They say May brings flowers...

It seems like all of the flowering trees, bushes, and plants have chosen this week to go into bloom.

I snapped this picture of a flower from my tulip tree this morning just before coming into work. Tulip trees get thier name from the shape of thier leaves, not from the flowers - which are spectacular in thier own right. They make great shade trees, as they have no fruit; the only thing they drop is leaves each fall.

Sadly, this tree is approaching the end of it's life. It's very old for it's kind (60+ years) and is rotting to the core. Late this fall, I will take it down to a stump and see if it will com back next year.

Pump

Today's picture concerns my well pump. As you can see, it's not in very good condition. Neither was the pump-house that surrounded it - which I've torn down.

Thankfully this was not used to put water into the house, but to run the sprinkler system. The sprinklers never worked, and I tore them and the pipes out last year when I roto-tilled the yard.

I found a date on the holding tank that read 06-02-1942. Very impressive system for being 65 years old.

I'm a sucker for old machines. They tend to be better built, last longer, and have "character".

Sadly, this machine's time is up. Now to figure out how to get it out of the ground, and bust up the concrete pad it's on. Anyone got any C-4?

Bloom

My Clematis-es are finally starting to come out. I had just planted thes last year, and they didn't see to do very well over the summer and into the fall. I thought they had died.

Decided I would "wait them out" and see if they did anything this spring, and they are taking off. Each of the two have 5 -6 blooms, and new vines starting to snake out.

Gives me incentive to finish the railing on the deck so they have something to hold on to.

(Apologies for not posting this yesterday, but spent the majority of the morning at the DMV getting the Van, Scooter and the new tent trailer "legal". Shortly after this picture was taken, a good friend called with a bit of a family crisis - this tied me up for most of the day)

Reflection

Yet another Point Reyes beach picture.

You see pictures all the time of mountains reflected off of still lakes, city-scapes reflected off of rivers, but I'll bet this is the fist time you've seen anything reflected off the ocean.

This was during an extreme low tide, about 30-40 yards out in the water. Two inches deep, all the to the sand.

Stump

This picture was taken back in late March on Wildcat Beach in Point Reyes.

This is the root system of a pine tree that has been floating out at sea for a while, weathered and smooth from water and sand.

It's got a lot of texture, contrast, and many areas that holds one's attention.

Heavy Load

Today's pic is of yours truly, heading into Point Reyes National Seashore back in late March. I estimated my total pack weight at about 80lbs.

Each year, I get together with a bunch of friends at Wildcat Camp in Point Reyes for a five-day weekend. We've been going to the same place, the same weekend in March, rain or shine, for twenty years now. It's just an amazing place, on a bluff overlooking the ocean - and the beach is real nice too. Perfect place for a little R&R. I needed it after lugging that load the seven miles into camp.

Traffic Nightmares

Today's picture concerns the collapsed overpass on the east end of the bay bridge. On Sunday morning at about 3:30am, it seems as if the driver of a gasoline tanker truck was going just a little too fast through this section, hit the guard rail, overturned, and caught fire. The heat from the fire *melted* the steel girders of the overpass above, and it acted like taffy left out in the sun.

The driver suffered 2nd degree burns, but will recover. No-one else was injured.

There are calls of who should be held accountable for the highway re-construction and the inconvenience imposed upon hundreds of thousands of commuters.

(Picture was a tough one to take, driving at 60mph, aind aiming the camera at arm's length out the passenger window. Still came out decent.)

Going to start posting again every day. Over the next week, I'll be postin a bunch of pics from the past month to get back in the swing of things.