Sunrise

Early yesterday morning, I did this thing which I really try to avoid -- I got up and left the house before sunrise. It was... interesting. In Stayton, there is almost no traffic at that time of day, so it was definitely peaceful. But, still... way too early.

But I did get to see the sunrise, which was nice. For those wondering, the photos above and at right are intentionally under-exposed to bring out the orange colors only partially visible when viewed in person.

Wild Life

So, there was a field. And it had dandelions in it. So I took a picture. And now I'm posting it here. Yay.

Pump Station

This is the Public Works reservoir and pump building. It, I assume, has something to do with water.

That's what my readers (hi, Mom!) have come to expect from this blog -- in depth, detailed information.

It was a fairly boring photo of pretty routine buildings, so I processed it to make it more interesting. The picture at right is another view of the building from across a field. I didn't do the processing this with this photo -- I figured the sky and field made up for it.

The Back Forty

This is the edge of a grassy field at the end of E. Pine St. It's right next to the town's reservoir and pump station, a large round building I may post a picture of tomorrow. That would depend on whether the pictures I took of it are of the non-sucky variety. I'm still undecided.

Santiam

I adore this neon sign on the Santiam Depot / Rumours Lounge Restaurant on 3rd Ave. It has that cool retro feel.

Norpac Cannery

I was out the other night with the ol' tripod, and decided to take a picture of the cannery from the far side of the parking lot across the street from the fairly large (or long, at least) buildings which make up the cannery.

If I'd been using my brain, I would have done a long exposure to capture more of the smoke coming out of the building. But, see, I try to avoid using my brain... don't want it to wear out before I'm through with it, you know. ;)

The Bird & Hat Inn

As promised yesterday, today I'm posting some photos I took at the Bird & Hat Inn, a beautiful bed & breakfast on 3rd Ave.

The Inn was part of the garden tour I attended on Sunday, so I took the opportunity to take some photos of both the inside and the outside of the house. The photos on the left in the mosaic above were taken inside. Since the house was built in 1907 and still retains the historic feel of that era, I thought digitally aging the photos to be appropriate. And I just felt like it. ;)

The photo on the right, of course, is the Bird & Hat Inn itself. I also posted a photo of the place last year.

You can see bigger versions of the photos above and a lot of flowers and various other things on my Flickr photoset of the garden tour, plus I've keyworded some of the photos I know were taken at the Inn. Several more were, but I'm having trouble remembering which flowers were taken where.

I didn't get to all the homes on the tour this year, unfortunately... maybe next year.

Thanks to all the folks who put on the tour who provided information and were so nice in general. If you're in the Stayton area, or just feel like supporting a good cause, check out the site for the Brown House, the restoration for which the tour was raising funds.

Scenes From A Garden Tour

Yesterday I attended part of the 8th annual garden tour held by the Santiam Heritage Foundation as a fund raising event for the Charles And Martha Brown House (see my post about the Brown House open house held last month).

As usual, I ended up focusing on the small things instead of the overall views of each garden I visited. It's not my fault there were so many pretty flowers. My macro lens wouldn't let me do anything else.

I've created a Flickr photoset with part of the photos I took. I'll be adding more later today.

Tomorrow's post will focus on some of the sights at one of the gardens at the Bird & Hat Inn on 3rd Ave... more flowers, photos from inside the historic house, and more.

After The Sun Goes Down

I took the above just after I took yesterday's photo, about an hour after sunset. Both photos used 30 second exposures to get the various colors still visible in the sky, since full dark hadn't yet set in.

How The Other Half Live

There's a new neighborhood just off of 10th Ave. which has some gorgeous homes. I'd hadn't been through it before a couple of nights ago, so I decided to skulk about a bit with my camera and tripod.

Of the homes I saw, the one above completely captured my attention. I liked the Stayton water tower on the right in the background, too.

More From The Cruise-In

Yesterday I posted a couple of photos from the Stro's Wednesday Nite Cruise-In which took place a couple of nights ago at the local A&W restaurant. Since there were so many pretty cars, I thought I'd post another photo or two for today's post.

I've also uploaded several more photos to my Flickr photoset of the event, so please give that a glance if you're interested in pretty cars, or parts of pretty cars.

Another Wednesday Night At The Cruise-In

I attended the Stro's Wednesday Nite Cruise-In again last night at the A&W restaurant on Washington St. The cruise-ins are held twice a month during the summer to raise money for the Brent Strohmeyer Memorial Foundation, which gives money for college scholarships.

I've posted part of the photos I took of the cars to a Flickr photoset, and will post more today or tomorrow.

Branching Out

These lovely little flowers were on a bush I passed by a couple of days ago. They may or may not be some sort of small roses. I really couldn't tell you (as usual). I just think they're pretty.

Santiam Park

Santiam Park is a public park on the north end of 3rd Ave. It was built a couple of years ago as part of a new housing development area.

It's a nice park, in an open area surrounded by houses and a retirement center.

Come Undone

I took a stroll along the edge of the Community Center parking lot the other day in order to photograph the beautiful roses planted there. It's a strip of rose heaven.

