Non-stop along the cliffs...

The rugged basalt cliffs along the Columbia River--- on the dry side of the mountains...

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Goodnoe Hills Homestead

One is leaning to the left. The other is leaning to the right...

And the cows don't care one little bit!

The elevator at Boyd...

This wooden giant was used for storing wheat.  Trains stopped where the dirt road is now.  A water driven grist mill was on the other side.  A normal person would stand only as tall as the top of the lower window on the left side.  And once again the old schoolhouse is peeking from the top right. 

Boyd, Oregon-- the little school high on a bluff above the grist mill and giant wooden elevator...

Now a ghost town, this was a bustling place 120 years ago.  Boyd was dis-incorporated in 1955.  The wooden grain elevator is quite large and is visible above the trees.  Steam trains and stage coaches stopped here. Now there is only the schoolhouse and the elevator.

Another shot of the old schoolhouse at Boyd, Oregon--- on a bluff above the grain elevator.

Another old schoolhouse-- this one near Goldendale..

The Goodnoe Hills schoolhouse...

The poor old building looks pretty bad these days, so it asked me to take only its good side.  It would look more like the others if someone hadn't put those terrible green shingles on the outside 60 or 70 years ago...

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The 8 Mile Schoolhouse

Long abandoned--- but I wonder why the windows on the side were closed up at some point.

A two room schoolhouse on the high plains--

The old classic, Boyd schoolhouse...

So many of our old favorites are being threatened by wildfires on the dry side of the mountains...

Plywood tables and benches, and an old piano-- perfect for potlucks and sing-alongs at the old Friend School...

The people on farms and ranches from miles around can be a part of each other's lives at the old schoolhouse.

The town is gone, and kids go to school somewhere else, but the Friend school is still good for a potluck or other good times...

Once there was a town here. It was called Friend.

Yes, but I brought them water--- Water for the people, water for the garden, water for the animals. I was important then.

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No school today...

Golden glory...

Once he worked hard for the people who loved him-- a long time ago...

Standing together...

The other side! From the Oregon hills to the Washington side of the river, with Mt. Adams and a distant Mt. Rainier...

It's all big... the hills, the sky, the land, and the river in the gorge below.

Goodbye to a landmark...

This old abandoned farmhouse delighted us when we came upon it while traveling on the backroads in North-Central Oregon.  It's gone now, burned to the ground just last Wednesday-- lost in a huge 80 thousand acre wildfire.  The people who own the land had gone to great deal of effort to keep it as a memory of past hopes and dreams.


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Who needs flowers when the leaves look like this!

Morning at the wetlands...

Summer evening at the clear-cut...

A little bird told me...

Wild roses saying hello to the sun...

Framed...

The huge tree made a perfect bed for his favorite little flower...

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Just sit-- Reality can wait!

It's cloud illusions I recall...

... I really don't know clouds at all

The forest glows in the light. So many colors, shapes, and textures!

Fall in...

Mid-Century Modern...

I am here, my darlings! We will make beautiful music together...

I have no idea what they are, but they sure seem happy!

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A beautiful day on the Cowlitz River...

It's MY ball!

A wetlands walk

Fred says NO MORE KA-BOOMS!

Reminder:   There are no harmful snakes in Western Washington State.  This little garden snake is less than 24 inches long.    He'd be holding his ears if he had something to hold them with.  Very loud fireworks tonight!

Sunny and just warm enough...

Wildflowers in the late afternoon sun on Johnston Ridge

The barn door is open...

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Nature's own stained glass window...