Loren and I started this week with seeing the movie Judy. If you are at all a fan of Judy Garland we can recommend it, even though it mainly portrayed her sad, darker days. The next evening we went to see our dear friend here in Ashland perform in a play reading, along with several other dramatists, helping prepare for Halloween.

  

The venue was about an hour away in Grant’s Pass, and afterwards we four enjoyed a nice dinner beside the Rogue River.

Grant’s Pass has a fondness for animal statues, and I developed a fondness of photographing a few of the ones we saw there.

It has been fun to spend this extended time in the same town as our friends. We have so enjoyed visiting with them as often as we can. Our studio AirBnB is walking distance to their home and along the way we have seen some beautiful fall colors and other flora.

Loren and I also took in more of the arts that are so prevalent in Ashland. We visited the local theater for a World Film Week and specifically saw Rafiki, Cold Case Hammarskjold, and Fiddlin’ all of which we would also recommend. One evening before a film, we stopped for ice cream, and while it was delicious, we don’t want to make it a habit here.

Loren and I are continuing with attending more performances of Oregon Shakespeare Festival. This week we took in a discussion with one of the actors in a piece we saw last week, and, we attended the Shakespearean production of MacBeth. Another evening we thoroughly enjoyed a gathering at our friends’ home. The neighbors and friends of theirs who attended are good people, ones who Loren and I would enjoy knowing better. I forgot to take any photos though. The next day with our friends we stopped to see the Ashland Culture of Peace Commission’s World Peace Flame in a pavilion on the Southern Oregon University campus.

Then we had a lovely hike on part of the Pacific Crest Trail that takes in Mount Ashland,

 

and we spent a little time at Callahan’s, a lodge near Mount Ashland which is a stop similar to Kennedy Meadows in the California Sierras for Pacific Crest hikers. That evening we ate leftovers and totally enjoyed a rented copy of the compelling Bohemian Rhapsody together. This is yet another movie worth it to see if you have not yet.

 

As of now, I am more than half way through my 30 day yoga challenge, and it was quite inspiring to run into two different yoga teachers I know while we have been here this week – one was a teacher in the San Jose studio — but I didn’t have my camera when I saw her, the other taught here in Ashland and she and I had taught together in San Ramon recently. I also enjoyed teaching another couple of classes this week at this studio.

We hope you too are enjoying fall, especially for those of you who now have power back on in California… hopefully that was worth it to prevent another serious wildfire.