Butterfly Sighting

Over the weekend a fine gentleman I know by the name of Terry Koch snapped this photo of a gorgeous white butterfly perched on a dandelion flower in his yard. He was gracious enough to allow me to use the photo for this blog, as he resides in the Walla Walla Valley. Though he's not sure, he thinks this might either be a Western White Butterfly or a Spring White Butterfly. Any butterfly experts out there care to try their hand at identifying this beauty?

Straight Ahead: Adventure

An August evening drive through the countryside southeast of College Place will produce beautiful serene summer scenes such as this. We'll find the train tomorrow...

Summer Sprinkler

I glanced out my bathroom window while doing the laundry the other day and saw the sun glinting through the droplets watering my neighbour's lawn. I love the summery glow and the deep green of the leaves (though admittedly I did edit this version of the photo).

Religious Bug

I love these little guys. This is a small one, but the Praying Mantis is a really fascinating bug. I'm not usually too interested in insects, but these are harmless and quite fun. And they are quite often found in gardens and yards during the summer. Here my sister models her find for the good of the people.

A Common Scene

This is something you see a lot here this time of year - dogs with their happy faces stuck as far out of the car window as possible, tongues, jowls, and ears flapping in the wind. The warmer weather makes just about everyone happy.

Summertime Transport

I spotted this bike parked in front of a house on 4th Street in College Place and I instantly saw it in black and white. I love these old beach bikes...they're in style around these parts right now, though they aren't cheap bikes! This one was white and looked brand new. I'd love to take it for a ride on a summer evening.

Pony Rides

I'm not sure what these kids were celebrating, but it looked a little bit like a birthday party gathering complete with pony rides. I spotted this cheerful little crowd while running errands for work last week. Even the pony seemed to be enjoying himself. I'm not sure who the guest of honour was, or if there even was one, but everyone seemed to be smiling and having a good time whatever the occasion. (Who doesn't love a pony ride?!?)

Lunchtime View

I don't really enjoy summer, but one thing I do like is watching the world turn green. After the flowers are gone (and they pretty much are except for a few lilies and some roses), the varying shades of green emerge and spice up an otherwise drab summer valley. Another thing I like is early summer, when the weather is still comfortable and the breezes are enjoyable while you eat lunch at a picnic bench, like I did earlier this week. This was my view as I sat in the shade of this very full-leafed tree and enjoyed my lunch. I walked to one of the most open parts of the Walla Walla U. campus called Kretschmar Lawn (pronounced KRETCH-mahr) for the large glass building which borders one side. It was a lovely quiet summer day on the university campus, which although makes the campus a little lonely, is nice for a peaceful lunch.

Palouse Falls 2

This is Palouse Falls. I talked a bit about it yesterday, so you can read that posting for more information on the area. This is the major waterfall in the area (the rest are about 3-4 feet high), and is 198 feet high. These waterfalls are part of the Palouse River, and lead straight into the Snake River. This shot was taken from the parking area; when you take the hike I mentioned yesterday you end up right at the top of the falls, looking down as it plummets nearly 200 feet to the river below. It's quite spectacular, really.

The heat isn't the only thing that makes the hike somewhat unenjoyable. It is also not really a trail - just a slightly flattened area on a hillside covered in shale rocks. It's easy to slip and tumble. When you fall, the rocks are not only sharp and hard, but also hot from the sun. One must be careful on this hike! Oh, and did I mention that this is prime rattlesnake territory? Just one more reason to watch your step on this hike!

Palouse Falls

A couple of hours from Walla Walla, through a tiny town called Starbuck (it consists of about one farmhouse and a barn), there is a place called Palouse Falls. Though this time of year it is a pretty miserable walk - as you can see, it's all in the sun, and there are no trees - once you find a place in the shade to relax down by the river, it's wonderful. Taking off one's shoes and socks is a must - soaking them in the water is something that can't be missed after a hike like that. The river itself is down in a small canyon, and the parking is up at the top. So the hike down takes you to the water, and then if you go from the spot pictured here down around a bend in the canyon walls, you'll come to the major waterfall of the area. I'll show you that tomorrow.

Calling to Collect

It is now a week into official summer here in the United States, and the bees are still buzzing happily around, collecting pollen and nectar to turn into honey for us to enjoy. You can see the dusting of pollen on this bee's underside if you look closely enough. Local honey is something we in the WWV enjoy regularly. It's good for your seasonal allergies to ingest local honey, because it helps your body build up immunity to the pollen that floats around relentlessly each spring.

NOTE: I don't know what is going on with Blogger's scheduled postings, but I had scheduled postings every day for the last week, and it didn't actually post any of them automatically. I had to go in and manually publish them each day. (In some cases I was a day or two late.) Is anyone else having this problem?

Confidence

I stopped to take a picture of something else early this summer, and across the road, this gentleman pranced up to the fence and posed for me. He swished his tail around a couple of times, and threw his head up and down. He kept trying to get my attention, even stomping his foot a bit. Finally, I laughed and said, "Okay, okay!" and snapped this photo. He seemed placated, and wandered over to munch on some more grass.