Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
Musings on cats, travel, gardens and life
Rise/Set – Weekly Photo Challenge
What could be better for this week’s photo challenge than Sunrise and Sunset? It’s impossible to pick just one picture so I will give you a few of my favorites from recent travels.
First, Sunrise!
I’m not much of a morning person so I don’t often get many of these. But a couple of years ago we were on the island of Kauai (my first and only time) when a hurricane was forecasted to land early the next morning. Needless to say I slept light and arose early enough the next day to catch this wonderful sunrise. Fortunately the hurricane failed to materialize.
This next picture was taken in Florence over the Siuslaw River on a trip to the Oregon Coast last year. According to my husband, the early riser, it started out in shades of brilliant red. Still, I was happy to catch the unfolding golden colors over the river.
Sunset!
No early rising necessary, so I have quite a few more pictures of the sun setting in my collection, which makes it very hard to choose just two. But here you go. The first is from Lincoln City during the same trip to the Oregon Coast last year. You can’t lose with a sunset over the ocean.
But they’re pretty spectacular at the Grand Canyon too, where I took this photo last fall.
That is all.
~ Susanne
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Columbia River and Ginkgo Petrified Forest
Starting from the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, the Columbia River winds through my home state of Washington before flowing into the Pacific Ocean. I like to sing Woody Guthrie’s song whenever I cross the River.
“Green Douglas firs where the waters cut through
Down her wild mountains and canyons she flew
Canadian Northwest to the oceans so blue
Roll on Columbia, roll on!”
Last weekend before we crossed the River at Vantage, we stopped first at Ginkgo Petrified Forest, where the stony trees seemed to glow under gray skies.
According to Wikipedia, “Around 15.5 million years ago, the region was lush and wet, home to many plant species now extinct. A number of these trees were buried in volcanic ash, and the organic matter in the tree trunks was gradually replaced by minerals in the groundwater; the resulting petrified wood was protected for millennia by flows of basalt. Near the end of the last ice age, the catastrophic Missoula Floods eroded the basalt, exposing some of the petrified wood.”
The visitors center was closed and so after a short walk we headed to the other side, stopping to take in the vast size and beauty of the mighty Columbia, flowing silently under dark and heavy clouds.
The view of the River was amazing as was the view of these wild horses above (officially called ‘Grandfather Cuts Loose the Ponies.’)
It was well worth the stop on both sides.
~ Susanne
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The Kitties and the Catnip
I used to have a nice patch of catmint growing next to the fence, a bit ratty looking at times but loved by both kitties. One day, after a zealous weeding frenzy, my husband asked me to come out and take a look at his work. ‘Oh!’ I had replied – ‘I hope you didn’t take out the catmint!’ – which of course he had. So…. off to the store I went to get some more but instead of finding the prettier catmint I found the better known catnip and brought it home with other herbs and flowers. I left them together in the box on the deck until they should be planted.
Benji was the first to discover the catnip. ‘What’s this?’ he thought to himself.
I removed the catnip from the box so he could get a better look. And a taste. Until a state of euphoria set in.
The catmint never did that to him so I deduced that catnip was indeed more potent. I removed a few of the leaves for him to enjoy before bringing the plant into the house so as to save it. Enter the Tiger who started sniffing around the kitchen looking for the goods. ‘I know it’s here somewhere,’ he said to himself.
Fair is fair, I thought, and so I removed a couple of leaves for him and off he went, to wherever cats go under the influence.
Good stuff that catnip.
Can’t wait to get it in the ground.
~ Susanne
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Favorite Place: Lake Crescent
For this week’s photo challenge I take you to one of my favorite places: Lake Crescent on the Olympic Peninsula in my home state of Washington.
.It exudes beauty, calm and peace. I wish I were there right now. How about you?
~ Susanne
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From Winter to Spring
Yesterday’s trees looked ragged and black against the cloud filled sky.
Today’s sky was bluer and clouds were fewer to let us know spring has arrived.
~ Susanne
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Happy Birthday Tiger!
“Happy Birthday Tiger!”
“Really Sue? It’s my birthday? How old am I?!”
“You’re ten years old Tiger! In fact you and I are almost the same age in cat years! But you haven’t changed a bit! I found a picture of you when you were a kitten – you still have those gorgeous green eyes!”
“Aw thanks Sue. You haven’t changed a bit either! Though I can’t say for certain since I didn’t know you back then. How old are you anyway in human years?”
“Sorry Tiger. Females never tell their real age, especially the human species.”
“I understand, Sue. I’m sensitive too.”
“I thought you would. Happy Birthday Tiger!”
~ Susanne and Tiger
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March Skies in Color
It’s the last week of winter and the sky put on quite a show for us here in the Pacific Northwest. Earlier this week I caught this sunrise.
Last night I enjoyed a different color palette with this sunset.
Both were wonderful.
~ Susanne
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I’d Rather be in a Garden.. with Lavender
Life began in a garden and there’s no place I’d rather be. In my garden you’ll always find herbs including my favorite, lavender.
If I don’t get my fill there, I head to Sequim in July, for one of the largest lavender festivals in North America.
And so for this week’s photo challenge
in a garden… preferably with lavender.
~ Susanne
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A Visit to Point Defiance on a March Summer Day
We looked for someplace new to enjoy the warmest day of the year to date – temperatures in the mid 70’s and it’s still winter! We didn’t have to look far; Point Defiance Park just 30 miles south in Tacoma, fit the bill. At 760 acres, with old growth forest, hiking trails, gardens, a living history museum, beaches, zoo and aquarium, it has something for everyone. We’d been to the zoo before but never explored much else. We had a map of the park and decided to start with a visit to Owens Beach on Puget Sound.
We walked the path along the Sound and enjoyed this unexpected view of Mt. Rainier. (I seem to lose my sense of direction when visiting new places and so never know where the mountain might pop up!)
Nearby there was ferry service to Vashon Island. (Maybe we’ll take that trip next time.)
Today was a walk on the beach, looking for pretty rocks to add to my collection and absorbing the sunshine. It seemed like a few other folks had the same idea and may have even called in sick for this foretaste of summer.
We continued the drive around the park, enjoying the views of the sound and mountains on the way. We stopped to walk the Spine Trail into the deep quiet of old growth forest. The green color of life and the fragrance of the woods were therapeutic as always.
We saw some enormous Doug Firs which reminded me of walks through the Redwoods.
I liked how the sunshine lit up the red bark of this fallen tree.
We didn’t have time to walk the entire trail so half way through we retraced our steps and returned to the car. We continued on through the park and stopped by Fort Nisqually but it was closed.
A replica of a Hudson Bay Company Fort and first non-native settlement in Puget Sound, Fort Nisqually was first established in 1833 in nearby Dupont. In 1933 some of the preserved structures were moved to this location and now serves as a living history museum. We’d have to come back later for that. Perhaps when we return to visit the gardens as each of them come into bloom – rhododendrons, roses, fuchsias, dahlias, and more! But now we were hungry and it was time to head out for lunch. On our way home the temperature read 73 degrees. Really? On March 12th? Perhaps that’s what global warming looks like in the Pacific Northwest. We’ll take it for today. Temperatures expected to be back in the forties and fifties the rest of the week.
~ Susanne
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A Tiger in the Grass
I found a handsome Tiger resting in the grass where the catmint will soon be in bloom.
~ Susanne
Cats and Trails and Garden Tales 