Embedded Files
All of the banner background photos on this site were taken by Whitey.
Above is a close-up of the bark of incense-cedar (Calocedrus decurrens) in winter.
One of my favorite "meteorological" events in the West Cascades occurs especially in late summer after a thundershower, when the post-shower, super-humid air condenses over the very cold waters of, here, the McKenzie River, forming a layer of fog just a few feet thick during the middle of the day. Air temperature this day (04 September 2025) was 70 F and river temperature was 53 F.
At last, September! Yay! At least for now, temperatures have slid down to a more reasonable range—for those of us who eschew the really hot days of full-summer here in Western Oregon.
Of course, this is also forest-fire season now, when the forests are at their driest and showers accompanied by lightning are more likely to start a fire. In fact, there’s a small lightning-caused fire currently burning just two miles east of the spot near McKenzie Bridge where I go every week for my physician-required dose of P&Q (that’s peace-and-quiet). I’m generally fine with lightning-caused fires, as that’s just how the forests here “work.” Nonetheless…due to over a century of fire suppression—especially of the smaller fires that helped make the forests less susceptible to bigger fires later—things are a bit messed up in terms of “forest health” around here.
Back in town, harvest season is in full swing, the freezer is already full, and the potatoes are now all dug and stored in wooden flats covered with black plastic. I’ll be making another pot of ratatouille today with whatever vegetables I have on hand—that means onions, garlic, zucchini, tomatoes, and green peppers this week. I never use eggplant (a ratatouille regular) simply because I don’t grow eggplant!
My four new hens-in-training--Plymouth barred rock pullets--are nearly four months old now, so I’m expecting to see The First Egg in the coming weeks. I’ve been buying grocery-store eggs for months now, and am quite ready to get back to eggs produced by my own “girls” with bright orange yolks instead of the pale yellow yolks typical of my store-bought eggs.
And Life goes on!
Look! It's the pit trap of an antlion larva, with two smaller traps nearby! The larva is concealed at the bottom of the pit and when an ant strolls by and, oops, tumbles down the steep sides of the trap that it can't climb out of, GOTCHA! These are very common in summer in Oregon's West Cascades and I simply love coming across them.
My 'Di-Erna' begonias on the East Terrace in late summer. I acquired the original cuttings of this begonia cultivar in summer 1973 during my internship at fabulous Longwood Gardens west of Philadelphia. Every year since then--except for the several years I was living and working abroad, when my parents maintained the plants back in the U.S.--I take cuttings of the plants in mid-fall, root them in a glass of water, and then pot them up in March so I can out-plant them into big tubs sometime in May. They're beautiful, despite the blotched leaves due to the awful and almost daily "rain" of agricultural dust which Eugene suffers from every summer.
(This page updated 09 September 2025.)
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse