Happy Earth Day - Hug a Tree

Every day.

Double Rainbow

It's there. Look to the left of the main rainbow. Yesterday could only be described as a monsoon. Torrents of rain. Then late-afternoon sun. Then rain with the sun for a couple of hours. Hence: double rainbow.

Tangential thought: there used to be dozens of Double Rainbow ice cream stores all over San Francisco and the Bay Area. Now Double Rainbow ice cream is only available in a limited number of grocery stores. The ice cream has become as elusive as its name.

Avert your eyes!

Or suffer the consequences, all who look upon here. Trees so overly pruned and topped that they're no longer trees, but scary monsters! With spindly growths that desperately try to become tree-shaped again, only to be cruelly lopped off each year, like a kid getting buzzed with dad's clippers. Why don't these homeowners just rip out these stumps-that-used-to-be-trees, and plant some shrubs instead? Then shape them into perfect rectangles, spheres and cubes to their heart's content.

Oh, the humanity.

Oh yes, it's Spring

Some blossoms and an egret at Heather Farm Park.

Indian Creek - Shell Ridge

Can't stop visiting Shell Ridge. This time we took a short walk down to Indian Creek. After this week's rainstorm, she's a-rising. Not really, but the pond was definitely higher than when I last visited two weeks ago. That's the kind of thing you notice out here in the hills -- ponds, creeks, the sounds of frogs...

My shadow looks like a cast member from Family Guy.

Oakland Art Tree

Spotted last November in downtown Oakland, in a store window across the street from the fabulous Fox Theatre. Always meant to post but just kept putting it off. Made of discarded items, which is a big thing in Oakland.

Shell Ridge Open Space Revisited

No rain today. Maybe in a couple more days. No seagulls so I figured it was on hold. Lots of sparrow hawks, regular hawks, ground squirrels. And millions of shell fragments from millions of years ago.

Tree growing out of rocks.

Lots of mushroom activity.

Ancient artifact discovery.

Mt. Diablo, Contra Costa County

There's a one-man movement afoot to try and rename Mt. Diablo after Ronald Reagan. I and close to 75,000 Facebook users are not moved by the argument that Devil Mountain constitutes a force diabolical. In my view, Ronald Reagan Mountain conjures up much more of an image of selfishness, greed and sociopathic tendencies. In contrast Diablo is earthy, majestic, daunting and mysterious--as our natural world tends to be.

From our hike on Sunday. A beautiful day on Devil Mountain.

Shell Ridge, Walnut Creek, CA

I hiked all around Shell Ridge open space today and finally figured out how it got its name. At the top of the ridge is an area embedded with seashell fragments from millions of years ago when the entire valley was covered by ocean. I think you'll agree, that is super cool.

I saw hundreds of ground squirrels, many gliding raptors and what I think was a sparrow hawk, posing vertically in the sky while flapping its wings before diving down for probably a would-be ground-squirrel lunch. Didn't happen though. It's like Watership Down with ground squirrels up there. I had never seen a bird do that--pause in flight a few times to "stand up" in the sky while flapping. Maybe there needs to be some perching areas...? The ground squirrels are rampant and are eating all the native-plant seedlings, including the Oaks. That's why the baby oaks are enclosed in tubes, to keep the squirrels from rooting them out.

Also followed a trio of deer while trying to find my way down to the parking lot again. That was not the best plan, but the deer kept looking back at me like, "C'mon! We know where some delicious gooseberries are planted!" They were not afraid of me at all--just keeping a distance of about 15 feet ahead all the time and checking me out, but that's it. They were like lawn ornaments that eventually took off for better pastures with less enclosures to thwart them. A kindly home owner eventually helped me navigate the twisty streets back to my car.

Late Fall Fruit

November in Heather Farm Park--some kind of colorful fruit--not for eating.

Mayan Drum Tree

My friend Tuckers sent me these photos from his trip to Mexico last week. His words:
It’s called a Maya Drum Tree. I couldn’t find much about it online, but the trunk is hollow. And they planted them in the square at the pyramid and beat them to communicate with the town. When you hit it it does make a fairly loud "tonk."

Note the banged-up trunk, used for Mayan long-distance communication.

If you have a tree to share, send it my way: captiveww (at) yahoo (dot) com.

End of Summer

This will be the last post (until further notice, or until I get my hands on a digital camera, rather than a camera phone). I started "Your Daily Tree" one year ago and it was always meant to be a four-seasons thing.

When we first moved to the Northwest, I was amazed by the gigantic fauna all around us, particularly the evergreens, which literally surrounded our property like a mini-forest. The sound they made in the wind was whispery and mysterious. They added much greenery during our gray, wet winters. Birds used them year round and provided me with a lot of viewing pleasure while I worked in our upstairs office (with its large picture window). Walking around our neighborhood, I noticed a tree fantasia. I thought it would be worthwhile to record it all here to see the change of seasons and to add a bit of nature to the Internet.

Now we're back in Northern California (it's a recession thing) and it's also beautiful but in a different way, of course. It's sunny nearly every day at the moment and the trees are less varied in this part of the country. We're just as surrounded, but I don't have the awe factor needed for the blog. Though I marvel at the California Oaks and their gnarly, twisted brand arms, reaching out in huge canopies all around us. I can only take so many photos of an oak (while sweeping up the acorns that the squirrels chuck onto our deck every day).

Here's a few from the park near our house. I'll leave the blog up so I can look back and remember...

Funnel Cloud

Or something to that effect.

Tree by the lake, Heather Farm Park

This is where I go to do some bird watching when I have a few moments to myself. I'm hoping to start hiking more when Jackson gets in school.

Snowy Egret - Heather Farm Park

I think this is a snowy egret. Could be an immature blue heron without the blue yet. There's a very large blue heron hanging out here as well, all within a five-minute walk from our new abode.

The Creeping Fog

Driving toward the Caldecott Tunnel on 24--wall of fog up ahead, stopping just short of Orinda.

Symbolic Trees of Cinema - Alice in Wonderland

Tim Burton recently showed a trailer for his Alice movie (coming out in 2010) and here it is, featuring a big tree stump/rabbit hole and an older Alice revisiting her childhood haunts. Burton understands the imaginative world of trees from a child's point of view. Remember Sleepy Hollow?

Iron Horse Trail - Walnut Creek, CA