After five weeks, we returned to the Snake River upstream of Asotin to fish for bass. I caught an 11-1/2 incher on my first cast, and after about an hour and a half, neither of us caught any more, though I lost two lures to hungry rocks.
The day was spectacularly beautiful: sunny, with contour and light accenting the basalt hills across the water.
My husband took all the photos.
Filed under Action & Being, Fishing, Nature, Photo Galleries, Photos, Places, Seasons
A hard rain was falling; it morphed briefly into hail, and ended with the sun returning, evidently indecisive. Minutes before I had picked and stemmed one and a half pounds of Flame grapes.
Hail sparkled for a little while on our deck, and quickly melted under the determined sun.
Autumn’s sunlit colors prevail.
Even set to low heat, the top of the dryer is a cozy spot for thin-furred Effie. The temperature outdoors was 37° when she came in from a morning romp around Effieland, and earlier it had hit 32°.
I had finished my chores and eaten lunch, and decided to go outside to Effieland and pick some more Flame grapes while proprietress Effie napped inside.
I picked a pound and five ounces in a couple of minutes, and it took another 10 minutes or so to rinse and stem the grapes. Effie slept through the whole project, completely incurious.
Flames are now my favorite variety of grape. They are sweet with zing, and festively colorful.
Earwigs tend to like grapes as well. Earwigs are also my least favorite bug. With fair consistency, one will emerge from the grapes while I am rinsing them and race creepily along my hand. One did this as I rinsed the grapes I picked today. I flicked the slithery creature into the drain and provided a hot-water escort to hasten its journey.
Flame grapes
Fields Spring State Park is four miles south of Anatone, Washington (pop. 38). The Park’s vistas, pleasant walking trails, and clean rest rooms ensure our return visits at least once a year.
Red vine maple, an attractive accent along the trail. . .
Fields Spring vista
Craig Mountain Panorama
A fallen fence provides scenic entropy.
Filed under Photo Galleries, Photos, Places, Road Trips, Rural life, Seasons
My husband Vic and I both were moved by the vibrancy of the clouds transiting Hells Canyon’s basalt hills after the rain. He set his video cam on a window sill and timed 30-second intervals for a little more than half an hour. I thought it was striking.
The rain is beautiful, I suppose largely because it was so long awaited. Effie put up quite the Royal Fuss to enjoy its delightful wetness on her fur, and to show me the wonderful mud she will present when her toes step back indoors and onto the polished wood floors. (I honestly can’t remember right now what sort of wood they are, but they are fairly resilient.)
The fires are out, at least for now, and the grey sky bears rain instead of smoke. The soil is well soaked, and the autumn rain has taken up its annual needed and prayed-for roles, one of which is Effie’s happiness.
Effie rockets off into Effieland after some extensive pining.
Filed under Action & Being, Animals, Nature, Gardens, Cats, Effie, Effieland, Home Life, Photos, Rural life, Seasons, Weather
"Thou shalt be a sharer in all that I have, because thou didst so readily become my companion." (Christiana, Pilgrim's Progress)
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