So what do these things have in common?

They are all things I have not been able to find when I needed them even though I had just had my hands on them a day or two before.

Okay. Calm down Katney. Sit down, say a prayer, ask St. Anthony to pass along the good word.

And voila! While looking for the flash drive, I spotted the Social Security Card--right where I put it. (Too late to go take the census worker test--that might have been a fun job.) And then I sat down and picked up a piece of paper and there was the flash drive--right where I had put it. The book I had tracked down yesterday--also under something else. And, you guessed it--right where I had put it.

So where is my birth certificate?

I guess that's different. I haven't needed it since we applied for our passports twelve years ago. It's probably right where I put it.

Sunday's Psalm--Second Sunday of Lent

The Lord is my light and my salvation.

The LORD is my light and my salvation;

whom should I fear?

The LORD is my life’s refuge;

of whom should I be afraid?

The Lord is my light and my salvation.

Hear, O LORD, the sound of my call;

have pity on me, and answer me.

Of you my heart speaks; you my glance seeks.

The Lord is my light and my salvation.

Your presence, O LORD, I seek.

Hide not your face from me;

not in anger repel your servant.

You are my helper: cast me not off.

The Lord is my light and my salvation.

I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD

in the land of the living.

Wait for the LORD with courage;

be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.

The Lord is my light and my salvation.

From Psalm 27

Photos:

Mt. Adams sunset

Western Washington forest
garden, Pt. Fermin Lighthouse
golden mantle squirrel
prickly pear cactus
cornfield
Mt. Rainier in the clouds

Dining Reflections

Our plan for dining on our trip to eastern Oregon was to eat breakfast in the hotel, picnic our lunch, and eat out for dinner. We stuck to that pretty much, though one day we switched the lunch and dinner.

The Wallowa Valley is a mixture of farms, artists and tourist friendly businesses. The dining opportunities were fun. We missed the "Friends Café" in Enterprise, though we were tempted to stop to try a "junk omelette". When we decided to try "Terminal Gravity", we found the microbrewery closed. So we headed to Joseph for another recommended venue.

What a fun menu for lunch! So much so that we returned for Sunday breakfast. (You can only toast so many hotel bagels.) They have a different French Toast special every day of the week. That day was Raspberry Cheesecake Stuffed French Toast.

The motto over the bar translates: It's not always summer.

My comment was that that is why the snowshoes live in the car four or five months a year.

The waiter said it was because their summer is so short.

We had a lovely dinner at the Stubborn Mule Saloon, too. The atmosphere was kind of blah, but I imagine it would have been a lot more lively if we had eaten later and sat in the bar.

It's time again for Weekend Reflections, hosted by James at Newtown Daily Photo. You will notice that this post contains both visual reflections, and reflections on the dining opportunities of the Wallowa Valley.

SkyWatch--Skies Over Two States

Visit the SkyWatch site to see beautiful skies from around the world.    The skies couldn't make up their minds what to do the day we hiked into Hurricane Creek Road near Joseph, Oregon. Our intention was to snowshoe up this trail into the Eagle Cap Wilderness. If we had driven to the campground, we could have started that hike. But because of conditions, we parked on a turnout much farther down the road and hiked up the road (uphill) to the campground.  By the time we got there, we were ready for a rest and to eat our lunch. We decided to make the Eagle Peak hike another time, either on the snowshoes or in the fall as a hike.

After hiking back down the road, we chained up to travel safely down to where it was plowed. When we stopped to remove the chains, we could see clear to Idaho's skies.

This Way to Good Advice

This Way Thursday is here.

ABC Wednesday -- F -- is for

Fence

Mending Wall

Robert Frost

Something there is that doesn't love a wall,

That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,

And spills the upper boulders in the sun,
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.

The work of hunters is another thing:

I have come after them and made repair

Where they have left not one stone on a stone,

But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,

To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,

No one has seen them made or heard them made,

But at spring mending-time we find them there.

I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;

And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.

We keep the wall between us as we go.

To each the boulders that have fallen to each.

And some are loaves and some so nearly balls

We have to use a spell to make them balance:

'Stay where you are until our backs are turned!'

We wear our fingers rough with handling them.

Oh, just another kind of out-door game,

One on a side. It comes to little more:

There where it is we do not need the wall:

He is all pine and I am apple orchard.

My apple trees will never get across

And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, 'Good fences make good neighbors'.

Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder

If I could put a notion in his head:

'Why do they make good neighbors? Isn't it

Where there are cows?

But here there are no cows.

Before I built a wall I'd ask to know

What I was walling in or walling out,

And to whom I was like to give offence.

Something there is that doesn't love a wall,

That wants it down.' I could say 'Elves' to him,

But it's not elves exactly, and I'd rather

He said it for himself. I see him there

Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top

In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.

He moves in darkness as it seems to me~
Not of woods only and the shade of trees.

 He will not go behind his father's saying,

And he likes having thought of it so well

He says again, "Good fences make good neighbors."

ABC Wednesday--in its 6th Round (my fifth)

Find all the F choices here.

Fences 1,3,5, and 6 were shot last week in Northeastern Oregon.
Fences 2,4,7, and 8 were taken last September in Alaska.

Grandfather Cuts Loose the Ponies

If you come along I-90 in Washington State and near the center of the state between George and Vantage, you might spot a herd of wild horses on the hill.

This is the Wild Horses Monument--Grandfather Cuts Loose the Ponies.

A good view can be had from the parking area at the turn-out--especially good if you have binoculars or a zoom lens. 

