right where you left off.

While fate has a plan, I hope that my new/old friend gets added to my collection of 'forever friends'- she'd be a great addition.

Pictures from the past...

Thanks Heather for suggesting www.yearbookyourself.com for some good fun.  The spookiest part about doing this, is realizing how much you look like the women in your family.  I seem to recall some pictures of my Mom and Grandma looking- exactly like some of these!  Who knew I could rock these looks?  

I challenge those of you with blogs to do this and see how you look with the 'fro.  So much fun!

Sexy 70's Mama
Bakin' cookies in the kitchen...
Pretty close to my 80's actual look...
Mom?  Is this you??

Looks so much like my Grandma in her youth...
Here I am looking like my Aunt Darlene in High School...
No idea.. just hilarious...
Yeah..."groove on whitch yo' bad self!"