Due to several forest fires in eastern Oregon, and the wind changing from the usual SW/W to an E/SE, our valley slowly filled with smoke this week.
The light turned into an eerie orange at sunrise, followed by more of a yellow during the afternoon. It almost felt like fall, with that warm, low light ..

The Cascade mountain-range in the east and Mt Hood, which is usually visible on clear days, was completely gone ...

                               

 

As was the same towards the Oregon Coastal range, which was only faintly visible:

                              

Temperatures were high (low 90s), even more so with the smoke which acted like a blanket and prevented the nights from cooling down.
Fortunately it only lasted a couple of days and by now the wind has turned and everything is clear again.

My zinnias don't care about smoke or low light and are putting on quite a show: 

              

They're wildly popular these days, everybody wants them. 
No wonder since they're sturdy, they're flowering reliable and for a very long time and they don't need a lot of water.
And they're so cheerful!

Most of the Teasels are done flowering but I found a few near the pond in town with still some purple color on them.                                      

 

                                                                        

Fun fact: its unique hooked seed heads inspired the invention of Velcro! 

The Ospreys still act nervous when I come around the corner towards the train-tracks. 
One of them landed in the tree I stood under at the pond to check me out and I finally got a decent shot of him:

We have a lot of Leaf-cutter bees buzzing through the Queen Anne's Lace and they fly of and on to my little bee-house to build their individual brood cells in the tunnels:

They line them with plant materials (leaves, resin) or soil, provide them with pollen/nectar, than lay a single egg, and seal them ...

                                                

They're very busy bees!

      

They're very important pollinators for squash and melon.
Case in point:

Yes, that's the beginnings of a Honey-dew Melon! And there are several more! Whoohoo!
Only problem ... they need a long, hot, 90–100 day season. 
So I doubt we'll have an edible product in the end, but we'll see ... it'll be fun to see how far they'll get.

I did pick my first green beans though. How cool is that?

We ate them with some mushrooms and onions, hamburgers and small potatoes. Very healthy!

I also tried my hand at a 'bowl', another highly popular item these days to eat, especially in vegetarian/vegan circles.
I cooked carrots, broccoli, edamame and brown rice, air-fried some salmon, added avocado and drizzled it with a simple mayo/sriracha sauce:
 

                          

Instead of piling everything in a bowl I spread it out on a plate. I think it eats much easier that way, when you don't have to dig for what's at the bottom.

I bet it just tastes the same .... m-m good!