Images, Ideas, Songs
The parade of colors makes fall a special time to visit the Japanese Garden. But the garden is beautiful beyond the changing seasons. With four visits in four weeks, I had ample opportunity to look away from the brilliant yellows and fiery reds and enjoy some of the more serene parts of the garden. Here are some of the highlights.
(Click the image to go to the full gallery.)
This year, after our cold and wet spring, every seasonal milestone seems to have been 2-3 weeks later than past years. My first fall color visit to the Japanese Garden matched up with near-peak colors last year, but this year had just the first hints of yellow among the greens. With garden visits in four successive weeks, I was able to watch the fall colors as they changed. Here are examples of some of the transitions, with photos from October 21 through November 9. Click on the gallery to scroll through all the photos. Below the gallery, there are pairs of similar views from different dates, and you can drag the arrows right and left to compare each set of two images.
Other galleries from the Japanese Garden this year: Fall Color Highlights, and soon, Timeless Scenes (images from the garden this fall that aren’t focused on the showboat seasonal colors.)
(Click on the gallery to scroll through the photos. The comparisons are below the gallery.)
Here are the same photos, paired up for comparison. Drag the arrows right and left.
This year I was able to visit the Portland Japanese Garden four times in four weeks, October 21 – November 9, 2022, to enjoy watching the changing fall colors light up the familiar spaces. Here is a gallery of some of my favorite photos from these visits.
In an upcoming post, I’ll match up scenes to show the transitions over the weeks. And yet another post will share images from this local treasure less tied to the changing seasons.
(Click the image to go to the full gallery.)
We returned to nearby Tualatin National Wildlife Refuge on the last day before the seasonal trail closed for the winter. In addition to the geese and herons we often find there, we saw many white pelicans (first spotted earlier in the summer with the grandkids), kestrels and flickers, and a pair of eagles.
(Click on the image to go to the full gallery.)
We took advantage of the beautiful fall weather and the absence of summer crowds to get in our first Gorge hike in ages. Latourell Falls is only a 45 minute drive from home (plus traffic), and the first view of the 249 foot lower falls is just a short walk from the parking lot. But the 2.5 mile loop past the upper falls is definitely worthwhile, especially with dry trails.
(Click on the image to go to the full gallery.)
Two years in a row makes it a tradition, right? We spent my birthday weekend on the Oregon Coast with the kids and grandkids, a perfect way to mark the passage of the year. This year we were at Manzanita Beach, a lovely small beach town with a big sandy beach, in a rental with plenty of room for everybody, and all the amenities for eating, relaxing, and hanging out. And foosball! Here are some of my photos from the trip.
You can check out what Nancy wrote about this trip on her blog.
(Click on the image to go to the full gallery.)
We headed out to Neskowin on the Oregon coast last week for a quick getaway, to escape the heat and celebrate our anniversary. It’s always a refreshing reset to listen to the surf, watch the changes of the tides and the play of fog along the coast, and just to see that flat horizontal line in the distance (although I did note the absence of islands).
After exploring the Ghost Forest and tide pools at low tide, we hiked nearby Cascade Head, a Nature Conservancy Preserve that I heard about last year from an elder friend who had worked for the Oregon Department of Forestry. It was an ambitious day, requiring more recovery time than in our younger days, but paying off with stunning views of another piece of the Oregon coastline.
Here are some pictures.
(Click the image to go to the full gallery.)
I was last at Fernhill Wetlands back in December, shortly after getting my new camera. For Nancy, it had been a couple years. Neither of us had ever visited during the summer. Unlike previous trips, this time it was warm, with lots of light. And more young birds crying out to be fed.
(Click the image to go to the full gallery.)
Last Saturday the kids agreed to a bird walk at Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge “on the way” to an afternoon at our house. It was short in minutes and miles, but rich in discoveries and conversation. And they even gave me time to take some photos! Here is a photo gallery from that adventure.
(Click the image to go to the full gallery.)
When the blueberries are ripe, everybody comes to visit! Between the party in the berries and the usual neighborhood gang, this morning in our yard I saw:
and a rabbit.
Click the image to go to a gallery of photos taken in our yard on 7/31/22.
Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch
Who watches over you
Make a little birdhouse in your soul
They Might Be Giants
Discoveries 