Slow Morning

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Well, I've pretty much blown off the entire morning...oh, wait for it...in one more minute, I will have officially blown off the entire morning! I suppose that is something of an accomplishment. So, of course, the first thing I need to do after getting my rear end up off the couch is to sit down and do something truly productive, like writing a blog post. Yes, there's just no end to the productivity here at the Three Cats Ranch. It could be that I'm procrastinating (ya' think?) on doing the housework I have in store for myself today. I'm so terribly excited about doing housework today that I can hardly stand it. And I really mean that...I can hardly stand it, which means I've been sitting all morning.

Nevertheless, I can't let that keep me from my reading friends and family, now can I? So here's what I neglected to tell you yesterday. I walked with Sue yesterday morning, although it was pouring rain. We are nothing if not intrepid.

We know from past experience that when it's been raining a lot, the Fanno Creek Trail (our usual walking grounds) will flood. We also have started at the far end of the trail and walked the other direction in order to get in a good walk before we reach the flood stage. But the best laid plans of mice and men...

Yesterday's walk had us running into flood waters everywhere we went. We kept going in different directions and running into deep rivers of water in wherever we were. Nevertheless, we managed to walk far enough to get in a good day's activity. For one thing, we rounded one bend and flushed out a Great Blue Heron. He (or she) flew around the corner, not too far away, and we rounded the bend to find him (or her) waiting and warily watching us.

Sue had the idea to just keep walking carefully to see how close we could get, and then to get a shot of him or her flying off. They have such an amazing wing span. The picture is a little blurry, but it's still a thrill to see one.

So that was worth a walk in the rain right there. But when we reached this part of the trail, we had no choice but to turn around and make our way back to our cars. Sue and I have been walking this trail for ten years, and we've never seen flooding like this.

To give you some idea what I'm talking about, keep in mind that we were standing on the bridge that spans Fanno Creek when I took this picture. It has overflowed its banks and is flowing through this park and back into the creek to the right of this image.

Sue climbed up on this rock and said, "I think we can make it!" To which I responded, "Sure, you go right ahead! I'll be standing right here with the camera while you 'make it'." Yeah, I'm always at the ready to take pictures when a friend falls in the water and drowns. I used to be a lifeguard, after all.

For the most part, we walked without getting rained on, and we enjoyed ourselves as we always do. Sue and I do a lot of laughing on our walks.

So then this morning, the sun was shining, and the light was so pretty on the leaves. I had to go out and take a few pictures. I showed you this tree the other day, and it was just beginning to turn. It is our best autumn leafy tree. So many colors, and it's still changing.

In this image below, you can see that the right side of the tree is still mostly green.

And just look at that dwarf Japanese maple there in the foreground. When I was out about five days ago, it hadn't even started changing yet. Now, look at it!

We have some red leaf maple trees on the other side of the house, but those look better in the setting sun. I'll try to remember to get out and shoot those a little later...of course, I'll need the sun to cooperate as well, and that is never a given at this time of year.

So I think I've run out of things to waste time and keep me from my housework. I might find time to sew today, but I've been playing all week. Time to get busy doing some less enjoyable stuff.