Leaf drops

After another week back in the hospital, Rick is home and doing much better. Today while he was taking a nap I went out between raindrops to capture a few refractions, and reflections, before all the leaves are gone. Our rainy season is hitting with a vengeance; I am hoping we get some snow, or at least frost, this year!!

I just couldn't resist the way this Japanese maple leaf was resting, tips only, on the driveway. The reflection was just too fun to pass up.

Odds and Ends

Don't you love the way reflections in puddles become windows into another world?

Really love the color flow on this leaf. The way the sun was backlighting it turned it into a piece of stained glass.

Look Who is Home!!!

This is the best sight I have seen in a long time--Rick, ensconsed in his favorite chair. HOORAY!!! He got home yesterday, and I am busy busy, but it is soooo good to have him back where he belongs. Long road ahead, but so much easier to travel from home.

Magic Drops

I LOVE waterdrops!!! A few from the botanic garden earlier this week...

I love the way raindrops embellish fallen leaves, making them beaded wonders...
And the way they cling to spider web lines, looking like suspended jewels, catching the light...
or become a perfect globe on a piece of grass

Autumn at the mill pond

It would've been gorgeous if the sky had been blue, but I really kinda like the texture the clouds give the water. What a perfectly calm day; the reflections were so stunning.

the millpond

On the way home tonight I "detoured" past the millpond, and caught the best light! I tried to do a panoramic view, but don't know how to get it bigger for the blog. If I can get some more photos edited, I'll get those posted. The color and light were incredible, and wonderful reflections!!
Left click this to see it bigger....

Salmon Daze

Stopped last week at the salmon hatchery in Issy to watch the big ones fight their way up the fish ladder. I love it when they come flying through the air. It is fascinating to watch them "queue up" and try time and time again to get upstream.

On the mend!

After 7 weeks in Critical Care, Rick finally busted out and was transferred up to another floor yesterday!!!! No more tracheostomy tube. No more constant heart, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation monitoring. No more IVs, other than his feeds. He can talk!!! He is walking and regaining strength. He can eat clear liquids--and yes, that means orange jello! Hey, after almost 2 months of not eating ANYTHING, even water, jello becomes a gourmet choice!
He is pretty much out of the woods, and on the road to recovery. It is going to be a long road, perhaps with some potholes or detours, but we both pray all the u-turns are behind us!! We can do it. He has been so incredibly blessed through this, and is a miracle. The doctors have told us that he almost died 3 times. Really? We weren't counting... Rick's time isn't up yet, and there must be something else he is supposed to do. We are so incredibly grateful for the blessings we have received, and acknowledge the Lord's hand in all that has happened.

October Orange

Starting to get in the fall mood. Our trees are way behind, but you can always count on pumpkins and mums.

Fall's a-comin'

Still spending most of my time at the hospital. I took these the other day on the way home, since a wonderful friend volunteered to stay the night. Fall is definitely on the way. I am really looking forward to the changes this year, and hope we have a dry, colorful autumn, and that I can get out in it once in while. Rick is slowly making progress. Hopefully we will have no more set-backs, and he can continue to improve. Less than baby steps, but positive steps!!



The Western Red Cedars, if we have had a very dry summer, lose their inner needles in the fall--they turn red, and then drop. The other night this one was illuminated by a shaft of sunlight just before the sun slipped behind the mountains, and it was spotlighted in the depths of the tree. I loved the gradations of the autumn tints, and the way the light hit it.

water webs

Some early morning condesation on some spider webs--these are the flat, mat-type webs, and they catch the dew so wonderfully!

Loved the sun flare going on with these, and the fact that you can see the leaves in the drops.

Trying to focus

R is still in the hospital in critical care. It will be a month Tuesday since his first operation; there have been 3 emergency ones since then, each one setting him back further and radically changing his recovery. Today he is back on the ventilator for the 3rd time--he HATES, LOATHES, and ABHORS being there, and I know he is seeing this step as a huge step backward, even though it is necessary to help his lungs.

I have been so consumed with R, and being at the hospital almost all the time, that I haven't even had time to update here. I am home so infrequently that there isn't much time for anything other than a quick shower, and maybe a load of laundry, before heading back to the hospital to be with him.

But--this is one of the glimmerings of a silver lining. This is the view from the waiting area. We have had some gorgeous weather, and Mt. Rainier has been floating out there in all its majesty. It is so soothing to see something like this when everything else seems to be falling apart.
And these are just a few macros, grabbed the other day when D was home to stay at the hospital with R so I could come home, rest, clean up, and decompress. I find that focusing my camera helps to center me and relax me...in times of stress, close attention to detail always helps me.


And I just loved the color combination here. Nature never goes wrong.

Millpond Reflections

Caught a perfectly still morning last week over at the millpond. I love mornings like this. Can't wait until fall when the leaves change!

Passionate for passion flowers

I discovered passion flowers last summer, and promptly fell in love with the bizarre architecture and structure. This variety really got me, with the "shredded" inner petals tipped in blue-violet. I found this plant on CLEARANCE at Lowe's and snatched it up. I babied it over the winter on the porch, and I have had at least a dozen blooms on it so far. I am so excited! The blooms don't last long, but boy are they worth it.


Another bonus is the tendrils on the plant. Some of them catch waterdrops in the most amazing way!

Raindrops keep falling...

Had some rain today, so in between showers I ran out to take advantage of the fresh raindrops. The images in the drops are always magic to me.