I am not sure how long the sculpture has been in place, as we don't normally travel that route. It has been there for at least fifteen years. There are fifteen horses, and the sculpture is not complete. The artist originally intended to add more horses and the basket  which is part of the legend on which the piece is based.

You can find the legend retold with additional images of the life sized herd at Toby's site here. Unfortunately, as he relates, the plaques describing the scene have been defaced and still are not replaced. It would be nice to have the information available there.

One day I will go back when I have some time, my hiking boots, and a good wind-breaker. I want to brave the fierce wind that winds down the Columbia (the hills on the opposite side of the river are home to a huge wind farm.) and the possibility of rattlesnakes to get up close and personal with these magnificent pieces of art.

You will hear about it here when and if I do.

It's Geometry #3

Follow the lines.

The fence line and the line of the bridge.

Bridgemakers make efficient use of geometry. No matter the style of bridge, you will find triangles for strength, and lots of other lines and shapes as well.

Paulie had a neat bridge last week--also over the Columbia River but  hundreds of miles downstream from this one--a different style, but full of triangles and other shapes. We posted bridges one Monday a month for some time. If you are interested, click the Bridges between link in my lable cloud.

Sunday's Psalm--First Sunday in Lent

Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.

You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High,

who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,

say to the LORD,
“My refuge and fortress,
my God in whom I trust.”









Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.

No evil shall befall you,

nor shall affliction come near your tent,

For to his angels he has given command about you,

that they guard you

 in all your ways.

Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.

Upon their hands they shall bear you up,

lest you dash your foot against a stone.

You shall tread

upon the asp and the viper;



you shall trample down

the lion and the dragon.

Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.

Because he clings to me, I will deliver him;

I will set him on high because he acknowledges my name.

He shall call upon me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in distress;

I will deliver him and glorify him.

Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.

from Psalm 91
Photos:
Arches National Park, UT
Wupatki Pueblo National Monument, AZ
impromptu tent
winter fisherman, Wallowa Lake, OR
looking straight down on Box Canyon, Mt. Rainier National Park, WA
ribbon snake on the trail
Denali, AK

Theres gotta be a--another--story

...but this time I leave you to speculate.

So, what is this boot doing on this fencepost in Imnaha, Oregon?

Just a little more about Imnaha:

*the population is 12. (About 180 if you count surrounding ranches.) (statistic is from 2003)

*Heather posted an alternative version of the bank robber story from my previous post as a comment there. Heather is an innkeeper in Joseph, and next time we visit the area, if we aren't pulling our tiny trailer, I think we will be visiting her. I am quite sure she will be able to fill in any other details, and invite her to add to anything further that I post about the area. Wallowa Valley residents are proud of the Valley and its history. (They even stop you on the street to tell you about it.)

*Imnaha has a community celebration the third Saturday of September and one of the big features is a bear and rattlesnake feast.

*The name Imnaha comes from combining the name of a chief from the area -- Imna -- and the added form -- ha -- which means rules here. So the meaning of the town's name is "place where Chief Imnah rules(ruled)".

Isn't that enough to answer the "You went where? Why?" question for any adventurer?

Just in case you thought this was an isolated boot--maybe lost and posted (yeah, dumb pun!) on the fence so its owner could reclaim it, all the fenceposts along this small property have boots.

You can see a couple of them here, though I could probably have gotten a better picture if I had tried harder. If you do a search for boots on fenceposts you will find lots of other instances of the practice--some extending for miles and miles--and some explanations I won't publish here.

There's gotta be a story

We were merely intrigued by the old building that houses the Wallowa County Historical Society Museum in Joseph, Oregon, because it looked interesting. The museum wasn't open. (One problem with traveling in the off season.)

Undoubtedly, the museum would hold many stories in its collections, but little did we know the building's own story until a gentleman who had noticed our interest asked if we would like to hear its history.

Sure.

We hadn't noticed that it had been a bank.

The story goes like this.

One day in 1887 or 1888, three armed men strode into the First Bank in Joseph, Oregon, and robbed it of $8,000. One of the robbers was shot and killed before they were able to make their escape.

The other two headed east toward the Snake River and Idaho.

A posse was formed and caught up with them about thirty miles out  near the town of Imnaha. A gun battle ensued, and another of the robbers was killed. The other was brought back to Joseph.

(Here's what Imnaha looks like today. You would miss it if you blinked. Well, maybe you wouldn't, because it is basically the end of the road. Other than the highway by which we arrived, the only roads out are gravel or dirt, and pretty iffy this time of year. I've actually traveled on one of them in the fall a number of years ago, but that's another story.

A quick shot back over my shoulder to get the post office, too--didn't want you to think that Imnaha was really small, did I?)

Okay, back to the bank robbery. the surviving robber, badly wounded, was taken back to Joseph, where he recovered from his wounds, was tried, and sentenced to eight years in state prison.

Upon being released, he returned to Joseph to establish himself, and became the manager of the bank he had robbed.

The hills near Imnaha.

We expect to return to visit Enterprise and Joseph in a different season, finish the hike we left half done, and get out to the edge of Hells Canyon, accessible by those dirt and gravel roads out of Imnaha. Hopefully the museum will be open in Joseph, as we want to see one exhibit our impromptu guide told us about. He said he was upstairs in the museum when he noticed some cards--not very large--maybe about the size of half a sheet of paper. On closer inspection he found that they were formal invitations: "You are cordially invited to the execution of..."

See, I told you, there's gotta be a story...

 An entry to This Way Thursday. See others here.