The End Of Summer

Today the rains came in...these shots were taken just as the weather began to change.

Not the Deer Slayer...

Busted. The deer are so used to my voice now, they don't even run. A few nights ago I came home to a large buck standing in front of the porch, eating flowers. If you've never heard a deer whistle, it has to be one of the more shrill sounds in nature. It's a sound one usually hears when a deer is in flight, running for it's life. It's a sound that these guys have never made-not once. Makes me feel like a pushover.

Twilight In The Garden of Elation and Despair

This summer has been a study in contrasts. Snow fell in June. It was over a hundred degrees in late August.

This summer was also the first time I really thought we had a shot at creating a yard. That is until I was told that in order for a yard to be a yard, well it has to have grass. Otherwise, according to certain experts in Pend Oreille County, it's just chaos. Which I was also told, I already do that really, really well.

So we dumped grass seed over the septic drainfield. Voila. Grass.

And, by default, a "yard" was born.

Because I have sold off so much of my land, and what remains is narrow and faces a steep slope, I wanted to create as much serenity and sculpture the view, while at the same hiding my neighbors.

So the following abundance of pictures shows the result of one season's worth of effort.

Enjoy the color...