Chairs, Chipmunks, My Shoes and Mt. Rainier

I promised to show my Mount Rainier pictures, which I took in August.
Well, I have two sets of them.
One set includes gorgeous-out-of-this-world-wonderful-weather pictures,
and another set includes mysterious-dramatic-foggy-cloudy-weather pictures.
Let's start with the first set.
Just several notes, and I'll let you enjoy the view.
First, Mt. Rainier is the highest mountain in Washington.
Second, I didn't feed the chipmunks! Someone else gave them nuts.
It's not a good idea to feed wildlife. Please, don't do that!
Third, the beautiful petunias belong to the Summit House restaurant,
the highest restaurant in Washington state.
Gondola ride to the top of Crystal mountain, where the pictures were taken,
costs $20 for adult with discounts for youth and seniors.
Trust me, it's worth it!
And, at last, Yes, those chairs are very comfortable  and
No, there is not any barrier in front of you when you sit on them.
Now, please enjoy the grand magic of wonderful Mount Rainier!

***Copyright 2012 TatyanaS

Before and After. The Worst of 2011 For Me

As I remember, the last time I felt awfully bad about dying plants was three years ago. Then, my Privet (Ligustrum japonicum) was hit by falling snow and my Cordyline froze (I Am Not Crying, Am I? ). While the Cordyline was gone for good, the Privet was given a second chance. It hasn't recovered 100% yet, but it survived, gave new growth and looks very promising now. I didn't know then how much worse the pain of losing plants can be even when those plants are not technically yours. Without further deliberations, let me show you what I mean.

A forest is also a garden, isn't it? Nature garden.

Before (Dec. 2008, snowy pictures) and After (Fall 2011)

Now, I know what sound I hate the most. It's the sound of a logging saw and the loud noise of falling trees crushing other trees on their way down. There is an agony of living things dying in that sound.

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This summer, we hired a tree service company to trim several tall fir trees around our house. We also got permission from our Home Owners Association to remove one tree. The roots of that tree could harm our driveway. It wasn't an easy decision. It took our family several days to discuss if that tree needed to be cut down. Before the tree cutters came, I told my boys to go and say Good Bye to that fir and thank it for the beauty it gave us as well as for the shade it provided.

A bit later, I happened to look out of the window. One of the boys was standing at the tree and touching its trunk. I watched him. He stayed there for several long minutes! He was talking to the tree!

We never took that tree down. It is still there.

I can't tell you how many times I thought about that after the whole forest was gone in October.

I don't know what my kids will do when they grow up. They say 'never say never'. But, I hope they will never buy a piece of land near their own neighborhood with one specific purpose - to harvest all the trees and sell them to China. I hope they will never destroy such beauty for financial purposes. I hope they will never be disliked (softly saying) by all the people who used to come to the forest to feel themselves as part of nature, to enjoy its greatness and beauty and to stay sane in the whirlpool of stressful life.

How can we, people, come to believing that we can do with nature what we want and what we need? How can a person sleep after destroying not one, not ten, but hundreds of trees? How can people believe that their rights are more superior than the Earth and what belongs to it?

 How can something that is legally right be so ugly and morally wrong?

***Copyright 2011 TatyanaS

Hello from Alaska

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How can I leave my garden? How can I miss new blooms, some of which I've never seen before? Why should this trip be in the summer when the garden is at its best? How did I allow HIM to plan it to be so long? Gone! All these questions, worries and regrets are gone! They went to infinity and beyond the moment I saw this:
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And this:
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Today we watched this gentleman:

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A Grizzly bear seen not through a Zoo fence:
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Are any words needed to describe this view?

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I will never get tired of seeing Alaska

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Clouds hanging low and birds sitting high:
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Even Cow Parsnip, an invasive weed, looks good with the snowy peaks in the background:
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(I wrote about it here: A Treasured Weed)

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Rugoza Rose is competeng with it:
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I will never get bored walking Alaskan streets:

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I love my garden, but how can I be indifferent to this beauty?

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This is it for now. Salmon are running, people, salmon are running!

And, I should run to take pictures of the happy faces of my fishermen. What about me? Do I fish? Not yet. No way I can beat my own record (want to see my last year catch? It's here: Better Than Growing Vegetables).

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Copyright 2010 TatyanaS