Cookie cutter world

Okay, so the other night I was watching Law & Order, SVU. Elliott's mom was portrayed by a stunning older actress who did so well acting like a bipolar crazy-sane artistic woman who refused to admit she had a problem, that she should have won an award. She was great and I adored her!!!

Her granddaughter ended up being severely bipolar as well, with the choice of going either to prison or to a mental institution. Elliott confronted his mom about her past psychotic "episodes" with the hopes of getting her to help convince his daughter to take the institutional approach. She had a smile-cry look on her face, hair wild in the wind, when she answered "In my day, eccentricity was acceptable".

My next altered book page was born, as my feelings about our if-you're-not-like-me-you're-nobody society raged out of me. It used to be you could be "eccentric", "artistic", or just plain "different". Now they have to have names for this, all properly diagnosed and prescribed -- if you dare to not be the norm .. or take your kids away if your house isn't perfect ... or pull you over if you drive an ugly car ... and so on.

This page isn't finished, and won't be for quite some time, if ever. I plan to have anyone who feels "tagged" or "labeled" add their own words. Someday this page may be finished; most likely not until it is completely covered and covered again.
Sigh. Off the soapbox and back to reality, right? They may call me what they will, I still dare to be different.

Hawthorn berry surprise

Sometimes it's the little things that catch my eye. A tiny white mushroom standing stark against a green fern. A red hawthorn berry, in the dead of winter, the only color I see for hours. A spiderweb turned into spun rainbows nestled in dead branches on the rich forest floor.

This lone hawthorn berry surprised me. I had been out tramping in the wintertime woods of browns, greens and blacks for quite some time. For being so small, this perfect red berry seemed to jump out and call to me to notice and appreciate it's beauty. Usually these berries are long gone by the end of January, so I welcomed the surprise of it's presence. Soon my woods will again be full of color ... for now I will treasure this little red beauty and the promise of spring.

Shy Little Mushroom

There has to be a story behind this shy mushroom! I will have to go for a walk tomorrow and search for the story in the woods where fairies play and gnomes stand guard ... yeah, that's what I'll do.

Bright eyed kitty

Maybe I should have labeled this "kitties-uppa-tree". The black cat with the glowing eyes is Junsu, Georgia's friend. Mika is the gray one (my baby). She is constantly climbing "uppa" trees ... and no matter how high she goes, she hasn't gotten stuck yet!

After losing several cats over the last few years, I vowed to never become attached to another. Mika had other ideas. She wouldn't let me remain neutral and wormed her way into my heart with her sweet spirit, loving nature and just plain determination. She is now my faithful companion, foot warmer, and court jester. Love you, Mika.

Rainbow Time!

Cold winter morning
Clear blue sky
Hot fire in the stove
Coffee is perking
The sunrise is here
Look! It's Rainbow Time!

Flood debris

I had a rare moment to myself yesterday, and stopped to look at the flood damage along the Clackamas River near Oregon City. Huge logs had washed up over the sandy banks where we used to picnic. The sand itself had scoured away to boulders and pockets of river-worn rocks. The saplings along the water's edge had trash ... mostly plastic bags and fishing line ... caught nearly 10 feet up their trunks. I found this water-worn tree along the shore, still cradling the stones that it grew up with. I thought it made a very evocative picture.

This Dog Rocks!

I didn't even notice until after I took this picture that this beautiful rock is actually the side view of a dog! He's simply beautiful!

Rainbow net

The many colors of the rainbow revealed in the most unexpected of places ... a spider web, deep in the woods.

Look what you can find when you get up off the couch and look around! Even the smallest of nature's treasures can reveal great beauty ... can spark your imagination ... can color your world with rainbows!

Black, white, blue

These are the colors of winter ... taken on a frosty, clear, cold winter day.
Black of branches, white of frost ... outlined against dark blue of sky.
Makes me crave hot chocolate!

Mushroom family

Twigs catching in my hair, I tramped through the woods, searching for Spring ... I didn't find it. But nestled amidst the chaos left over from this Winter's fierce storms, I found something else.

Mushrooms were everywhere ... a few caught my imagination. A family huddling together amidst the frozen ferns. A lone mushroom, stalk gnarled and twisted, standing tall.

Spring will come soon enough ... I love the season that is.

January Sunrise

I was watching the news when Andy said "wow, what a sunrise!"
I just had to go outside to check, and all I could think was "Wow! What a sunrise!"

Fairy Pearls

Another of Nature's Jewels -- I found a string of fairy pearls!

Waiting for the Fog to Lift

The rains have gone ...
The fog has thickened ...
The sun is trying to peek through ...
It will be a beautiful day!

Naughty photos

Er, I meant to say "Knotty" photos!!! Ha ha ha ha

Too late ...

Too late Harold realized that due to his genetic "roots", escape from the pot was impossible.

Too little, too late

At the abandoned megachurch building across the street, time, weather, vandals and metal thieves have taken their toll, and it is completely destroyed.



This curious work table caught my eye as someone's sad effort to attempt to bring order to a hopeless environment.

Mother and Child Mushrooms

I went for a short walk in the woods today and found this adorable pair of mushrooms. It looks like the smaller one is hiding, and seeking protection behind the larger one.

Shed at Onion Flats

Just down the country road from our house, ducks, snowy egrets, blue herons, and thousands of other birds and wetland critters call this wildlife sanctuary home. It has only been a sanctuary for a short while ... when I was a child I remember this slough of the Willamette River being drained and farmed, hence our affectionate name "the Onion Flats". The nearby road would sometimes flood over during the rainy season ... which in this part of Oregon is pretty much every month between September and June. I can remember when the Onion Flats froze over after one of these floods. My brothers, sisters and cousins and I crawled out over the ice to glimpse the grasses floating in the water underneath. I can still picture the waving fronds of reeds, rushes and grasses underfoot.

This wooden shed has been tucked away at one end of the Onion Flats ... abandoned for as long as I can remember. I have always been curious as to it's original purpose. It was built around the stump of an old tree, long since cut down. Now that the wetlands have been restored, it sits partially underwater for most of the year and won't last much longer.

But I will always wonder about the mystery of it's past, and enjoy the wonder of it's present.

String of Pearls

Another Nature's Jewel I found after the storm was this beautiful string of pearls.

Reading Glasses

I found some old broken reading glasses and just knew they belonged to someone...

Home for the winter

I just had to get a picture of the house during the "Arctic Blast" last month. We kept the fire burning steady for weeks, and the cold outside was evenly matched by the warmth inside.

Nature's Diamonds

After the rainstorm, the jewels appear.
The many colors of the rainbow
Remind us to look at the beauty around us
And be thankful that we live amidst such spendor.

Rare Wintertime Flower

Look - it's a Plunger Flower - "flush" with wintertime blooms! A rare "commode-ity" this time of year ... It's just "plumb" beautiful, don't you think?