Ashland in October

The California kids and their parents had to cancel their September trip and go the first week of October instead. So I drove back to Ashland on October 2nd... stopping on the way at Ankeny, as usual, and saw some mysterious shorebirds way across the lake. I could not tell what they were so took photos...

After looking at the photos, I noticed light-colored stripes on the back, ergo... Common Snipe.



 Onward to beautiful Jacksonville where I stayed overnight with friends Judy and Don. After their traditional morning walk with Rusty, their wonderful dog, I drove on to Ashland where I saw one play with Steve and family, Alice in Wonderland, plus hiked in Lithia Park.

We saw a flock of Hermit Thrushes and one posed for me.

I did not get such cooperative poses from the boys. Steve is being Steve.

Here are Munazza and her boys on a throne. Well, it looked like a throne to us.

Steve being his daredevil self, walking across Ashland Creek on a pipe of some sort.

... and teaching his boys to be daredevils, too... first Kestrel...

 ...then Cedrus...

Kestrel on his way back, without help, just Steve ready to catch if he lost his balance...

...and Cedrus... a little leery of all those rocks below. Smart kid.

Kestrel found a quiet spot to rest and watch the creek...

We came upon a rock garden...

Cedrus found a quiet spot, too...

 It was a short trip for me. I came Wednesday, saw a play Thursday, and left Friday. They stayed one more day and saw two more plays (that I had seen with Ruth in September). But there was an ulterior motive besides seeing the kids: Munazza had agreed to take plants from my greenhouse to free up the crowded space, so my little Prius C was stuffed with plants on the way up, and their car was stuffed with plants on their way back to California.

I stopped at Ankeny on my way home, as always, and found a pair of Yellowlegs close to shore. I suspect they are Lesser rather than Greater but I don't really know.

  I also found a yellow jacket (wasp, not item of clothing), or it found me. It flew into the car while I was eating lunch; I exited; it came with me, landed on my head; I brushed it off... and got stung. Nasty bee.

Home safely on Friday, October 4th, from my third Ashland adventure. Balm of Gilead took away the itching and pain from the bee sting... eventually.

...Come to think of it, I actually went to Ashland four times this year to see plays: once with Ian on the way south to California in June, then again on the way up; once in September, and once in October. That's a record I hope never to break. Too much driving. Time to stay home and catch up and enjoy the colorful fall. Happy October!

Ashland Revisited... Twice!

This year has seen my all time record number of trips to Ashland. In June, grandson Ian and I stopped in Ashland on our way to and from visiting grandkids Kestrel and Cedrus in California. We saw plays at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival going and coming back. That story and photos in an earlier blog.https://lindafink.blogspot.com/2019/07/my-whirlwind-trip-south-with-ian.html

 In September, I returned for my usual September visit with friend Ruth and saw three more plays at OSF. This blog reports on that trip: Part Two of the Ashland trilogy.

On my first full day, I took my customary early morning hike. Sixteen turkeys were also hiking... in the cemetery very near our bnb...

...and on the road bordering the cemetery.

I hiked the bike and pedestrian trail that I always hike, eager to see if the padlock lady had added anything more to her fence since last year. She had.

 

In the photo below, you can see the padlocks around the corner from her new fence decor.

 

 She had also rearranged the broken pottery somewhat and now had wine glasses pouring from one to the other.

Her begonias were beautiful...

Walking farther southward than usual, I came upon the Southern Oregon University's
Sustainable Garden area with large greenhouse full of vegetable plants...

 ...and a large outdoor garden with more plants. On my return trip, I saw grade school students harvesting vegetables in both indoor and outdoor gardens, with college students directing.

I passed a mysterious leaning tower beyond the college garden as I headed down that street, intending to make a great circle back to the walking trail.

I did not go in to investigate as there were students milling around and I thought perhaps they were on a field trip to whatever that tower was.

The next road I came to was a main drag with a picturesque old barn beyond.

 As I walked back north on Main St., I came to a sign for ScienceWorks, an interactive science museum which we had visited last year.

 I turned at the road behind the sign thinking I would go back to the walking trail as it is much quieter than Main St. But the road only went to the ScienceWorks parking area. However, there was a walkway from there back to the road with the weird tower so I took that... and arrived at the weird tower, which turned out to house The World Peace Flame... which I had never heard of.

 The long walk back brought me past the cemetery again. No turkeys this time, but two fawns were asleep among the headstones. No mother in sight so she must consider the cemetery a safe place to leave her children.

Then it was Play time. We had seen As You Like It the night before, but I didn't like it as well as the version we saw with Steve and family in August performed outdoors, on a winery lawn, by Willamette Shakespeare company. Those plays, performed every summer for free, are always family oriented and lots of fun. The OSF version was much more serious... odd for the comedy that is said to be Shakespeare's silliest and funniest. I guess that depends on the director's direction...

The afternoon after my hike we saw Indecent, a play about a play. It was beautifully written and performed, but heartbreaking. That night we saw All's Well that End's Well, a Shakespeare comedy that was, happily, performed as a comedy.  A good way to end my trip. Ruth stayed for several more days and more plays (mostly the ones I had already seen with Ian in June) with other friends and family joining her.

I drove home on Thursday, Sept. 19, stopping as always at Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge on my way home for lunch, to stretch my legs, and to take photos of pretty white egrets and upside down mallards.