OrangeDoor – Page 35

More hiking in the Gorge: Horsetail Falls

At the beginning.

The eponymous falls.

Thanks to this interpretative sign, I now know the different types of waterfalls. From left to right: Horsetail Waterfalls, Plunge Waterfalls, Segmented Waterfalls.

Would you like a photo of some lichen?

Matt stands under the 80 foot Ponytail Falls. Of note, this picture took much waving of hands (I was quite far away) and several photos taken because the water kept blurring.

Like in this example.

Better.

Looking through the falls.

Pretty green hanging ferns.

Poor Glenn. If he was still alive we would more-or-less be the same age. The article from the Oregonian said he and his friend were hiking when this happened.

Downed tree or shaggy wizard?

More falls.

Tall bridge! With interesting anti-flag sticker I didn’t notice when I took the picture.

Blurry picture, but very cool tree growing out of a nurse log. I love how long the roots are.

Guess what this group of falls is called? Just guess!

Did you guess Triple Falls? You are right!

Some cairns.

Timer photo shot.

This is the mouth of the Oneonta Gorge. People were hiking back into it.

Tunnel! This was once part of the Columbia River Gorge Highway. Imagine driving your Model T through this tunnel! The interpretative sign told me that this was a difficult tunnel to make due to how the rock disintegrated easily. If memory serves, they solved this problem by reinforcing everything with concrete and that made it all good. Guess what explains this better than me? The internet! You can read about construction by going here. Scroll down to Design and Desription to find a better explanation.

Lots of rock. Which I now have been reminded is basalt rock. Also known as “dice” rock. Me and geology. We don’t get along so well.

This was yet another good Gorge hike.

Work being done to spiff up the Orange Door

Some of the wood between the siding pieces has rotted with the extreme sun exposure on the south side. So we’re getting new wood pieces and a paint job!

For unknown reasons Upstairs Kitty’s owner decided to shave her for the summer. Her fur is slowly growing back. Upstairs Kitty declined to pose for the picture. She’s contrarian like that. Which I would be too, if someone shaved off all my fur, leaving a stupid tuft at the end of my tail.

No more file cabinet

Before:

Spider detritus:

After:

A co-worker was getting rid of this table and I claimed it. It’s great for holding Matt’s computer supplies.

Thanks to the Life-Changing of Tidying Up, we have tidyied away the contents of a four-drawer file cabinet!

Portland Actors Ensemble: Coriolanus

I forgot my camera, which was unfortunate as there were times in this play when my fingers itched to be grabbing photos. These two were taken with my phone. (And one of them doesn’t want to load in its correct orientation)

We made this not-often-produced play a priority and I’m glad we did because the location of Pettygrove Park was a good one. The sculpture “The Dreamer” and the hills where the audience sat added a lot to the setting. Fun Wikipedia fact: the mounded hills inspired this park’s nickname: Mae West Park. Further opinion: I’m not sure anyone actually uses this nickname anymore. Or if they ever did.

The sculpture was used as a device to manufacture sound. One of the actors “played” it with rubber mallets during battle scenes which added a lot to the action.

The play was tight and held my attention, despite the intermittent rain. Arthur Delaney was a solid Coriolanus. We’ve seen him before in other productions. I also enjoyed Allison Rangel and Heidi Kay Hunter as the two tribunes.

Aside from the rain, this performance provided us unique theater-in-the-park experience. During the climax, a passerby wandered into the action, first touching Ken Yoshikawa on the back during an intense interchange with Arthur Delaney. Ken turned to see what was happening and then turned back and kept going.

The man retreated to sit with the audience on the hills talking loudly to himself, with a woman–possibly the stage manger–trying to coax him away. Just as the cast erupted into the final fight scene the man ran into the fray, grabbing Arthur Delaney by the back of the neck.

“Back the fuck off, asshole!” Allison Rangel’s voice rang out as she broke character advancing on the man as everyone stopped. He retreated immediately. “That’s right, keep going,” she yelled as he disappeared. Everyone, actors and audience, stared, following his retreat. “I apologize,” she continued, addressing the audience, “That’s my boyfriend,” she said, meaning Delaney.

In the manner of all unexpected situations things were quiet for a beat before one of the actors asked, “Shall we start the fight scene over?” There was a mutter of agreement, the cast reset and we watched Coriolanus be killed for his betrayal.

Rangel’s quick action in a scary situation and the actors carrying on while most of them must have been completely freaked out brought home what a solid production this was. We won’t soon forget Coriolanus.

Our new appliance

That’s right! We now own an electric skillet! We can make pancakes for breakfast. We have very few jointly owned kitchen items. This, the microwave and the Magic Bullet. Every other kitchen item is mine. I consider it my dowry.

“Welcome to the house,” says Sentinel

Three two-by-fours waiting to be transformed into a ladder don’t escape Sentinel’s notice. And what better way to welcome them to the household than to use them as a pillow?

Sure does look like a bunch of unfinished projects…

I got a lot done this weekend–nearly finished all my to-do list–and still I see a lot of projects. The netting needs to be put up for the bush beans. The jars need to be transferred to Leo’s garden. The bag of dryer lint needs to be transferred to the yard debris bin. The cardboard needs to be stripped of its tape and spread around the yard(s). The straw needs to be spread over the cardboard. The two pots of zucchini need to be planted. The raspberries need to be picked. The apple tree bed needs to be turned over. Those boards need to go elsewhere. And it probably wouldn’t hurt to sweep the porch.

Dead Relatives Tour 2016

For some reason it’s taken me a long time to notice this carved piece of art. It’s kind of 60’s cool, in keeping with the decor. That’s a far-out Jesus.

Uncle Tom is still resting in peace. I missed taking a picture of the Great-great grandparents grave.

At the next cemetery, I apparently had my camera set to “poster” again. This is Aunt Pat getting started.

And the finished product.

Then we ate Chinese food.

First raspberries

Aside from the fact the raspberries are producing already, I also found a few volunteer potatoes in the compost pile. They were all delicious!

Hardy kiwi flowering!

I can’t remember when I planted the hardy kiwi, but perhaps fall of 2009 or spring of 2010. As I mentioned in this post, I was hoping for some kiwi, but mostly wanted green growth on the pergola. I’ve gotten what I mostly wanted, for sure. The kiwi looks great on the pergola and I love the way the front porch looks in general.

This is the first year I’ve seen it flower! Both female plants put out a few flowers. The male plant (the one in the middle) produced nothing. So I’m guessing pollination is a no-go until that happens, if ever.

In looking at the photos from 2009, I’m surprised at how much the flowering plum tree has grown. The porch was always shaded for most of the day, but now it’s shaded for much more of the day, which doesn’t bode well for kiwi production, even hardy kiwi production that doesn’t need as much sun. Oh well. The greenery is great!

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