Harvest time

It's harvest time in Eastern Oregon. You can smell it in the air and see it on the hillsides -- just another reminder what moves things in this part of the state. I took these photos on my way to Milton-Freewater on Monday. I love the contrasting geometries: the angles of the mountains and the circles made by the combines.

We headed to Portland for the Oregon Brewers Festival - a chance to taste the many grogs of our state. Some were bitter, some were sweet, some were just odd. I found a direct relationship between the length of the line and the taste of the brew: the longer the line, the better the taste.

I seemed to keep running into people I knew there. Perhaps the most amazing was finding Camille (to the left "Whooing!" out a toast). Camille and I were roommates in Alaska and she now lives in Seattle. Neither of us knew the other would be there, but I guess beer brings people together.

Butterfly

I was struggling a bit for inspiration this week -- all I could think of was summer. On recent hikes I took these photos of butterflies. When we walked into these ones drinking on the bottom, they all flew up around us like a little tornado of bright-colored wings.

Happy Fourth of July

Happy Fourth of July!
Though I had to work today, I had these photos from my family reunion in Denver last year. To the left is my nephew, whom my sister clad in all American garb for the occasion. He and his cousin were very excited to get their own American flags at the morning parade. They were always look up the road, waiting for the next big thing to come in the parade.
Below is my niece showing off her skills with sparklers later in the evening. Using the handy-dandy night mode I lengthened the exposure to get the movement. Fun stuff.