Got Sap?

I love this tree! He has so much character and personality. It looks like a huge tree alien is sucking on a giant straw through the side of his mouth. Of course it helps that he has a green mossy mustache and a froth of white above his lips. He should be in commercials!
Mmmmmm Got Sap?
Sip.
Mmmmmm the taste of Pitch in the morning.
Slurp.
Hic. Here birdie birdie birdie. Hic

Puzzled and confused

I just like the way these two pictures go together. Because at times we ALL are "puzzled" and "confused", and have no one to help answer those burning questions in life. Like where DO all those single socks disappear to from the laundry?

Hung Out To Dry

After yesterday's pounding rainstorms, the leaves are hung out to dry in today's fresh clean dry air.

Barbie's Heart

An amazing heart I found that sooo deserves to be on both Random stuff and Random hearts. As you can see --- a perfect heart!

Snow Fairy

Hey, what's this white stuff on my head?
Why did I take off my boots?
Where is my coat?
Where did the sun go?
Why did I think this dress was appropriate?

This wasn't supposed to happen!

Church Rules

In the basement/maintenance/office area of the abandoned megachurch across the street, I found this interesting hand written sign. Did the church really feel the need to have this notice posted? Since they are now defunct, I will probably never know. But I will have a good laugh.

Lichen

After a brief heavy downpour this morning, the sun came out for a minute or so. I saw the colors of this lichen, and had to get a close up picture. I was astounded at the beauty that I saw! I have not enhanced this photo -- I left that one up to Mother Nature.

Rain Clouds

Gloom ...
Anticipation ...
Black on gray ...
Wet ...
Cold ...
Wind ...

A rainstorm is on its way!

Weird Word Combinations

When vandals destroyed the recreation building of the megachurch across the street, they tore open a bunch of games. One of them was called "Guesstures" by Milton Bradley, based on the time-honored group game of "charades". There are two seemingly unconnected words on each card, and you have a specific amount of time to act out one of those words so people can guess what it is.

The cards were scattered about amidst the trash and broken glass. I didn't even really notice them until my eyes lit on some amazing word combinations. I laughed myself silly, and then picked up as many of the cards as I could carry home. Someday I will go through the rest, when I need a good laugh. Here's to "stupid artist", "pray closet", "nightmare aerobics" and "marbles mouth".

Frazzled Chick

After the paintball fighters left, I found this pattern on a door. To me it looks like a small bird having a really bad hair day ... all frazzled with hair, er, feathers standing on end ... come to think of it, I have days like this myself!

Beware exploding file cabinets!

Be very careful about how you fill that filing cabinet ... you never know when it will "explode!!!", flinging its contents around the room at random.

Wear protective gear at all times!

Warning! Paper cuts require really tiny bandages!

Ice Queen Becomes Old Maid

I decided to check out the puddle where I found the Ice Queen during the winter freeze. Much to my surprise, this beautiful frozen woman has morphed in the springtime ... into the profile of a grizzled old maid! Do you see her outline? Huge nose, jutting chin, a whisper of a smile ...

Beware Sea Serpent!

I happened across this random heart in my little (work in progress) rock garden that I fill with all of my rocky treasures. As I looked closer I realized that this heart is also very clearly a sea serpent! He has his head and bulbous tail raised out of the water, with his long sinuous body looping around in and out of the deeps. I kind of like him -- he looks at home here.

Conversation

I went back to Oregon City yesterday, with several hours to browse the Willamette River. This time I went down the "politically correct" path, complete with handrails, steps, and cement lookout point. B-O-R-I-N-G! The only things I got good views of were all of the fishermen in boats blocking my view. So I jumped onto the rocky shore and started walking (well, climbing from rock to rock) to a point where debris from the December high water was stacked up over my head. Twigs, limbs, branches, trash, all waiting for me to discover their treasures! I took a picture of one particular limb, jutting out into the river. To me it resembled a giant hand holding a very large stick.

