Travel, Life
An Oregonian Fall
A week in photos
I spent the last week in Portland, Oregon, helping my sister out after she had foot surgery. The timing of the trip turned out to coincide with the start of the Oregon fall. Day by day, the leaves turned a little more burnished auburn and blazing yellow. And a lovely lilting rain swept through one night, tousling the leaves with light kisses and blustery breezes.
As you may know, if you’ve read some of my recent stories, I am transitioning away from teaching yoga right now (the studio I have taught at for twenty years shut down) and am embracing a creative life. I’ve gone full-tilt into finishing my book of poetry, essays, and photos and am launching a little photography business. So, I bought myself a new camera for my recent birthday — a mirrorless Nikon z7. It’s my first full-frame camera, and also my first mirrorless body. I have absolutely fallen in love with what this camera can do.
Each afternoon, I ventured out for a long walk with my camera, absolutely captivated by nature’s seasonal display. This charming little country road was part of my path on several days.
Along the way, I stopped to put my macro lens on my iPhone 11 Pro Max and snapped a few wildflower photos.
I was born in Upstate New York and lived there until I was eleven. There are some smells from those falls of my childhood that will stay with me forever. We had crab apple trees in our backyard, and, inevitably, by this time of year, they had dropped their fruits onto the ground. As I was walking down that little country road in Oregon, I smelled rotting apples and I just knew that fall had arrived.
I passed this small marsh each day too and was enamored with the reflections on the water.
I ventured a little further afield one day — to the Tualatin River Trail — and stumbled across the biggest mushroom that I think I have ever seen. I could just picture a gang of fairies hiding nearby.
And what would Oregon be without a little wine-tasting? I bundled my sister (and her knee-scooter) up and took us over to Ruby Winery, one of our favorites in this area. These next two shots are the views from their tasting deck.
The sun dipped down into the valley and lingered there for several minutes, lending an ethereal glow to the landscape.
Another afternoon, I headed over to the Cooper Mountain Trail and hiked under this canopy of greenery, which seemed to almost fluoresce in the indirect light.
Each day that I was there, fall seemed to tease us just a little more with her presence. Living in Southern California, I see a few colored leaves here and there. But there’s nothing like the Pacific Northwest for putting on a full-blown show.
Erika Burkhalter is a yogi, neurophilosopher, cat-mom, photographer, and lover of travel and nature, spreading her love and amazement for Mother Earth’s glories, one photo, poem or story at a time. (MS Neuropsychology, MA Yoga Studies). Erika is also an editor for Mindfully Speaking.
I hope you enjoyed venturing along to Oregon with me. You might also enjoy:
Story and photos ©Erika Burkhalter. All rights reserved.