Cougars, and Foxes, and Fires, Oh My!

We have had a busy, but rather uneventful week here, so my posting today is mostly about this and that. My daughter started first grade (and is loving it) and we've been getting a few more rooms in order (and I'm loving that). I gave into my urge to buy some shrubbery for our backyard today and am happily typing away with dirty fingernails. It feels good to get my hands dirty in the name of nature.

Speaking of enjoying nature, I had to slip in another photo from our Ape Cave adventure last weekend. You have to drive through Cougar, Washington, to get to the caves, and on the way, the park sign above was spotted. I can't help but picture the ladies from the Cougar Den on Saturday Night Live sitting around in big hair, big nails, and animal print clothing soliciting younger men as they pass through. It's made me smile to myself all week, and now I pass the gift onto you.

In other wild animal news, the mascot at my daughter's school is a fox, and there is a darling little statue of a fox leaping in the air right next to the main entrance. It seems that with every special occasion, one lucky lady working in the office gets to dig out an outfit and dress the statue accordingly. Tuesday was welcome back to school, Wednesday he was naked, and Friday he was wearing red for Spirit Day. Stay tuned for more pictures of the Foxy fashion collection as the year goes by.

I'm not sure if it's been hitting the news back in the Midwest or not, but Mt. Hood has been wrapped in smoke from forest fires for a couple of weeks now. At the end of August, there were several lightening strikes that spurred fires east and south of Portland. The wind here, although not as constant as back on the plains, can still whip up to 20-30 mph and a nice, brown cloud traveled 65 miles and entered over our neighborhood one day. It's nice to know that at least we don't have to worry about tornadoes now when something like this is overhead. These fires are not only hampering our weekend travel plans, as we would like to head out to Mt. Hood while the sun is still shining, but it has also besmirched the view of Mt. Hood from our deck. Prayers for all the firefighters, homeowners, and civilians that are in its path.

August

September

As mentioned in an earlier post, we are now sitting in our sitting room! It is actually looking more like a home and less like an abandoned storage facility all the time. Maybe by the time my parents and our dog, Penny, arrive in another week, we'll have somewhere to put them, too.

~Paula