(Written in early April.) A month of blue skies, bright flowers, brilliant greens, and bird song is what April brings. Bill and I have been chasing spring as it floats through the air on easy breezes and flutters to the ground. Even fallen petals are beautiful. A month of finishing old and beginning new projectsContinue reading “Chasing Spring”
Author Archives: tagpipspearl
Signing Off from the Columbia River Gorge
The last days of our short vacation took us to the town Bill grew up in – Underwood, Wa. He was surprised to see that while much of the area has changed, many of his favorite childhood places remain as he remembered. A disheartening change we noticed is the immense increase in property values inContinue reading “Signing Off from the Columbia River Gorge”
Columbia River Gorge spring hikes – Catherine Creek
Bill and I just returned from four days of hiking in the region of Washington state where he grew up – the Columbia River Gorge. The first of our hikes, Catherine Creek, was range land when he lived in White Salmon (Washington side) decades ago. As you will see from the following photos, it hasContinue reading “Columbia River Gorge spring hikes – Catherine Creek”
Colors of Cowiche Canyon
Spring Cowiche Canyon trails have opened this month for hiking. Wildflowers are in bloom, birds are singing, and breezes fill the air with song and scent. Some trails show much winter damage, but are passable. Bill and I hiked seven miles on two different trails (Snow Mountain Wildflower Trail and West Weikel Trail) and wereContinue reading “Colors of Cowiche Canyon”
The Gardening Year, Part 4
Amelanchier in April April, the beautiful month, is the month of the beautiful Amelanchier tree, commonly known in the PNW as Serviceberry, Saskatoon berry, Shadbush or Juneberry. In my neighborhood, indeed throughout most of my walking routes, the city of Seattle has planted these beautiful trees along most every block. And they are in fullContinue reading “The Gardening Year, Part 4”
Lots of Projects and a bit of Play
Busy month, March is. I have finished almost all the necessary work – mulching, composting, pruning, transplanting, weeding, repairing/rebuilding paths – and we have begun the one enormous project that will take us into late spring/early summer. And that project is the removal of our fish pond and its raccoon-slashed liner, repaving the entire pondContinue reading “Lots of Projects and a bit of Play”
The Gardening Year, Part 3
It’s Spring, it’s winter, spring again, summer?! – Spring is here. March has arrived in a dramatic, unpredictable, lively way. Rain and wind storms, freezing nights, warm sunny days – a bit of everything. Don’t like the weather at the moment? Wait a minute or two and it will change. And as weather bounces aroundContinue reading “The Gardening Year, Part 3”
Waking
Signs of spring on a frozen winter morning surround me as I walk through fog. Winter’s gifts delight as dark cold and bitter freeze dominate the world around us, and whisper to us the approach of bright warmth and spring breezes. Not far away now, spring will soon be here.
The Gardening Year, Part 2
February. The work months have arrived. They arrive in snow dotted with sun, in cold promising warmth, in blue skies brushing away gray, and deep browns flushed with pink. Buds begin their gentle swelling and birds enliven their songs. Squirrels are frantic and crows are vocal. The slow waking of earth begins, and accompanying itContinue reading “The Gardening Year, Part 2”
In the Presence of Trees, Part 10
Respecting our Elders When I was very young, I loved to lay on my back in the grass of our back yard and stare up into the trees beyond our house. We lived in a new neighborhood where huge, old trees in a small, native woodland (with accompanying undergrowth) were being removed at an astonishing rate. AsContinue reading “In the Presence of Trees, Part 10”
While I Was Gardening 