Some weeks are long for no apparent reason. And then there are weeks like this.

To the Beach

Last Thursday after work I headed down to the Beach House, intending to stay there for about 10 days. I had a list of items to pack, including the dog and kittens. It all went in the car and off we went. Only for me to realize about halfway there that while I had packed clothing, I had neglected to pack underwear. So, the bra, panties, and socks I had on were it. Luckily the house has a washing machine, so it wasn’t a tragedy.

The beach had several day so unexpectedly nice weather, so it was a real pleasure. The waves are still mostly in “winter” mode, but Friday morning the tide was low enough that we got to walk down on the beach for a ways.

Key had a great time. The only improvements for him would have been something nice and dead to roll in and even more time.

To Reedsport

The reason we had stationed ourselves at the coast was that we were lucky enough to get into the NW3 trial on Sunday held in Reedsport. It’s about a 2 hour drive each way, but from Salem that distance is closer to 3.5 hours. We had a great trial and I left very happy. Unfortunately, due to a combination of wind, excitement, wind, and a small handling error we (yet again) didn’t get our NW3 trial. Did I mention it was windy?

On our way home we stopped by the Dean Elk Viewing area.

To Home

Due to a variety of factors, I decided to come home after work on Monday. The drive hadn’t done by back any good (it’s been doing much better, though) and I had made an appointment with the chiropractor. So, I took some final pictures of the small pieces of art I had completed over the weekend and trundled home.

The theme for painting this month is balance, and both of these are exercises. They were fun, but… different?

To Ankeny

The rest of the week passed in a combination of walks and work. We’ve been having some great sunrises and sunsets. And the animals beginning their spring courtships. We saw an otter down at the St. Louis Ponds. (See the video by going on Facebook.)

In spite of the beauty and good weather, by Friday, I was DONE with the week. Words fail me sometimes and I just end up chanting “all people are weird all the time.”

There have been sighting of a gang of Long-Eared Owls out at Ankeny and I asked a birding friend where they were. He gave me directions and I asked a photographer friend to join me on a little hike (without dogs.) I fully expected to miss them, as is my usual luck. Imagine my surprise when we found them!

As you can see, finding them was no small feat! They were really tucked down in the willows. I’m sure my friend, with his big camera, got great photos. But I got some pretty good ones myself!

To the Studio

After the hike I returned home and did some cleaning, some chores, and some general goofing off. But I started two new paintings and I hope I’ll have an update on Sunday.