An October Exploration + CAR!

So, it's October.  First of all, click play above.  Listen as you read.  Eric Whitacre is amazing.  (Thanks, Julie for reminding me of his fabulousness!).

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Mom and I were looking for someplace to go walking on Sunday.  We decided to go to the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge.  I am SO glad she suggested it.  Here are some pictures from that trip.

 This is a picture of the river.  I would imagine that is is called the Tualatin River, due to the name of the park/refuge.

 This is the pathway as it enters the trees.  So beautiful with the light coming through the trees!

 I don't know why, but I am always caught by the sun shining through trees, so I had to get this picture as well.

 I thought we should take a picture of ourselves as well, considering we rarely do.

 I don't know why, but this tree made me stop and think.  It could be the way its roots were pulled out of the ground, rather than breaking through its trunk to fall over.

 I was amazed and appalled at how many people were noisy, even with multiple signs like this.  It just felt so sacred there, and in contrast, their noisiness seemed almost sacrilegious. I also felt really bad for a man who was waiting so patiently to get pictures of a woodpecker.  So many people scurried past him, making so much noise that I'm sure he wasn't able to get his picture.  Ugh. 

 How gorgeous is this tree?  It's so forlorn and scraggly, but it has not lost its beauty to its loneliness.

If I were a tiny little animal, I think I would like hiding inside this tree.  I imagine it will grow up to have a larger area inside, but that will take many years.  I also love the colors here.  Such beautiful earth tones!


The very next day, I went on a completely different sort of adventure.  I bought my first car!  Well, the first car I purchased for myself, rather than a car provided by Mom or Dad.  The check engine light came on in my 1999 Honda Civic Sunday evening as I was driving home from Mom's house.  I took it in Monday (yesterday) afternoon to get it checked.  The service man cleared the light, but he also mentioned that it was showing that I needed my O2 sensor replaced sometime soon-ish.  He said it was not life threatening, but that it needed to be taken care of.  I asked him how much that would cost.  He said it costs around $300, and they don't keep them in stock.  He said they would have to special order it, and that it is a job that takes a few hours, so I'd have to drop my car off for the day when I had it done.  Well, I didn't like that.  I had prepped myself for the possibility that I would need to replace the car when the check engine light came on.  I didn't want to pay $300 to fix something on a car I was planning to replace soon anyways (I was planning on early spring).  Well, I called Mom, she headed out, we got the car cleaned out and took it over.  I went in thinking it would be mainly informational, but under the right circumstances, I would purchase.  Well, they made it happen.  They found a way to fit into the guidelines I had for purchasing last night (with some help from Mom-THANKS!!).

 It is a 2012 Honda Civic LX.  The color is called "Cool Mist Metallic".  Pretty, isn't it?  I still need to come up with a name.  Any suggestions are welcome!

Isn't is just so beautiful?  I LOVE the color!  It was the last blue one they had on the lot.  I got super lucky!

And here is poor Benny.  I loved Abednego.  He and I went through a lot together.  We've spent most of my "driving-life" together, preceeded only by Gideon (for about 2 1/2 years).  Gideon brought a lot of strife in many ways, but Benny was mostly a really good friend who was there for me through a lot.  He was troublesome at times, but that's to be expected, isn't it?  I will miss you, my dear friend.

Okay, now that I've officially dorked out on a car...can I mention again how gorgeous Eric Whitacre's music is?  October has LONG been one of my favorites from Whitacre.  It's gorgeous, and the Wind Ensemble at my high school played it when I was a sophomore.  Good memories are attached.  I thought it fit a post like this...in October. 

Happy October!