Of the many joys living in the Pacific Northwest brings – my favorite is Color. Each season bursts with bright vivid contrasting colors.  Abundant evergreen plants blanket every view with lush deep dark green forests.

The boys have heard scratching in the walls the last two nights, so we did a walk around the house to see where the critters might be getting in. The went about setting traps and making plans to block a couple of holes. I grabbed my camera to capture some color in the yard. It was a glorious evening with the setting sun shining brightly.  

In a storm 2 years back several feet of our beach was stripped away. This year, we didn’t cut the wild grasses back, in hopes of helping the soil build and be more stable. Now that we’ve had our first good flooding, I think it’s time to at least trim it up a bit. Here’s to hoping that the wall will stand in the storms to come this winter!

Our favorite year round tree studies, Big Leaf Maple and Red Alder. Now, several years later, these four trees feel like pets to us. We know how they grow, when they leaf out, when they turn color, when they drop seeds and leaves. We cheer for their healthy years, and grown in the hard seasons.  The Big Leaf Maple trees had a hard time a couple of years ago as the result of an over zealous drive way weed killing session by some landscapers. Tree dropped exactly half of it’s leaves in a couple of days.  Glorious to see it in full color this fall. They are across the water (like across the street) from our back deck. The Red Alders are in our yard. I love to see the birds – Northern Flickers and Woodpeckers and a host of small varieties pull the bugs out of the bark in the winter.

We started the Outdoor Challenges because we moved into this amazing spot and felt a responsibility to learn the name of all of the new birds and trees – all the animals and plants.  Yet, the more we learn, season by season, the more I wish we would have taken such a keen interest in our other homes as well.  What were the names of the trees in our past yards? What were the names of the birds that sang to us in the wee hours of the morning? Wherever you are – take the time, week by week, to get to know your property or neighboring park as well.

Our biggest news of fall – the water is clear again. Algae gets thick in September – Glad to see the fish and rocks again!

Click over to see many many ideas on how you can spend 15 minutes outside with intention this week!

Outdoor Hour Challenge ~ Oak Tree Study – Autumn Colors and Acorns