Happy Solstice to All and to All Shorter Nights

Here are a few more additions to the creature tree:

A fledgling great-horned owl

A common garter snake

A mottled sculpin.

The owl and snake were requested by Sarah and the fish will be a gift.

And here are some photos from our longest night of the year:

An ice-covered spider silk

Icy grass

Sarah's snow angel

Tulip tree buds

"Downtown" Orenco Station

Creatures on the Tree

Last night we set up our tiny apartment tree. Instead of buying ornaments, I like to carve and paint my own.

Here are a few ornaments I have already made:

A red tree vole

An immature wolf eel

A holiday-colored beetle

A prickly pear cactus

A hooded merganser

A purple sea urchin

My latest creation, a wind scorpion (a beautiful desert arachnid)

I'll post others as they are created and hung.

Winning the Game and Getting the Tree

Between conference championship games on Saturday (Oklahoma won the Big 12 to advance to the National Championship!) we walked around Dawson Creek Park .

We saw some pretty clouds and plenty of waterfowl, including huge flocks of cackling geese.


On Sunday, we drove up to the farm country to get our Christmas tree.


The U-cut farm had a great selection of trees including noble firs, known around here as the Cadillac of trees.


We passed up this grove for a budget-friendly, apartment-sized Douglas fir.

We tied the little tree to the Subaru and headed home.

I now need to figure out a tree stand. More tree photos to come!