Category Archives: The Grand Landscape

The overview of the natural landscape.

A Blue Sky Afternoon

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Cherry Allee & Neighbor’s Pasture
Heatherwood Spring

With all the turmoil surrounding us, it is important to step back and reflect on what is right about the world. What is better to be thankful for than a peaceful sunny late afternoon with a blue sky above. This is just the spot to relax and enjoy the day and nature’s landscape surrounding our home. Soon the blossoms of the Pink Flair cherries will fall. Leaves of the cherries and birches and oaks below will emerge. A little later, the planting bed between the cherries will be full of colorful perennials. Horses will be grazing in the pasture. You will find us sitting on the rocks dangling our feet amongst the flowers.

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Late Afternoon Warmth

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Lower Garden Entryway
Heatherwood Early Spring

Late afternoon sunshine brings warmth to our Heatherwood garden. This was taken at about 5:30P just before the sun set behind the hills to the west. The yellows and reds of the yellow and red twig dogwoods highlight the scene. The Selah Ridge above sets the background. The curving grass walkway provides an entryway to the garden from the road. It gives a peek into the garden for walkers as they pass by.

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A Forest in the Desert

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Joshua Tree Forest
Joshua Tree National Monument

I’ve spent the month of January away from our Heatherwood Eden. We missed our garden so we took a jaunt out into the natural garden of the Joshua Tree National Monument. Joshua Tree is in the southern portion of the Mohave desert in California. It is a land of its own with cactus-like forests and strange rock formations in a desert landscape. It is a wonderful place to just walk and explore. As I wander about, each turn of my head opens up my eyes to new visions. The Joshua trees look like stick figures in all different forms. The rock formations look like faces, animals, architectural structures, and even monsters here and there. My imagination wanders from scene to scene. A simple one hour walk turns into a 2-3 hour adventure through a land of wonder.

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Fine Wine on Red Mountain

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Looking East from Col Solare
Red Mountain, SE Washington

Some of the best Cabernet Sauvignons in Washington are from Red Mountain near Benton City in SE Washington. The Col Solare winery and tasting room sits on the top of the mountain. Several other great boutique wineries lay in the valley below.

The fall is a beautiful time to visit with all the various shades of the vineyards throughout the area. Mary and I frequently take the 1.5 hour drive down to enjoy the scenery, taste the excellent wine, and pick up our quarterly allocations. It is a great way to spend a sunny day!

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Good Morning !!!

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Sunrise
Heatherwood, Late Fall

Late fall and winter sunrises at Heatherwood are frequently spectacular. Many times I arise early in the morning when it is pitch dark. After a bit, a slight hint of light rises in the east. I see a trace of orange on the horizon. Soon the light spreads across the sky in pastel shades orange and pink. The hills and valley below are still pitch dark. Gradually, I can see dark shadows of hillsides and trees emerge. Then the sky bursts out in glorious brilliance of yellows, oranges, pinks, and purples. Mother Nature shouts out GOOD MORNING!!! Quickly the light spreads over the valley and the brilliant sky colors start to fade. It is a wonderful way to start the day!

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Looking Up Through the Garden

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View Looking Up Through the Meadow
Heatherwood Fall Colors

More color is bursting out every day! There is something new to capture my interest every morning. I need to get out and photograph every day. A little rain here and there coupled with wind knocks the leaves off quickly. One day our stewartia was covered with bright orange leaves. The next day after an evening wind, only a few leaves were left. The constant change is part of the glory of autumn. Each day Heatherwood delivers a new gift. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow will bring.

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Fall Glory

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Japanese Garden Entry
Heatherwood Fall

I started the day walking into the garden with my garden tools. I was planning on doing a little work. I did not get very far. The sun softly peeked through the light cloud cover. The colors of the garden were gorgeous. I turned around, put my tools away, and grabbed my camera. Three hours later I came in for lunch.

I have been working on our garden for ten years now. Our efforts are gradually taking effect. I had pretty much a clean slate to work with. For the first three years, this hillside was just a green lawn. In 2019, we tackled this area and started to create a Japanese inspired garden. Six years later most of this upper area is covered with maples, conifers, and ground covers. We sit back and enjoy just watching the area mature. As the conifers get larger and produce more shade, there will be room for a few more Japanese maples who are less tolerant to the bright eastern Washington sun.

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A Peek at the Alvord Desert

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Alvord Desert
South East Oregon

The Alvord Desert is a 12 by 7 mile dry lake bed in southeastern Oregon. It lies in the rain shadows of the Steens Mountains and the Cascade range. This image is from a view point as I entered the desert from the south. While visiting Alvord, we witnessed air planes taking off, a wind sail vehicle catching a breeze, and a car racing across the desert. Next time I visit, I plan to catch a sunrise or sunset and maybe photograph the Milky Way. It is one of the darkest locations in the world.

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Looking at Life from a Different Perspective

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View from Our Patio
Heatherwood & Selah Ridge

During the last two years I have been focusing my photography in our Heatherwood garden using my standard visible light camera and presenting how I see the garden in color. I was becoming stuck looking at things in the same way. Yesterday I brought out my infrared camera from retirement and took a stroll through the garden. I looked at the garden around me with a different perspective seeing the landscape with a new view. The color was gone; the sky was dark; vegetation was white; greens and reds were the same tone; clouds were dreamy. Beauty presented itself in a different way.

At times I tend to get trapped in looking at life from a set perspective. It feels good and gives me balance when I step back and open up my mind to other viewpoints, focusing on a positive perspective. Opportunities open up. Life is more enjoyable!

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Cloudy Day in the Badlands

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Across from the Visitor’s Center
Banlands National Park

During my workshop in the Badlands, our group passed by the Visitor’s Center almost daily. This scene is just across the road from the center. Every day it had a different perspective. On my last day in the park, it was cloudy. The clouds and the filtered light accentuated the contrast between the hills and the sky as well as the trees. Infrared made the contrast even greater. I was thankful that I stayed an additional day in the park.

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