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I Never Unpack

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I Never Unpack

Monthly Archives: March 2018

Just Me and My Camera…Sunrise and Sunset

28 Wednesday Mar 2018

Posted by slvrhawk2014 in Nature, Photography, Weekly Photo Challenge

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Tags

Nature, photography, Weekly Photo Challenge

Almost fourteen years ago, April 17, 2004, I was doing one of the things I always liked best…bicycling on the Katy Trail, the very best bike trail in mid-America, right here in Missouri. And suddenly, in the middle of a beautiful ride, I had a heart attack. I am fine now, probably healthier than I was before that day…

But I am changed. I wake up each and every morning and instantly feel a smile crawl across my face…it is a new day, and I have another chance to make the most of all I have been given. I never understood how precious that is until I almost lost it.

Shortly after my illness I woke up each morning and rushed out to see the sun rise. I created a small portfolio of 30 sunrise pictures that I named “A Month of Sunrise”. I even took a picture on the days the sun could not be seen. I knew it was there in the eastern sky…right where that brighter spot was. It started as just a trigger to get me going, to wake up my day to what it could be, but by the end of the month it was so much more.

I noticed things I had never noticed before. I learned to look at the whole sky. There were so many colors behind me that I had never before turned to see. I saw people up and about, starting their day just as I was starting mine. I realized that for each of them, there were things they were thinking about…some good things and some bad things, some things that filled them with joy, some things that terrified them. For each of us, we were facing a new day…and it would be whatever we would make of it. I learned to listen as well as to look. I heard birds I had never noticed before. I heard wind blowing through the trees, across the field, behind the buildings. I smelled the dew, and the freshness of a new day. I saw critters waking up and starting their daily routine. I understood better than ever before that the world is a lot of us, doing a lot of things, living a lot of different realities.

I no longer take any day for granted, and I still run out to see the sun rise every chance I get. Sometimes, when I am visiting them, or they are visiting me, my children come with me. They, too, have learned to welcome a new beginning each day.

My favorite sunrise picture is one I took at one of our favorite places along the Mississippi River, Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary. It was shortly after my husband had recovered from a significant illness, and the bright sunshine was the beginning of a truly good day…an almost perfect day…

Falling in love with the sunrise, led me to begin to notice the sunset. The morning sunrise got me going, the sunset gave me time to reflect on how I had done with this one more day I had been given…so many one more days! One of my favorite sunsets was on a trip we made to southern Missouri, on a small lake…

The sunrise gets me going, lights my way…the sunset makes me grateful, and helps me to sleep each night…after I run out to catch the moon in whatever phase it is in!

In response to the Weekly Photo Challenge, Rise/Set

 

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Just Me and My Camera…in My Favorite Place

23 Friday Mar 2018

Posted by slvrhawk2014 in Nature, Photography, Weekly Photo Challenge

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

Nature, photography, Weekly Photo Challenge

I go to my favorite place to be quiet, to be thoughtful, to reflect, to be renewed, and to escape all those things that would steal away all the goodness that is my life. I go to the woods…

in the spring to see the earth wake up after its long slumber…

I go to the woods in the summer when the whole world is alive…

I go to the woods in the autumn when it is alive with the vibrant colors of its last dance before the cold winds blow…

and I go to the woods in the winter, as it rests, and so must I…

Just me and my camera…in my favorite place!

In response to the Weekly Photo Challenge My Favorite Place

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I’d Rather Be…

15 Thursday Mar 2018

Posted by slvrhawk2014 in Nature, Photography, Weekly Photo Challenge

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Nature, photography, Weekly Photo Challenge

in the woodland…

on the prairie…

at the ocean…

in the mountains…

But if today I cannot be those places, I want to be right here…

In response to the Weekly Photo Challenge

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The Oregon Coast, and Oregon Style Salmon Cakes

01 Thursday Mar 2018

Posted by slvrhawk2014 in Fish, Food, Oregon, Photography, Travel

≈ 2 Comments

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Family, Fish Dishes, Food, Nature, Oregon, photography, Travel

Here, in the great Midwest, here in Missouri, winter has not been a spectacular season. It has been, quite often, very cold…but without snow, and I believe that cold without snow is a waste of freezing temperatures. When we have had precipitation, it has been rain. The rain is much welcome, since we have been in drought conditions for some time now…but, snow melts into fresh water! I do not want anyone to believe I enjoy ice on the roads, but in a winter like we have had, a little ice on the bare branches of our trees has been a glittery, welcome sight on two occasions. As you can tell, winter fatigue has set in.

So, I remember the ocean, the Oregon sunshine, the walks on the beach with some of our family, the rocks I explored that I knew nothing about, and best of all…the sea creatures I got to see up close and personal.

