Sallyacious: The Arboretum Project Week Nine

« Silver Slippers | Main | DAVE'S PLAY BY DESIGN IS GOING TO THE KENNEDY CENTER!!! »

March 05, 2006

The Arboretum Project Week Nine

Panorama 03-05-06

How did it get to be week nine already? I cannot believe how quickly time has flown.

I really didn't want to go today. Which is why I spent 2 1/2 hours there and took 266 photographs. Because I didn't want to do this project today. A good advertisement for the benefits of just getting your butt out the door and getting down to business, I guess.

I knew it would happen eventually. Not nearly enough downtime since I started this project, and I found myself really, reeeeeellly not wanting to do anything but lie around the warm house and alternate between napping and reading. But. I promised myself I would see this thing through, and I refuse to quit before the really interesting stuff (i.e. spring) starts happening. (Though I do have plans for a couple of guest photographer slots for when I'm out of town. I'm hoping Dave can fill in for me on those days so we don't miss a week.)

Of course, I'm glad I went. Not only did I explore some areas I'd not figured out how to get to on my eight previous visits this year, plus the other walks I took last year before the knee fiasco, but I found a patch of early irises in bloom. GORGEOUS doesn't even begin to do justice to those flowers. But you'll see what I mean if you scroll down the page. Nothing else really came close to their impact today.

Angels

Valley Panorama

Beckoning

Early Irises II

See what I mean?

From the Golfcourse

It seems, by the way, as though someone else had the same bright idea I did. For the second week in a row, I met a photographer in the arboretum. Not just any old photographer, because I'm rarely the only person wandering around with a camera, but the same guy I said hello to last week as I saw him by the lake with his camera. We both smiled kind of sheepishly at each other this week. Last week, we were friendlier. I wonder if he's posting online as well...

Birdseye

Earth and Sky

Branching Out

Burls II

It was far too dark for the time of day again this week. I was in the arboretum from roughly 1:15-3:30pm, and it looks like the sun is setting. I need to figure out how to adjust exposures on the new camera.

Signs of Spring

Burls V

Peek-a-Boo View

Cascade

Right after I shot the photo below, I realized that all of the ice had melted. Two weeks ago, the lakes and ponds and almost the entire length of the creek were thickly frozen over. Last week, the creek had melted, but there was still ice on the lakes and ponds. This week, none. No ice anywhere to be seen. It's amazing how quickly things can change, even when progress seems to happening at a geological pace.

Clarity

Lacework

Paradise

Branching Out II

Stolen

If you look closely at the picture below, you can see at least one female koi heavy with eggs. I saw several like this, though the one in this photograph is by far the fattest. I also saw at least 4 schools of koi in the upper lake. It's very exciting, watching the world come back to life like this. Exciting and comforting.

Koi School

Star

Serenity

Creekbed

Groundcovers

Curious

Burls IV

When I said I went to parts of the arboretum I'd never visited before, I meant just that. I hadn't realized until last week that there was access to the ridge that divides arboretum from golf course. I made my way there by guess and by golly, and once I found a path, I would follow it back to where it met with the main trail and then return and follow it the other direction. That's how I made it up onto the top of the ridge and the golf course. And how I got some of these gorgeous pix of the Palouse. It really is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been.

Farmland