When I got home and viewed the picture, I was entranced by the reflection of this huge log onto the surface of the river. I saw what looked like a girl, hair tied back, having a conversation with someone behind her (wearing a hoodie?). What a surprise! What else is to be found in this photo? Who knows!

Hearts on the Move!

I've decided to start a new blog (link! Yay, I did it!), with only the awesome random hearts I have found. I will still post "everything else" to Random Stuff, though! This blog has become one of the highlights of my very busy days, and has brought joy and peace to my soul. Why would I give that up???

Oriental Mushroom Dude

My imagination is probably working overtime here, but when I look at this picture I see the seated profile view of an old Asian man wearing a sun hat, his (cedar sprig) arms crossed in front of his chest. Otherwise, it's just a random mushroom I found in the woods near the stream.

Awesome tree

This wonderful old tree is a Big Leaf Maple, worn by time and weather. The tree is actually much larger than this section, which is at least 100 feet up from the base. We found it yesterday when my sister Beth and I visited the woods of our childhood. So many of the wonderful memories are still there! Deer Valley, Huckleberry Bridge, Museum Tree, Deer Garden, the mud flats ... the same, yet different. As we tramped through the canyon, surrounded by lush forest and the stumps of old growth timber harvested in the mid-forties, I was glad we were given the gift of nature as children. It was fun to introduce my kids to the fairylands of our childhood, to share with them the dreams and imaginations we had as children ourselves.

Beth and I were surprised at how we noticed the same things, photographed the same things, and yet never got the same pictures as each other. I can't wait to explore more corners of the world with my sister and see what we come up with ... the same, yet different. Maybe next time my other sister can come with us? What do you think, Honey?

Glowing Leaves

I love the small, often overlooked things in life. They have their own charm, their own beauty. I try every day to find something unique in the world I see everyday; today it was this blackberry vine glowing in the early morning sun. Have a berry bush kind of day! I will!

LEC Dinosaur

Abandoned building.
Trash.
Vandals.
Broken windows.
Leaking roof.
Pools of water.
Sunshine.
Imagination.

Sunshine reflecting off broken window into pool of water onto wall.

Elusive LEC dinosaur is caught making his rounds.

Eyelash Bush

Just a random picture of a "plucky" little seedling I found just off the big corner of Bell Road. Wonder how it came to be there ??? "Eyes" can't figure this one out.

Pileated Woodpecker

I've heard the strident call of the pileated woodpecker every once in a while for the past several years, but have never been close enough to one to get a good picture. This morning, I nearly lost my breath when a huge bird swooped directly over my head while I was walking near the woods, and landed within 10 feet of where I stood awestruck. He began digging for insects in the rotten, moss-covered tree branch directly in front of me, the red on his head bobbing repeatedly as he ate. I enjoyed the show for about 5 minutes, then he once again flew over my head and left ... never knowing how much his little show meant to me.

Dead Leaf

I almost didn't see it. One wet dead leaf among kabillions of other wet dead leaves in the woods this time of year. And yet it alone caught my eye -- you see it was glowing a soft ethereal tan. Backlit by the late winter sun, it became not just a single wet dead leaf, but a thing of beauty, of peace, of promise. It had to have been put on that forest path just for me, hoping I would notice. I'm so glad I didn't step on it.

Random Hearts

A few more random hearts I have found. This has been fun! On this page I have sidewalk, puddle, BBQ controller, driftwood, and heart leaves with Dow's bike

I'm "tired"

I'm "tired".

Maybe a dip in the hot tub would be helpful!

Found Hearts for Valentines Day

I never could draw a perfect heart. They are always lopsided - one side too narrow, one side too fat, too squat, too long ... I realize now that all hearts are perfect, because real hearts are not all the same. These pictures are proof of that! When I started finding them, I couldn't stop! These are but a few of the random hearts I found over the past few days. Try it!

Friday the 13th

Okay, so I found this horrible doll at the entrance to the woods just behind the chicken pen. I wasn't going to include it here, but hay! It's Friday the 13th! I'm quite sure this doll wasn't always this scary, and is only that way now because it needs a really good bath.
I know some people who are like that .... :=}