White Oak at Sunset



The not yet green landscape waits for rain in 2007.

Deer track running across the road.

Up here for the New Year, burning brush. This is the first burn day of the season we've been able to take advantage of. I threw some carpinteria seeds in the fire to see if they would germinate.

Otherwise, it's trying to figure out what the dog has run through. She keeps disappearing, then showing up smelling of soy sauce.

We call it low clouds. Fog is only in the valley.

Sierra Snow

The clouds rolled back and...the high peaks are covered with snow for the first time this season. More, please!

Fungi Fest
A whole colony sprouted in my front flower bed.

Really big piece of machinery to grade for road grading. Impressive.

A funnel spider web captures dew. A few green shoots of grass welcome the rain. The granite boulder waits for the next ice age.

There have been at least two inches of rain since this was taken. I love these old oaks which survive fire and drought and extreme temperatures.

The cottonwood planted five years ago thrives despite adversity. When it was a mere sapling, the cattle munched on it -- hence the curved growth pattern. Then a deer sharpened its horns on the trunk (we surmise). Water is scarce on this dry south facing hillside. That may have slowed down its growth, but all in all a success story.

Shot from the road on the way home from North Fork. Lovely to stop and see the different views on the way home.

View of the house from the east. Lots of white oak and live oak between the driveway and the house.

The rayford ash in the back yard turning a lovely plum color.

The community pond looking low and dry. Those storm clouds promised but did not deliver any rain.

I can just barely see my house in the distance at the top of the ridge. This photo is shot from two miles away.

Winter vineyard with jewel-like red grape leaves as the sun sets.

A ranch on the other side of Road 200. The golden trees are poplars.