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June 14, 2026June 12, 2026

Summertime

The morning’s watering left droplets on the lavender

We wrapped up the last of the spring projects . . . planting, weeding, and general yard work.

Our yard work philosophy focuses on using drought resistant plants and drip irrigation. This conserves water, as well as our work load, while keeping the habitat around our house very bird friendly.

June days seem to start out cooler and never reach blistering hot. That will change in July.

For now, trips to the river don’t require regular shifts to stay in the shade.

Attempting to drop a dry fly above rising fish

The last couple of fishing excursions have included late morning caddis fly hatches.

The conditions have been perfect for dry fly fishing. Once the swallows start diving we know the hatch is on.

Paired with the temperate early summer weather, these trips to the river have been great.

Bird activity has shifted. Fledglings are out and about and there is frequent movement along the river’s edge.

We sighted a young osprey perched in the snag dominating the opposite bank. He appeared to have taken a recent dive into the river, and was busy air-drying his feathers.

JQ identified another new (to us) bird. It was a a medium-sized flycatcher called Say’s Phoebe. It has a distinctive pale orange breast and feeds mostly on insects.

Say’s Phoebe named after Thomas Say, an American naturalist

Forecasts are for more of the same this coming week . . . cool mornings and warm afternoons. Heaven!

Colorful spikes of lupine have started to appear in the high desert

We plan to spend a few days at the coast celebrating Jack’s little sister’s birthday . . . then visit old haunts before the heat of the season sets in.

June 7, 2026June 7, 2026

A Trip to the Library

At least once a week we make the trek to the Crooked River. This week was no different.

That journey usually takes us past the site of Deschutes County’s new Central Library. It’s been under construction for a bit more than a year, but this month it opened.

The thing about libraries is that you don’t need to search through stacks to find a book, movie or magazine.

The internet has put the library online and most of our reading involves connecting to a website and downloading a borrowed e-book or audio book.

Physical books can be tracked via the library’s catalogue and a visit to our local branch makes pick up quick and easy.

But there is something nice about craning your neck reading titles on a row of books. You walk into the genre and start to find reads you never knew existed.

The apps, like Libby and Hoopla are great search tools. However, prowling the shelves of the library will often bring a forgotten author back to your attention or a book cover will spark your interest in ways no computer search can.

Lots of natural light and places to read

The new library is beautiful, as well as cleverly laid out.

Along the outside walls are massive windows and lots of nooks with comfortable chairs, desks and tables to review that stack of books you pulled.

Shelving takes up the middle ground and then in the center of each of the three floors are closed work spaces.

Some are staff offices, but many are study carrels, meeting spaces and even a MakerSpace.

Not sure we’ll visit there often, it’s kind of out of the way, but they did an excellent job of making a library that invites a visit.

May 31, 2026May 30, 2026

Rainy Days

Being retired allows you to pick and choose the activity, as well as the day.

The crux of this is . . . we avoid weekends and holidays, regardless of how nice the weather.

Not to begrudge the wage slaves their Memorial Day weekend, but as the campsites started to clear, the dark clouds rolled in.

Tuesday arrived blustery and gray, so by midweek the storm clouds had bunched up overhead and the rain moved in. This dampened our plans. But being resilient, we shifted to more home oriented projects and waited for the inevitable sun’s return.

Last week’s trip to Portland netted us a stack of light fixtures and accent pieces for our ongoing house update. Sooo . . . we spent some of those rainy days installing stuff.

Evening thunderstorms roll through, usually moving north or west along the eastern side of the Cascades. The sky opens up and for a few hours there is sunshine.

Summerlike weather is returning to the forecast next week, so we’re planning accordingly.

For now, we keep working through our house projects.

May 24, 2026May 23, 2026

Strawberries

Strawberries . . . the harbinger of summer we’ve been waiting for. We acquired a half flat of “fresh from the field” berries at Nanneman Farms stand on a brief road trip this week.

The weather has been a bit janky these last few weeks. We woke up to a fresh dusting of snow early this week. We were starting to think summer may never get started.

Then the days warmed and forecasts brightened. We figured it was a good time to head west over the mountains.

Portland, OR. street view from Powell’s City of Books

Our destination, Portland, Oregon . . . primarily to visit family and friends. We did manage a trip to Powell’s City of Books, all of which has been on the ‘to-do list’ for a few weeks.

For 30 years we lived on the edges of the Rose City, so there’s no novelty in a trip to the city, but Powell’s is difficult to replicate in any location.

Most of our reading material these days is supplied by the local library and a majority of that is ebooks. Technology has profoundly altered our relationship with books.

You don’t do a quick stop at a book store . . . especially this one.

Independent authors, which make up a large portion of our reading material, frequently only distribute via eBook. JQ has become an avid audio book “reader”.

So, between Libby.app, the county library system and Hoopla our reading material lives in a tablet or e-reader.

We’ll avoid the Cascade range passes as avenues of travel from November to May. However, when the fresh fruit comes into season the Willamette Valley becomes a destination . . . our “go to the source” location.

Moving between the high desert and the coastal rain forest makes the trip that much more interesting.

As we get into the heart of fruit and produce season there will be more quick trips to the farm stands in the valley.

Nanneman Farms in particular offers seasonal berry varieties you’ll never see on the shelves of your local mega-mart.

May 17, 2026May 16, 2026

The Edge of Summer

Snowmelt fills the small ponds along Cascade Lakes Highway.

It got 80 degrees out this afternoon, but the day started just above freezing.

It’s a time between lingering winter storms and full on summer heat . . . the shoulder of summer to lean on.

Upper Deschutes River was clear of snowpack early this year

School is still in session, vacationers are at minimal numbers, and the weather is typically sunny, but nearly always dry. This year we’re able to get into the Cascades nearly a month early.

That will likely come back to bite us before summer’s end. For now, we pull on a sweater as we leave the house, knowing it will be shed when the day warms.