2016: The year in review

Here is a summary of 2016, via selfies.

Scuba diving in Bonaire, in March

Cycling the Canal du Midi (France) in May

Walking around the neighborhood in Arles (France) in May

Visiting Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey in October

Hanging out with family in Lynnwood, Washington, in November

Walking on our Oregon beach in December

Best wishes to all of you in 2017!

After more rain

The fall rains bring us lots of interesting fungi.  One of my favorite species is the king bolete.  This week has been bountiful.  One day, I came home with 10 pounds of them.  Two days later, I came home with a pair.  Today, I came home with a lovely one after a bicycle ride.

I've been lucky enough to find these lovely mushrooms when the sun is shining.  All good!

Lots of salamanders were out crawling around in the woods with me and the mushrooms.

This one weighed between 2 and 3 pounds.  It was huge.

A salamander from our yard.

After the rain

One highlight of living in a rainy place is finding the fungi that pop up after the rain.  I've been out looking, and today came home with a few chanterelles and one lovely king bolete.

Today's haul

Chanterelles from September

Fishing report

After about a month away from fishing, Bori got back into it this morning, and the fish cooperated.  He came home with 2 Chinook salmon, weighing about 50 pounds together.  So, we will have lots of salmon in the freezer.  Definitely, a nice welcome back to fishing.  We had very nice weather as well.  A very good day!

The big fish

Both fish

Harvest

In honor of the harvest moon, I thought I would post photos a few of the things we have been harvesting in the last month or so.

Wild Chanterelles

Wild Chinook

Farmed tomatoes, that we dried

Farmed apples that we dried

Cherry and pear tomatoes that we grew

The best way to ripen tomatoes on the Oregon coast--bring them inside, and wrap them in newspaper.  These tomatoes have been inside one week.

Be well and enjoy the season.

Fourth of July

There is nothing quite like celebrating the fourth of July on the Oregon Coast. Especially, in Yachats.  We took in the La de dah parade today, and I'm sharing photos of a few choice moments from this offbeat parade.

The synchronized umbrella squad

The jellyfish umbrella team

A wedding party accompanied by a kazoo band playing "Here comes the bride"

A man in a gorilla suit

And just before the fire engine --The tooth fairy

Meanwhile, back home, I harvested my elephant garlic today.  Here is my haul.

Food!

Saturday in Paris

We started the morning by visiting a photo exhibit in the Hotel de Ville.  It featured photos taken in the 30's, capturing the changing moods of the people of France.  It's impossible to capture the whole essence of the show, so I picked a few photos that spoke to me.

Hotel de Ville (south side)

The photo show

Then after the show, I walked around the Marais for a while.  One never knows what one will encounter.  Today, I found a protest march in progress.  A wedding.  A market.  And people in costumes.

Protest march

Newlyweds

Market

Ladies in costume (from San Simon?)

Scenes of the Seine flooding

At the beginning of May, Paris was warm and sunny. But during May, a record amount of rain fell.  At the beginning of June, Paris is quite cool, and damp.  Upstream, a lot of rain has fallen as well.  The net result is that the Seine River is flooding Paris.  Low-lying roads and riverside cafes are under water.  The river is predicted to crest today.  Some of the RER trains lines have been flooded, and at least 2 major (riverside) museums are closed as they move art treasures from their basements up to higher ground.

The river is a nasty brown color, and it is filled with logs and other debris.  Here is what it looked like this morning.

Looking south across the Pont D'Arcole

Looking east

Looking north at the Hotel de Ville (City Hall)

Looking west

A flooded roadway

Flooded road, river walk, and trees

Driving to Paris

OK,  three words: don't do it.  At first, it doesn't sound that bad.  But from Arles to Paris is 7 or 8 hours of driving, at insane highway speed, on toll roads that they should be ashamed of charging for in some places. Through many construction zones, the lane widths have been reduced (so trucks take up more than one lane in width), and for a couple of long stretches, only one lane of traffic was open northbound and southbound, separated only by plastic cones. Throw in some rain, and voila -- a very long day.

We started out with bright sunshine, and an old walled fort on the hil

We left Arles at 6 AM to get into Paris before rush hour, but that put us driving through Lyon at the morning rush hour.  So we got a much longer look at Lyon than we imagined.

Lyon

Lyon

Some interesting structures were visible along the way.

The rain has kept everything green.