Monkey Face at Smith Rock

-
Tuesday was the second day of our vacation to Central Oregon, and we were prepared for the heat and rocky trails. Jerry wasn't sure at first that he would enjoy more than a few hours at Smith Rock near the town of Terrebonne, but we found ourselves taking in the rock climbing culture and the very different landscape than we are used to in the Willamette Valley where we live.




After our descent into the canyon of the Crooked River we rested in the shade of a large ponderosa pine where we met the dad of one of the rock climbers. We could barely make out the figure of his daughter on the rocks above us. While we chatted he pulled out his cell phone to contact her group to let them know lunch had arrived. Very interesting "wilderness" experience! Being in the sunlight and heat is a struggle for me, so Jerry and I rested and admired the rock cliffs across the gorge from us at one point. We named one formation "Baboon Rock" because of its appearance and the one paw palm in the air. Not long after taking a picture I took a hard fall in the path and injured my right elbow, which is still healing nicely five days later. The bruises and soreness made the day more difficult, but we sure enjoyed the rocky playground God made. Jerry said he was getting a "crick in the neck" because of craning it to continually gawk at the cliffs above us. We pressed on and made it to within view of Monkey Face, then turned back to find a shady spot to cool our hot feet in the river. I was so glad that Jerry was able to set up the tent trailer for us that night - without much help from me. I was spent!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Start Your Summer Garden

-
Image
If you've never tried gardening and would like to give it a go, here is a simple step-by-step to getting started! WEEK 1: Look on the back of your seed packet for planting season suggestions. Plan on allowing 4-6 weeks for the plants to grow indoors before placing them outside in your garden. An inexpensive planting mix can be bought at Walmart for around $3. I like to start my plants in my ice-cube trays to see how well they germinate. Stir water into the mix and fill the trays loosely. Use a toothpick or small stick to make a shallow hole to put 2-3 seeds in and cover with a thin layer of the mix. If you like, you can make little flags with toothpicks and sticky notes so that you don't forget which seeds are which! Wait several days to water again so that you don't drown the seeds. Don't let the soil become bone dry, but since the ice-cube trays are quite shallow you may need to water every other day. WEEK 2-3: You should see little sprouts come up after the first wee
Read more

How Many of Me Are There?

-
In this part of Oregon I share my name with several Kathy Davises, and the name Kathleen Davis is just about as common. Online the most prominent Kathy Davis I encounter is a well-known greeting card artist. I would love to have created her colorful designs myself but no, I didn't. I found one who is a lawyer and another who I thought was a bit odd. No, that wasn't me, either! At Adams Elementary School in the 60s it seemed there were Kathys in every classroom. I believe it was in 2nd grade that there were 3 of us, and believe-it-or-not, one of them was a blonde-haired girl named Cathy Davis! I was brown-haired Kathy Sheldon, and I honestly don't remember the other Kathy. That was the first year I distinguished myself by asking to be called Kathleen. Aside from my husband, these days there are only 2 or 3 people who still call me that. At one point, I remember, I wished for a dreamy princess name like Cinderella or something. So glad THAT dream didn't come
Read more

Thou Shalt Play

-
It just occurred to me that today has been a demonstration of teenaged girls "playing." Like it or not, this entire afternoon our little midlife bungalow functioned as a beauty salon and girl retreat. It wasn't just Kayli and a friend. There were 2 more girls here we didn't even know! Jerry and I sat bemused and often bewildered in the living room to give them space for primping, straightening, painting, singing along with the stereo and occupying our only bathroom. I don't know how to explain my discomfort with the whole idea of tonight's dance, but I'll just say it didn't set well. Now they're gone and I've been thinking about the vow I made many years ago to allow God teach me through my children. I often got on the floor with them and took part in their shenanigans. I relished asking them mind-bending questions just to see their responses and learn how they processed their thoughts. It was also a great way to direct and teach them as t
Read more