March Moon

I've been taking advantage of the energy surge that the waxing moon usually provides for me by cleaning out winter's debris from the garden.  It's a good thing I got this picture earlier, as She is completely obscured by clouds now. 

It has been quite nice for the past several days with temperatures in the low 60's F, but snow is predicted for tonight and tomorrow.   It will be welcome; even though we've had what seems like a lot of rain and snow this past winter, what we've gotten so far hasn't been enough to end our drought. 

10:32 A.M.

That's when Spring officially arrived in California.  Not that it looks anything like Spring up here.  The header photo and the photo above were taken around the end of last April.  But, since it is officially Spring/Ostara, I felt like making my blog look like it, even though I'm glad it doesn't look like Spring outside. 

The ground is still mostly covered with a thin layer of snow.  A lot of it has melted due to the unseasonably warm weather we've had for the past few days.  I suppose it will all be gone in another week. 

But, I'm not really ready to let go of Winter.  It used to last a good 6 or 7 months up here.  Now we're lucky to get 4 months.  Spring doesn't last as long as it used to, either.  In this time of hateful climate change, Summer is the longest season.  I suppose most people like that, especially here in California, but I am not a fan of hot, dry weather.  Hopefully, we'll get at least one more snow storm and some good rain storms in April and May.  Then it's goodbye rain until November, unless some of Arizona's monsoon rains in July and August get pushed West.

Anyway, happy Spring/Ostara!

Little Gems

This is one of my favorite lakes up here, Lake Gregory in Crestline.  It isn't the largest, but I think it's one of the prettiest.  Most of the lakes up here have very little accessible shoreline, due to the stacks of docks and mega docks that cram their shores.  Lake Gregory only has one small dock, I think they use it to rent canoes or rowboats during the summer tourist season.  Motorboats are prohibited.  It doesn't have any houses close to the shoreline and it has a lovely walking path.  One can walk around the whole lake in under an hour if walking briskly.  If you stop to take photos or look at interesting trees, rocks, birds, leaves...well, you get the idea.  It can take all day!  And it's a lovely way to spend a day in the Spring, Fall or Winter.  I avoid walking around it in the summer, usually, as it's just too hot and crowded. 

Lucky

I've been seeing this guy for a several weeks now, but I never had my camera bag with me.  When I did have my camera bag with me, I would never see him.  But, last Thursday afternoon when I went out for a walk, I took it with me and I got lucky!  I was about 80 yards away when I spotted him.  I didn't want to waste time trying to get closer because I was afraid he'd fly away.  I grabbed my Canon Digital Power Shot SX10IS, not my DSLR, because I didn't want to waste time changing lenses.   I just kept zooming in (the camera has a 20x zoom lens) and snapping pictures.  I only wish I would have had my tripod with me because this camera just won't take a clear picture at full extension without it.  But, hey, I'm happy with what I got, especially the last one.  He had obligingly moved to another branch so I could get a different view of him.  The cloud bank, which was just cresting the ridge when I started shooting, was starting to drop down into my valley and I was lucky to get the last shot before he was obscured completely.

Mute

'Woman Reading in a Garden'  by Mary Cassatt

I haven't been reading in my garden because I'd likely freeze, since it's covered by several feet of snow.  But, reading is almost the only thing I've been doing lately.  Re-reading old favorites and whittling down my to-be-read stack.  I'm in that period of winter where my mind is, mostly, unable to formulate anything worth saying.  The silence that mutes the sounds of nature outside my windows is somehow contagious and I find it far easier to read the words of others than to utter any of my own.