I visited the ice skating rink at Roy Raley park yesterday to get wild art — that's newspaper speak for those photos that come unattached to any story – for today's paper.
I took this photo atop Cabbage Hill more than a week ago. It was when the valleys were socked in with thick fog. But once you got above it, the sun shone on snow covered hillsides.
I went to a candle lighting ceremony Sunday night in Milton-Frewater. It was a to remember children who died in the community. It was cold and rainy, but once the service started it was worth the discomfort.
On Sunday Helix students laid wreaths at the headstones of veterans in Olney cemetery. The VFW and their teacher praised the project as a way to get the teens involved in the history they are learning. 
The Frenchtown Historic Site had its official opening on Saturday. Some of the first visitors got to walk up the trail to the cemetery marker, as well as read all the interpretive signs along the way. 
This is my second-best shot of the 15-second outhouse race, which was part of Pilot Rock's Winterphest on Saturday. 
I attended Milton-Freewater's light parade and tree lighting last Friday. I shuffled up the stairs of the Valley Christian Center church just as the crowd finished the countdown and lit up the tree. It was very dark, so I was glad I could at least see the all the people cheering the tree lighting in the photo.
I drove to Walla Walla on Monday and was kicking myself on the way back for not bringing my camera. The sunset was amazing. The last rays of the sun hit the Blue Mountains at just the right angle to illuminate the snow in golden light. I didn't get a picture of that.
These geese flew over me when I was on a walk last week. Yeah, they're pretty far away, but I like how they're all in a line. 
The skies seem extra blue on the days we get to see them this winter. This was a sunset photo, taken on a bridge over the Umatilla during one of those cold days last week.
I found several flowers, including this rose, apparently still in bloom during the snows last week. Even with a light layer of powder atop its petals, the flower still held up in the winter cold.
This is the logo on an old truck that's been parked in town for a few months with a "for sale" sign. I liked how it looked covered in snow - especially when the snow melted a bit in the sun.
I covered the Festival of Lights in Hermiston again over the weekend. This year I spent about an hour with the family that puts on the carriage rides, watching them set up for a cold night of carting people around the light displays. I was surprised how well my camera did, even in very low light and the subjects moving around so much.
Our cat is strictly an indoor cat. We live on a busy street and I am paranoid he will get run over. 
Snow touched down in the foothills of the Blues this morning. I took a few shots on my way back from Helix, though no matter far I drove east, it seemed I couldn't quite reach it.
I took photos at the VFW's Veterans Day Memorial yesterday morning. This woman facing the camera, Maxine Tangney, had the most content look on her face throughout the ceremony. You could tell her pride for veterans in her family is part of who she is. 
Yes, it's still fall, but it really feels as if winter is closing in fast. 
Took a trip to downtown Walla Walla this weekend. I didn't have much time for photos, but snapped this one of the floor above the Book & Game Co. I like the blend of different colors: red, yellow, orange, blue and green.
My friends came to visit this weekend, along with their two dachshunds. We went for a walk in the evening autumn sunlight, and I took the opportunity to snap some dogs-eye-view photos.
This was the sight I saw when I stepped out of my front door this morning: sunshine cutting through the fog to shine on the North Hill. It was a fleeting moment. Even in the time it took me to pull out the camera, the sunlight began to fade. By the time I had taken a few shots, the hill was dark.
I tagged along with the volunteers setting up the Festival of Lights in Hermiston. They expertly raised this arch, which sits at the opening of the many arches making a light tunnel on the fairgrounds. Everyone cooperated well, kept tension on the right cords, and the arch went up without a hitch.
This is another photo from my winery visit last Friday. Winemaker Ashley Trout is taking notes on a sample of wine-to-be. Inside this big white bin was two-and-a-half tons of grapes just starting their fermenting process. 
I had the privilege of visiting a Milton-Freewater area winery on Friday. Just before I left, the sun came out of the clouds and shone across the vineyard. It was a great chance to catch it lighting up the grapes nestled in the leaves.
These are three photos of Tracker Denny, an 11-year-old boy with a talent for throwing an atlatl.
When I was in Lowden for the Frenchtown Rendezvous on Saturday, the sunset cut a beautiful golden swath through sprinklers in a neighboring field. I took this photo peering through the fence to that field.
It's a bit hard to see unless you enlarge the photo by clicking on it, but there were many, many seagulls flying above the waters of the San Juan beaches last weekend. This is likely a regular occurrence, but I found it surprising how many flapped together across the skies.
I visited my grandmother in the San Juan Islands last weekend. I tried to get some neat shots of the water, without much success. But I did like the way the sunshine sparkled on the stones in this photo. We were fortunate to have a wonderfully sunny afternoon before the usual cloudy, rainy weather set in for the rest of the weekend.
So here are my photos from Round-Up. I was so busy writing all week, I didn't have time to take any photos until Friday and Saturday. But here they are, the few images I was able to capture from the centennial rodeo.
This little guy was absolutely fixated on the dancers during the competition. He was amazingly decked out in his own regalia. And rather than playing with his feathers, he watched, entranced, at something he will likely get to do himself one day.
Before I went to the rodeo Saturday I watched the American Indian dance competition in Roy Raley Park. I never cease to be impressed by the colors, the beadwork, the intricacy of the regalia. It's also exciting to hear the singing, drumming and dancing.
These are photos from the Westward Ho! Parade on Friday. While many of the kids in the parade looked a bit tuckered out (I wouldn't blame them, having to walk miles in moccasins in the rain) but many of the adults looked exceptionally proud to represent their people in the parade. 
We stood near this little fella during most of the Westward Ho! Parade on Friday. He was so excited, he kept shouting "whoo-whoo!" at every one who passed. This got on some other parade watcher's nerves, but thought it was cute.
Though Round-Up week has officially started, things seem to be just getting underway. Vendors are popping up by the rodeo grounds, RVs are rolling into any open space available, and the Main Street Cowboys are closing off Main Street for the "greatest free show in the west." 
Yesterday I attended the groundbreaking for the Frenchtown historic site. It's being built at one of the only parts of Frenchtown still standing: a cemetery marker for the St. Rose of Lima Church.
I caught several bees in action during my Sunflower photo shoot Saturday. I like the mix of focuses on this one. I apologize for the power lines in the background, they were hard to avoid.
