My favorite hike takes me through the chaparral-covered hills of Griffith Park but maintains a view (smog allowing) of downtown Los Angeles in the valley below. The weather and the seasons change but from this distance the city looks constant.
A fall afternoon.
Moonset at sunrise.
Early spring wildflowers.
(Posted as part of the Weekly Photo Challenge.)
I love to dig in my garden. My neighborhood lies in the foothills of a mountain range, so all the yards are full of rocks of many sizes which were shed from the mountains in ancient landslides.
When I dig a hole for a new plant, I am a rock archaeologist, discovering buried artifacts. Except I don’t have to be careful where I slam my shovel. Sometimes the rock is so weathered that I can pull it apart with my hands, exposing fresh glittering crystals in the local granite (technically a granodiorite, for other rock nerds).
When the shovel catches and bends, I know I’ve caught a big one. A boulder. Then I dig from many angles, eventually on my knees with my hands, to excavate it. Often a rock is lodged in place against several other rocks, still locked and buried. I have to use my fingers deep inside the hole to figure out which rock to move next in order to release my target. So removing a lodged-in-place rock requires working a 3D puzzle with your eyes closed.
And when I finish the puzzle, I have a hole for my plant and new borders for my garden.
The undug.
This post topic comes from The Daily Prompt.
Bo, Leo, and Arrow.
Recently our kittens had to wear cones after surgery. Their reactions captured their personalities and some basic differences in approaches to life’s troubles.
The cone disturbed Bo mightily. He didn’t know what to make of it and he immediately became miserable. I’m trapped in a cone. This is terrible. He dragged himself backwards until he hit a corner, where he hunched down and gave up.
Initially, Leo also wigged out and dragged himself backwards. But he quickly adapted. I guess now I’m a cat who — wears a cone. Okay! Within a few minutes he had evolved an odd but successful, neck-craned gait and had found new ways to pursue his favorite pastime, playing with tiny pieces of crud.
Arrow rebelled against the whole concept of cones. As soon as we put a cone on her, she began whipping her head from side to side and pawing the cone’s edges. No way am I wearing this, get this @#&%$ thing off me. She had it removed and hurled across the room within about 10 seconds.
So far, I have gone through life with responses on the Arrow-Bo spectrum, but I aspire to become more like Leo. How about you?
To me it is splendid that mud dries the way it does because of its physics and chemistry. And as it dries it briefly preserves the scant piece of Earth history to which it was witness.
Characteristic cracks.
A leaf fell. A dog ran.
Before
If I keep low I should be okay.
Here is a baby harbor seal, once injured and nursed back to health by a Santa Barbara, California, rescue group. When able to fend for himself, he will be returned to the nearby ocean. And not a minute too soon – he is mighty bored!
Humans are as disturbing as they are inspring. In the aggregate we do so much harm to so many critters but there are always a few to step in and reverse any bad trend.
At a crew meet, flocks of shore birds made a wonderful noise when they landed – like a thick layer of shells in surf. Just ignore the humans in this video…
Winter’s not over yet but after weeks of cold, suddenly it feels like spring. Too early, certainly, and if this persists there will be wildfire hell to pay later. Nonetheless – I’ll take it!
Warm sun blue sky gentle breeze. Just sitting outside is all I want in the world, today.
I really should get the chores done.
Birds singing.
I meant to do some writing today.
That sun really feels nice.
I’ve got work deadlines looming.
A cat and a dog lounging nearby on the warm ground.
I’ve neglected my blog of late.
This must be what it’s like to be a carrot, close to harvest time.
Ocean running downhill.
Sea wall.
Ocean running uphill.
Required Writing 