To see more of the roses, please click on the thumbnails below. At least, I think the white one is a rose, but I could be wrong. It happens. A lot. There were yellow roses there, too, but somehow I failed to get any shots of them. I'm not sure why.

The Castle

This home on East Water St. has always reminded me of a castle. The architecture is unlike anything else you'll find in Stayton, and it has an exotic feeling to me.

I've photographed the bridge leading up to the home in the past (a water canal runs right in front of the home)... Bridge Reflection, and a reshoot of that: It's All Water Under The Bridge.

I know nothing of the history of the home, so if anyone out there can provide some details, it would be greatly appreciated.

Reflecting On Nature

This is my favorite little bridge on 4th Ave., which spans a small canal. For whatever reason, I thought of painter Bob Ross when I saw the tree and the reflection, and wondered if he would have thought it was a happy tree.

Bee Good

This little fella was hanging out on my purse yesterday. He didn't seem to mind me sticking my camera and macro lens right up next to his body, either. When I was through taking photos, he flew away. He didn't even demand a model fee.

I'm assuming this is a bee and not a hoverfly. I wouldn't know what type of bee it is, either. As usual, I'm a veritable font of non-information.

Power Defined

This is a power sub-station at the corner of Fern Ridge Rd. and 3rd Ave. I've taken a similar shot of it before, but I think I like this new one better.

Parallel Lines

This was taken a couple of nights ago, from the corner of 3rd Ave. and Fern Ridge Rd. This small band of clouds was hovering above the trees just after sunset, and I couldn't resist taking a picture with my zoom lens.

The Stayton House

This cute little place sits on the corner of 3rd Ave. and Washington St. Built in 1905, and has been both a private residence and various businesses over the years. It currently houses a real estate office.

The Pleasure Of Purpleness

It's been, like, a bazillion years since I last posted a macro of a flower. Okay, not quite a month. But that's almost a bazillion years when one has a fairly new macro lens.

So today's photo is of some random purple flower I found growing in front of the library. I have no idea what kind it is. I rarely know that sort of thing. And my mom is a florist by trade, too. She tried to teach me, but it didn't do any good. I'm hopeless, hopeless I tell you.

Sky Drama

I can never resist a pretty sky. I took this looking east off of the top of 10th Ave., next to the hospital. The trees on the lower right are from a Christmas tree field I've photographed once or twice (or thrice).

More From The Stro's Wednesday Nite Cruise-In

Yesterday I posted some shots from a classic car cruise-in I attended a few nights ago. Today I thought I'd focus on some of the non-car things I spotted at the event, including the lively guy in the above photo. He was sitting in the passenger's seat of one of the cars. I wonder if he qualifies the driver to use the carpool lane?

Another car had three dogs in it, including the one at right (see the other dogs), who was curled up in the driver's seat.

My Flickr photoset of the event has more photos of both the car and non-car varieties, so be sure to give it a visit. I'm still in the process of uploading photos, so they'll be a lot more there over the coming days.

Stro's Wednesday Nite Cruise-In

Here are the promised photos from the Stro's Wednesday Nite Cruise-In at the A&W two nights ago. The photo above is of an awesome Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray I wanted to bring home so I can drool over it at will. I don't drive a car, so that's about all I could do with it, of course.

I've posted a few of the photos to a Flickr photoset, but I have many more to post to Flickr. I'll be doing that over the next week or so.

Tomorrow I'll be posting (here, that is) some non-car sights I found at the cruise-in of the critter and undead varieties. Stay tuned.

Neon Fries

I attended a car show at the A&W Restaurant last night, but I'm far too tired to get those photos processed. So instead, here's a photo of some neon in the window the restaurant. Fries. Mmmmmmmm. I'll post a car shot or two for tomorrow's post.

In Flames

I spotted this nifty mailbox painted with yellow flames in front of a house on Fern Ridge Rd. I don't know if they're trying to speed up mail delivery or what, but it's kind of awesome.

Porter TV & Appliance

This is an old TV, appliance, and music store on 3rd Ave., in the "historic downtown" area of Stayton. It has long since closed, but the building remains as you see above. It may be run down nowadays, but I have a hard time imagining downtown without it being there. Others may disagree, but it just feels like part of Stayton to me.

But For Some Of Us It's The Only Exercise We Get

Your wisdom of the week, from a reader board on the Stayton Seventh-Day Adventist Church on Fern Ridge Rd.

DP Theme Day: My Local Corner Shop

Today is the City Daily Photo theme day once again. Today's theme is "my local corner shop." When the topic was chosen, my immediate thought was to photograph Postal Connections, a locally owned postal business run by Don and Sue Harteloo (pictured at right).

We have a post office box at their store for a cemetery my mother runs, and every time I go in there, Don and Sue are always friendly and helpful. Plus they do fund raising events, like one coming up on the 7th called the Great Haweiniefest. It's a Hawaii-themed hot dog lunch to raise money for Relay For Life, an event held each year to honor those who have had or are fighting cancer, plus it raises money for the American Cancer Society.

Visit the many other City Daily Photo blogs participating in today's theme day:

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

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