Early Bird: DPchallenge

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Early Bird.”

The coastal skies have been so overcast these early spring mornings that I’ve not happened upon any interesting new photo shoots, but I’m anticipating that soon my favorite, ‘early bird’ native plant will again appear in the rough, coastal scrub grass environment around my house. That would be “Hookers Evening Primrose.” Its gorgeous yellow, five petal flowers open like a faerie presence–new ones almost every two or three evenings–from May till September. The fragrance is so delicate and fresh in the very early morning, you need to almost pollinate it with your nose to truly smell it.  Alas, as soon as the sun burns through the fog, blossoms that might be only a day or two old will begin to wilt and die.  Beauty can be so ephemeral.

Hooker’s Evening Primrose, 3 new faerie arrivals last night!

Evening Primroses, where some have already yielded to a day’s sun and wind. If our newer faerie arrivals can last but a bit longer, they’ll be refreshed by gallant, if homely lovers, the Night Moths.

Easter Moon Fire: DPchallenge

Easter Vigil Moon burning through heavy overcast in northern California sky.

In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Blur.”

Thick fog or cloud banks often cloak the night sky over the northern California Coastal Range.  On the evening of the Easter Vigil a rising full moon, with its glowing intensity, managed to burn through the dark ultramarine canvas, leaving only a smudge or blur above the lunar disk.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Scale

Scaling Grandma McCabe Redwood–Largest in Mendocino County, CA

13 members of the California Native Plants Society join hands to encircle the largest first-growth redwood tree in our county, near the Gualala River.  We roughly triangulated (using hand-levels and tape) the height, and it clocked in at about 350 ft. high.

Rameses Tomb, along Nile River in Egypt

Rameses Tomb sculpture

Rameses Tomb was relocated to this new site before filling the new, Aswan High Dam on the Nile River in early fifties, to prevent its being inundated by the reservoir waters.  Each piece of the tomb and sculptures was mapped, numbered, sawn into manageable pieces, and transported, to be reassembled at its new location above the reservoir.

I was a geotechnical engineer assigned during the eighties to do a performance evaluation of the instruments installed in the dam during construction.  It  was wonderful to be able to tour the site while I was there, and note the magnificent scale and grandeur of the tomb structure.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Serenity

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Serenity.”

One of my favorite watercolor painting sites is a lotus and waterlily pond not far from my home, built by a homeowner at a site within a dense stand of redwood forest.  The owner makes the pond available to our painting group on request, about once each year, and it is one of the most silent, serene places we get to enjoy on any painting excursions.  It is very difficult to capture the beauty of this pond, with its crystal clear water, and the multitude of colors one can see on the surface and below.  If I had the run of the place I know I might want to go there more often, simply to meditate.