kitchenmage

OFVP: It Came From the Northwest

...and if you never see me again it is because that freaky looking cloud really was the aliens...

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Wordless Wednesday: It's Very Beautiful Out There

Once upon a time a small person who was having a rough time came to stay at our place — her self-designated Happy Place — to get a break from the hot mess difficult times at home. Early one morning, while the world was barely awake and nearly silent the girl gazed out over the small lake next to the house, sighed a sigh as big as her whole body, and solemnly said, "It's very beautiful out there."

We looked, seeing it through her eyes. We looked at the purple and rose fuschias leaning over the edge of the lake; the fractal-flock of birds swooping and dipping until it seemed their wingtips must be wet; the splashes of cloud poufs reflected in the still water.

Mostly, we looked at the wee one's quietly shining face and one of the first few smiles she had shown that visit.

She was right. It is very beautiful out there.

The house by the lake (sadly, a rental) is long gone and the small one is happily grown. My morning color is less dramatic here, being mostly hidden in mist that rises from the creeks that run amok on the valley floor but the sunsets...oh my, the sunsets.

They are very beautiful indeed.

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Soothing Sunset for a Stressful Week

The interwebs are burning up with chatter about Haiti and each image is more painful to look at than the last. The world, which seems so small in these days of the Internet, is suddenly both huge and tiny: the people in pain are our family, yet they are so distant that all we can do is ache...and write checks. (I recommend Doctors Without Borders via the web , or a $5 donation by texting "DOB" to 90999.)

This is not that. 

This is a momentary break. A brief moment of beauty in a high-stress week.

Breathe.

Spike comes for a visit

One thing that I have really missed in this time away from the fog valley is the critters. Being spoiled by having a local elk herd that tromps through the neighbor's fields makes it hard to move to a place where the local fauna is rare...and small.

Missing my hoofed buds as I do, I have been delighted in the last couple of weeks to have new creatures visiting. Take Spike, for example, who stared appearing in the cool grass under the barn overhang when the thermometer headed towards 90 a couple of weeks back. He has been back daily, emerging from the slope above the barn to lie amongst the clover and nibble. When the sun dips behind the cedars to the west, he wends his way down the path into the woods beyond.

Day before yesterday, a doe came down from the same hill with a tiny spotted fawn who looked like it might be her first trip out into the big world. I've got the camera ready for their return and my worktable has a view. Wish me luck!

Instant waterfront!

Under the old rules (as if I had any), this would be an occasional fog valley photo - except that this is an occasional theOtherCity photo and I just don't want to create a new category. This is my pasture. Or more precisely, this is my pasture on floods. Any questions?

ofvp: webs in the mist

It may be coming up on Fall but that isn't so bad. It simply means it changes to a different kind of beauty.

a little chicken? (update)

This is actually a test post to help figure out why my new posts aren't showing up on my main page. I think they are a little bit chicken. Not even as chicken as this lovely critter, just chicken enough to hide.

later that same evening...

Turns out that my main index page got deleted somehow. Oops! I've been mucking about in templates and such lately but I am pretty sure I didn't do it on purpose. in any case, it's fixed and now I can go back to writing up all the stuff that I haven't gotten to...

Three little lambs

It's spring and I would be here, except that there are things like this out there! Saw these guys on the way to the CSA and farm market. I love the spray paint - there are a couple hundred sheep and they are sprayed several different colors, makes for a weird looking field!

ofvp: snow day in the Pacific Northwhite

I'm still editing, which is a good thing because it's clear I'm not going anywhere today. My day has been a string of reproachful looks from furlings; apparently the kittens are disgusted that we let this happen, because I do control the weather, you know. They are predicting temps down to the teens or lower (!) tonight, but the snow-muffled world is lovely, and since my toes are warm and my tea is hot, it's not such a bad thing. (btw, we've got only eight chapters to go, real posts resume soon...)

ofvp: batman's web

If you look closely at the lower right wing, you can see an ice crystal...three hours later, I was outside barefoot in a t-shirt.

Welcome to fall in my fog valley.