Jefferson County Fire Dept. Madras, Oregon

This fire had them worried they might have to evaluate Trout Creek Campground but it went closer to South Junction and out by Bauers place near the top of the grade out of Willowdale. As usual farmers and ranchers came from everywhere with their cats, water trucks, tractors with plows, cowsboys with horses etc. They moved the cattle, put lines around the fire as this is an area that has no fire department coverage, it is all up to the neighbors and it i rough country.

This next fire was a haystack fire near a lot of buildings on NW Elm Driver right out of Madras about 4 miles and is in the Jefferson County Fire District. Our fire department is mostly volunteer and they are amazing. They have been so busy lately I can't even imagine what August and September is going to be like for this great group of people.

I have not made it to take photos of many of the fires our fire department has responded too. While I was at the first fire taking photos they toned out for a tree on fire up by the hospital. We had many small fires that could have been bad if it was not for the quick and efficient actions of our fire department.  One burnt up the whole hillside behind Ahern's grocery right at the edge of town and up the hill by the railroad trestle but as usual our guys kept from the houses and only burnt sage and cheat grass.

Thunderstorms refresh the air

A thunderstorm will refresh the air like nothing else will. It has been so unusually hot this summer and the thunderstorm was a welcome relief. The air smells like nothing else after it has been hot and we have a storm, one of my favorite smells in the world.

A farmer is not always glad to see the storm. Sometimes he loves it but when you have crops cut and ready to bale or thrash like in this picture it can cost you a lot of money. Hay that has been rained on does not sell for as much money and sometimes you lose a lot of it too. If their is hail or heavy rain it can knock the seeds off and you lose most of your crop.

I just love the colors of this field and of the sky. Lets face it I love the high desert of Central Oregon with a passion.

As the storm passes and night starts to fall the birds also rest on the telephone wire to rest. What a relaxing evening, cool, refreshed and smelling wonderful. Time to lay back and just enjoy what nature has to offer us. This is better then any tranquiler that man has ever made.  We so need to learn to appreciate the simple things in life again. Let go of the rush and just enjoy the peace of a summer evening listening to the birds sing us a lullaby.

and with that I say, Have a wonderful day and lets enjoy the simple things God and life have to offer us.

Nikon D7000

Anyone that likes the photos I have posted on any of my blogs I just wanted to say I use a Nikon D7000 camera and I LOVE it.  It is by far the best camera I have ever used and I would not trade it for any other camera.  It is great and I have no complaints at all with it.


Nikon D7000 Digital SLR Camera Body - 25468Nikon D7000 16.2MP Digital SLR Camera - Body Only - Digital SLRNikon D7000 Black Digital SLR Camera Kit - 25474Nikon D7000 16.2MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S

John Day River

Fun drifting down the John Day River in the ospreys.  It was so hot this summer when we went, about 20 degrees warmer then last year. Most days were over 100 degrees so the water felt wonderful and it was warm.

A lot of birds on the float down the river from Spray towards Service Creek.

Ranches along the John Day River, what a nice place to live but I still prefer Madras. One of the reason is that I can see the snow covered mountains and the other those snow covered mountains cool it down at night when the evening breeze comes up. It blows over the snow and towards us and sleeping is easier. Sometimes up there since it was 113 one day nights were miserable when you are camping and can't get in the river.

These are out in a field between Spay and Bull Prairie Reservoir, it really startles you at first, all I caught was the shape of the elk out of the corner of my eye so we backed up and took the photos.

 Look at all those layers of Lava. The John Day basin has so many interesting places and if you like geology at all you will love this and the fossil beds.  I did not take photos of a lot of the places as I already had so many of them. Always interesting just to even go for a drive.

Everywhere you look in different then the other side of the road. I love the green in this.

Bull Prairie Reservoir about 19 miles from Spray.

 They had a flash flood the day before we left and the river was one giant mud puddle. I mean it was so thick you swear you could walk across it and it rose about a foot. The monsoon rains and thunderstorms the whole central area got made a real mess of the river.

No posts for a week

The area I am in right now has such a slow internet connection it is hard to even type something and impossible to post pictures so I won't be on here for another week and then hopefully I will have some photos to post. So far have not even taken many as I am to busy, swimming, playing games, fishing and visiting with friends...

Be safe and God bless all of you

Winchester Bay

I am not an ocean fan, I much prefer the east side of the Cascades but this is one of my favorite tings about the ocean...OYSTERS!  I took this photo from the boat as we were cruising from the dock, wishing I was eating them instead of going fishing...lol I dreamed of them all day long until we got back that evening and we cleaned up real fast and off to eat oysters. My dad loved Oysters, he would even put them on his pizzas, I am not that big of a fan of them.

Headed up the bay to fish wishing I was eating Oysters..like hurry up and get there where we can fish and get back and eat oysters...

Just bobbing in the water pretending to catch fish. Nice and relaxing day but not a fish catching day.

I love this part of the bay and are those guys catching fish or just pretending like we were? I think to be a fisherman you must have to enjoy just sitting in one spot and letting your mind go blank, not something I am good at. My mind is always going a 100 mph and not always on something constructive and I don't set in one spot very well until I am tired or sick.

It was fun conversation though as we were our good friends the Shumways and mom and me so the day was fun even if we did not catch one single fish.

I love Madras, Oregon

Here is a photo showing a good reason why I love Madras, Oregon. This was taken right out of the city limits. You can see the industrial area, the farming and some houses.

Here are some more reasons to love Madras. Shows the town and the Three Sisters. What a lovely place to live. We have the best views. I love the weather here. I love the farms and the smells of fresh cut hay, mint and even the smell of a crop when the sprinklers are hitting it spreading the smells.

I love Oregon, I love Madras and I love the Cascade Mountains............How lucky and thankful I am.