DIAMOND LAKE HIGHWAY

It's already our third week here in the "Land of Umpqua".  And there's a feel of autumn to the air as the dried thistle above shows.  Summer is winding down....

This morning we took off for the Douglas County landfill.......or the dump.  Now, you might think that a dump is just a dump is just a dump.  But, I disagree.  The Delightful Douglas Dump is really a very special place.  Others that we've had the UNdelightful experience of visiting have been dirty, stinky and no one who has business there ever, ever looks at each other...........like they are embarrassed to be seen there doing something they shouldn't be doing.  There was one back in Nevada County where the wild pigs would run all over and they were friendlier than the human visitors.  Well, here in Douglas County, it's a happy place where they have everything marked as to where you drop off your 'wares', clearly labeled signs all over.  There are guides to direct you, attendants that will unload some of the bags of trash, and they SMILE and say hello.  When we went over to unload all our moving cartons, others dropping off their trash were smiling, talking and saying a friendly 'hi' to each other.  And  one of the nicest bonus' was that it is FREE!!  We were so pleasantly surprised!  

 OK......moving right along, after that trip we headed a ways up highway 138 on the way to Diamond Lake.  We stopped and had a very good Chinese lunch.  Good food and the cute young Chinese waitress was bringing around an added enticement of a return visit by carrying her 5 month old baby on her hip.  He was very at ease with all the customers..........His name is Edwin.  I had to ask twice to make sure........Yep, he's Edwin.  Full of smiles.  There was one elderly grandma and grandpa like couple that had their own smiles from ear to ear, holding and cooing with Edwin.  They were regular customers and had shared in Edwin's adventures each week when they came for the weekly Chinese lunch.  Then, one day the Grandpa didn't feel well and they didn't return for quite a number of months.  All this was what Edwin's mother told me and she was very worried about the elderly man.  It sounded like he'd suffered a slight stroke of something.  Anyway, everyone was soooo happy to be sharing their good lunch, good health and good baby Edwin.

 We then continued on heading east for about another 10 or 15 miles.   I know my chauffeur only has so much patience when I'm looking for some photo ops.  When some of my more adventure-loving and photographer friends & family come, I'll be back and get more shots and travel further up the highway.  But the little we traveled, showed that the countryside is beautiful.  I do absolutely love the skies here!!  The skies of the coast were always gorgeous, too, but in a different way.   You'll notice that most of my shots have a lot of sky showing.

 And barns!!!   There are so many barns.......all shapes and sizes as well as varying degrees of questionable condition.  Some were falling down so much that you almost didn't know it was a barn.  This last photo shows one barn way up on the top of the hill........

So, it was a fun day.  Full of getting to know more about our environments and some of the people in it.    And I even managed to unpack more cartons in my studio.  Hope you all have a good rest of week........