Happy Thanksgiving!

I have so much to be thankful for every day. Family and good friends have truly blessed my life!


Peace to you all.

1st Snow in Ashland

I awoke about 4 am to the sound of the wind and rain lashing the trees outside my window. I listened, luxuriating in two of my favorite sounds. After a bit, the sound of the rain stopped as the temperature dropped enough to turn the rain to snow. Dawn slowly revealed the beautiful whiteness of freshly fallen snow. I felt like a kid on a school day, throwing open the window to take it the cold and snow!

Snow is falling, lightly at first. Then it started coming down in larger flakes as the temperature went down to the high 20s.

No sitting in this chair with a coffee this morning!

 Leaf on my window sill.

In case you forgot what I looked like.

Peace my friends!

Walking in the Rain...Or Not

The weather in Ashland changes like, well, the weather. One minute it is cloudy and dripping, then it is sunny, then windy. Or, sometimes, all three at the same time. The weather can be 180 degrees different from one side of the valley to the other. Makes for an exciting walking environment.

The folks I have seen in Ashland are, and not really wanting to use a broad brush on them all, seeming a bit more at ease than other places I have visited. Happier? I don't know, but folks seem genuinely pleasant, happy to see you, or help with a question. And tourist season is over! Maybe its all the dope they smoke up here. Ok, I haven't really smelled any ganja, but a lot of folks seem like they recently visited their local medical marijuana store for a refill on their prescription. Whatever the reason, it is a nice feeling.

Walking around everywhere is a different feel for me. This is the first place I have been where I did not, at least, have a car I could use. But Ashland is a nice town to walk about, and I am enjoying it immensely. Or is it immensely enjoying it? Which version am I hanging a participle or dangling a modifier, or some other such crime against proper English? Frank?

This person is a little behind on his/her leaf raking.

A few Buddhas under my back stairs. Gotta love it!

I was startled by two black tail deer grazing on a bush next to the sidewalk I was walking on. One looked at me like "what, never seen a deer before?" before he went back to nibbling.

Seriously.

More amazing leaves. Here from a tree called Forest Pansy. No snickering from the boys in the back row.

What walking around leads me to. Not sure why this is here, but would like to find out.

Whatever works, dude.

View to the east while walking one day. Dry, sunny hills. Next. . .

I turn to the west and see the rain coming down (it is starting to rain on me as well).

A monument to recycling in someone's yard.  Folks are very big on that here. Very. Big.

Abiding in Ashland my friends!

Peace.

A Riot of Color

I took a walk in Lithia Park today and was amazed at the colors of the leaves! Fall is in full throat here and the leaves are falling all over town. As I was starting my walk, I was looking up and admiring the yellow leaves. A gust of wind blew and it started raining leaves all around me. I made a pathetic attempt to capture some of the leaves with my camera, but I seemed to have lost a step since my eagle capture in Alaska. Must be all those scones and bread I ate in Europe. The park is a wonderful, peaceful place. I will spend many hours in this park, absorbing the good energy. Enjoy the colors my friends!

So many leaves! There is something fun about walking through the leaves, kicking them about. Brings back memories of oh, so long ago.

Here is my pathetic attempt at capturing the fallen leaves (the blurry ones).

The shades of reds, yellows and oranges seemed infinite.

Nice of the city to let us know!

The park follows the Ashland River.

Nose bleed height!

Stunning colors!

I stumbled upon this amazing, natural "rock garden" deep in the woods. It must have taken millions of years for the wind, water and ice to carve these unique structures. Truly an enchanted place.

This isn't in the park, but is where I am staying for a few months. The inside walls are still the original brick walls. More on Ashland later after I get a better feel for the place. One thing I noticed is that cars stop for anyone within 3 feet of a crosswalk. Both sides of the street. Kinda militant about it.

Peace.

And The Walking Man. . .

took the train to the People's Republic of Oregon. I hopped on the train from San Diego to Klamath Falls, Oregon. Then took the bus from there to Ashland. It was definitely a nicer check-in experience than the airport. No crowds, or disrobing either!
I had a sleeper cabin on the train, and while it was better than sleeping in a chair, it was more like sleeping through an eight hour long magnitude 2-3 earthquake. I was told that there would be a gentle swaying of the train. However, maybe it was my cabin (on the bottom) or the train being old, but gentle is not the word I would have used. The noise was not the soft clacking of the rails either. More like a grating, squealing noise, especially around turns. The scenery was beautiful though, once I left the graffiti filled LA basin.
Looking out of my window at four in the morning and watching the bright stars in a cloudless morning sky helped to put the discomforts in the background for a time. The subtle lightening of the the sky, and fading of the stars was something I had not watched in a long, long time.

Some people say that Amtrak is outdated. But I don't think so. This baggage cart still has lots if years left in it.

View from my window on the way up to LA.

LA train station terminal. Very nice!

View from window north of LA. Some of the track runs very close to the water.

This is my sleeper car, and Guadalupe (just call me Lupe) standing by for passengers.

Night out in the middle of nowhere. Every so often the train stopped for passengers and we could get off, stretch our legs and get some fresh air for a few minutes.

The train goes through Vandenberg Air Force Base, where rockets are built and tested. This is a rocket on the launch pad awaiting its launch. Back in the day, the train had to stop at the entrance to the base, and let military police on. The police were in each car to ensure that the curtains were closed during the train trip through the base. No pictures for you!! Now that the commies were defeated and the wall came down, there isn't a need for closed curtains.

Thanks to Bree for my new green, orange and white (colors of Irish flag) bracelet! Also, thanks to Deb for putting back together my other bracelet. It came apart in the cabin on Winstanley Island in Alaska and was sorely missed. I forgot it when I left for Europe. Sad news: the peace bracelet I was wearing got left somewhere in Europe. It will be missed.

More on Ashland to follow.

Peace to you all my friends!