These pictures are my creative work. If you wish to reprint them or use them commercially, you need to contact me. Commercial use of these pictures without permission is prohibited. If you want to get a bigger copy of one of these for a desktop background or screen saver, just send me an e-mail.

Click here for native NW plants.

Click here for 2002 and earlier pictures.

Oregon Country Fair 2004

It was another dry and pleasant day at the Oregon Country Fair. This is a festival with 2 parts Grateful Dead, 1 part Utne reader, 1 part Woodstock, and 3 parts good old American capitalism. There are dozens and craft and food booths, jugglers, parades, lots of music, no corporate sponsors, and lots of ways to spend money. These pictures try to capture the essence of the fair.


A metal tree	Patti's raw fruit pies	Baby on board	Just what is a spliff?

The Main stage	Couple of birds and a bloke	Fish rider on the bridge	...who waves at us.

The devil walks away	juggling in Chela Mela Meadow	The Long Tom river	Another colorful stage

Two imps	Two vamps	A pointy sign	An electric motor

The Gizmo	The biodiesel delivery truck	The bike center.

Snow at Home 2004

We flirted with some decent snow for the first time in years in Oregon. We had about 5 inches of snow at the deepest with a half inch of freezing rain over the top to seal it. This is the first real winter storm in years for this area.


The cabbages of yesteryear.	Near the garden	A snow bridge on a cedar bow	Birdhouse on Japanese Maple

A white plain	The back yard	Freezing rain begins	Icicles illuminated by Christmas Lights

A tornado of light	The neighboring house	Midnight silver thaw	more glowing icicles

As ice melts, water collects in small basins.	The flowers transformed	Fractal fronds.

Halloween 2003

I still don't understand why Blue Man Group doesn't want me. I got the shirt at the Verboort Sausage and Kraut festival.

Click here to see it.

Las Vegas, Nevada 2003

We had a nice stay in Las Vegas. While most people were giving away their hard earned cash to slot machines, we gave away our cash to merchants and restauranteurs. We also got a couple of great hikes in. If you make it to Vegas, check out Jim Boone's Hiking Around Las Vegas page for some great ideas.


At the opening of The Narrows in the Lake Mead area.	Inside The Narrows. This canyon is only 10 feet across in places.	Looking down the Lovell Wash on the way back to the car.	A Western Brush Lizard(?) at the entrance to Valley of Fire state park.

Driving through the Valley of Fire.	A scary picture through a hole in the sandstone.	A cool formation along the canyon wall.	Pueblo petroglyphs are prevalent in the area.

A big cat at Siegfried and Roy's Secret Garden at the Mirage Hotel in Vegas.	I ain't Lyin'.	Well-wishers leave balloons, flowers, and cards for the injured Roy Horn.	The Calico Hills of Red Rock Canyon Park. The haziness was caused by some huge fires in California.

A big, red stripe of sandstone that gives the park its name.	Looking up the side of Willow Creek canyon.	Hikers and some prickly pear.	Back to the big lights of Vegas.

Depoe Bay, Oregon 2003

We caught the end of a showery day on the Oregon coast. What a beautiful sunset. E-mail me if you want a bigger copy of any of these.

Monterey, California 2003

Spring break in Monterey. We stayed in Marina and toured around the Monterey Bay area. California is an expensive state. This area was very pleasant and we arrived during a quiet week so the crowds were reasonable.


California Live Oak (with wasp galls)	Looking toward Pebble Beach and the Monterey Peninsula	Indian Paintbrush in the dunes near Marina	A vetch or sweet pea (same dunes)

Wild California Strawberry	Yellow Sand Verbena (Abronia latifolia)	Beach Primrose (Camissonia cheiranthifolia) and a kelp bulb	A variety of currant

Monterey's Cannery Row, home to some of John Steinbeck's colorful characters	Some of the old cannery brands	Smokestacks for the boilers at a cannery	The Haute Enchilada in Moss Landing

Sunset in Pacific Grove	Looking north up the coast in Big Sur	Pfeiffer Falls with 2 types of maidenhair fern	A variety of wood sorrel (sourgrass)

A stand of redwoods in Big Sur	A wild iris (same area)	The old Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey	Looking at the boats in Monterey Bay