Category Archives: nature

moving mountains

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mountain 2

Some days the mountain sparkles in the sun with its snow-covered slopes. At other times it is invisible behind clouds and fog and – sadly – smog. But it’s always there, always a touchstone when crossing the bridge that takes me from my town in to the bigger city. Another mountain, easily distinguished by its volcanic rounded top, is more of a surprise when it appears, as I can’t seem to remember where to find it. Does it move across the landscape when I’m not looking? I have to keep my eyes on the road at least part of the time, and it would be easily missed. A third mountain is even wilier, and sometimes I mistake it for the first. Perhaps I need to concentrate more to get my bearings. Or maybe it’s just hard to see the mountains for the molehills.

branches in the wind
go to ground in my garden
dog hunts scent of birds

NaPoWriMo Challenge, Day 12: Write a haibun that takes in the natural landscape of the place you live. 

Cycles: Winter

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winter a

to flaunt it’s might and callous heart
winter coils its heavy hand
with whetted shards of tempered ice
impales autumnal sleeping land

in shocked surprise sap runs to ground
bare limbs must hide in rooted place
blending with gray-tinted skies
to weather winter’s raging pace

rough-edged façade belies the life
ensconced beneath the frozen ice
rogue insects wait to till the earth
once released from winter’s vice

at slightest breeze of warming air
winter cedes its thawing ground
blustering in feigned protest
as nature cycles spring around

NaPoWriMo challenge day nine: write a poem in which something big and something small come together. “Big” weather meets “small” life forms.

In Search of my Future Favorite Place

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This week’s Daily Post photo challenge is to “share an image of your happy place, a secret spot you love, or a faraway location you return to again and again.”

Hmmm. I’ve thought about this for a couple of days now, and I’ve come to the truly sad conclusion that I really don’t have such a place. My subsequent conclusion is that I really need to find such a place.

The closest setting I could think of is the trail that runs along Burnt Bridge Creek not far from my house. It’s got some scenic spots that I like to return to and watch the ducks swimming down the creek, or watch Great Blue herons fishing from the banks.

But the “trail” is really an eight foot wide path of asphalt which roughly follows a strip of land cleared for a utility right-of-way, where hefty power lines hum and crackle overhead as they span from bulky tower to bulky tower. So, yeah… it’s not really a “commune with nature” kind of experience.

Nonetheless, I keep returning to the trail. Below are photos of one place on the trail where I have photographed the creek on a number of occasions.

(Note to self: venture out and discover my new favorite place.)

fave2

November 2014

fave1

April 2015

fave3

May 2016

fave4

March 2018

The Daily Post weekly photo challenge: Favorite Place

Nature, naturally

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When I think about the best parts of living in the Pacific Northwest portion of the United States, I think of the diversity of nature. With my home situated near Portland, Oregon, I am just hours away from beaches, forests, mountains and high desert (with the occasional urban area thrown in).

This week’s Daily Post photo challenge asks us to show images of where we live. I just happen to have a ton of photos 😉 , but I’ll narrow it down to a handful.

Oregon Coast

tour 1

The Pacific Ocean near Oceanside, Oregon

Forests

tour 4

Ochoco National Forest, Oregon

Mountains

tour 3

Mt. Saint Helens in Skamania County, Washington State. This volcano erupted most recently in 1980.

High Desert

tour 2

Painted Hills near Mitchell, Oregon

And of course, the city where I live, Vancouver, Washington

tour 5

Columbia River and the Vancouver, Washington river bank.

To see the sights of where others call home, go to The Daily Post weekly photo challenge: Tour Guide