A Sleepin' Bee...

 

Good as gold...

 

A tiny wildflower-- just a bit bigger than a quarter...

 

Sharing today with Mersad's Through My Lens

Looking west on the Columbia River, about 30 miles closer to the ocean than where we live.

 

Unsettled skies...

 

Almost like a kaleidoscope...

 

Johnston Ridge just before sunset. The wildflowers are exploding among the remains of the trees that were blown down when the mountain erupted 41 years ago.

 

Wildflowers!!

 

It's too darn hot!!

 

Just a wild rose saying hello...

 

Grass can be beautiful!

 

Surrounded by trees dancing in the breeze...

 

A lot of the snow is gone as we look into the mouth of the volcano. Distance and scale are misleading--the canyons in the 41 year old mudflow are quite large and are miles away. In the foreground the wild flowers are beginning their show. The two red ones are Indian Paintbrush.

 

A very long time ago, this part of the wetlands walk was a log train right of way. Now it's a wonderful place to take a walk in the sunlight.

 

Looking east just a few minutes before sunset at Silver Lake...

 

Late bloomer--- This rhododendron in our back yard is always about 3 weeks behind our others--- But worth waiting for!

 

A very green scene...

 

Sharing today with Mersad's Through My Lens

The ospreys built their nest in the middle of the tugboat docks-- Look closely and you'll see that a small tree has sprouted out of the nest. Things grow everywhere around here!

 

Even here, even now, there is beauty...

 

A portrait of Gracie--- You knew when she had you in her sights.

 

From the 100 year old replica of Stonehenge above the Columbia River--- it's old gods and new gods.

 

Old, and no longer needed-- but I think this old fire truck is happy to be there with the daisies and the trees.

 

Light and shadow...

 

Part II.... Looking across part of Coldwater Ridge, you can see the stumps of trees blown down in the blast--- The Toutle valley is about 1000 feet below. The river has created great canyons in the ash and debris from that third of the mountain that blew off. The spot below is about as far as we got by car in 1981. There was nothing green left-- no trees, no signs of life. But 40 years later the animals and fish are back, and the deciduous trees have grown quite thick. This creates an environment for the native fir, hemlock, and cedars to grow in their shade eventually crowding the deciduous trees out. In the foreground, the wildflowers are beginning their summertime bloom.

 

It was 40 years ago, a year after the mountain exploded, that we first saw it. We drove miles on a dirt track on the valley floor to the base of the mountain. It looked like the dark side of the moon. Now the animals and fish have returned, and the forests have begun their long journey of renewal. We never get tired of seeing it.

 

Not quite as large as a Bald Eagle, but this Osprey is even more beautiful in the morning light...

15 minutes later, and a bit farther on the path...

 

Early on a warm June morning at the Wetlands...

 

Washed ashore...