The Pacific Ocean meets the beach in Lincoln City, Oregon.

I have written a couple posts about our trip to Oregon last summer, but now I want to share my favorite part…our week on the Pacific Ocean in Lincoln City. Each and every  morning, we awoke to the foggy layer that covers the ocean at sunrise, and watched it as it lifted and left a crystal day. Each night we went to sleep after watching the sun set off our patio…

The view from our beach house, where…

we watched the sun set each and every evening.

Each morning we got up, had breakfast, and went out to explore…up and down the coastline. The waters off the Oregon coast are pretty cold, too cold for most of us to swim in, but that did not mean we did not get wet, we did not tempt the waves, nor that we did not climb back in the car, many times, with really cold toes.

Our first big stop was Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area in Newport. We walked on the rocky beach to peer into the tide pools, and looked across the rocks and into the sky to find other wildlife. The two kids were awestruck…so were the big “kids”.

Peering into the tide pool

Sea anemones are amazing creatures

It did not matter that walking was challenging, because…

well…because getting to a new place to explore was the name of the game.

“Look at that, Luke!”

Look at all those birds…and what could this be!

And the birds…so many on the rocks of Yaquina Head. Many birds come here to nest.

Common Murres on a rock
Common Murres on a rock
So many Cormorants, and...
So many Cormorants, and…
a nesting Cormorant.
a nesting Cormorant.

And my personal favorite…the seals…

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DSCN6559

We also visited the light house at Yaquina Head, a most beautiful backdrop to the tide pools…

and we stopped to take pictures of the scenery on our way.

 

 

Another day we traveled to the Neskowin Ghost Forest…also known as the petrified beach. In the winter of 1997-1998, heavy storms uncovered the petrified remains of ancient sitka spruce trees that had been buried for centuries. At one time, possibly as many as 2000 years ago, these trees were part of a forest that was destroyed. Many believe the forest was destroyed by an earthquake or a tsunami. While we will never know for sure what destroyed the forest, what remains is a beautiful, almost haunting area of ocean fog, and over 100 petrified stumps.

Walking out to the petrified beach

Petrified stumps of ancient sitka spruce along the beach at Neskowin.
Petrified stumps of ancient sitka spruce along the beach at Neskowin.
DSCN7051 (2)

There is something mystical and magic about this place…

But I have saved the very best for last. Not far from our beach house was a place, known to locals as the Secret Beach…and several people I spoke with indicated they wanted to keep it that way. We were so happy the owner of our rental house shared its location with us. It was to the Secret Beach that we went to walk, to explore, to hide behind big rocks, to run until we were exhausted, where I went to draw, and to gaze out on the ocean, knowing we could stay only until the tide came rushing back in.

Enter our Secret Beach…

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DSCN6791 (2)

The scenery was incredible, but for me, the ocean life exposed at low tide was the most amazing. It would have been impossible to count the number of sea stars and the number of sea anemones we saw. Here is but a sampling…

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DSCN6800 (3)
DSCN6810 (2)
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And then there was this little guy…

What an extraordinary trip it was to the Pacific Coast of Oregon…and now I am ready for warmer weather, further travels, and new discoveries! I hope you can find a secret beach, a secret forest…a secret and special place to relax too! I just can’t tell you where our secret beach is!

Oregon Style Salmon Cakes

I remember when I was a little girl, and my mom used to make “salmon patties”. The prize for each of us four siblings was finding the little, chewy bones in the salmon. These salmon cakes remind me of those patties mom used to make, but maybe just a little bit better…and I still look for those little bones as a special treat.

Oregon Style Salmon Cakes

  • Servings: 6 patties
  • Time: 30
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

This is a delicious way to get dinner on the table in half an hour using a can of salmon.

Ingredients

  • 1 (14.75 oz.) can of high quality salmon
  • 2Tbsp. butter
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 cup cracker crumbs
  • 2 eggs, slightly beaten
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, or 1 Tbsp. dried
  • 1 tsp. dry mustard, plain mustard will work just fine
  • 3 Tbsp. shortening

Directions

  1. Drain the salmon, reserving 1/4-1/2 cup of the liquid. Flake the meat.
  2. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, and cook until translucent.
  3. In a medium bowl, combine the onions with the reserved salmon liquid, 1/2 cup of the cracker crumbs, eggs, parsley, mustard and salmon. Start with 1/4 cup of the reserved liquid and add more if the mixture is too dry.
  4. Mix until blended, and form into six cakes.
  5. Coat each cake in the remaining cracker crumbs, and sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper on each salmon cake.
  6. Fry salmon cakes in shortening, turning once, to brown on both sides.

Enjoy!

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