Tag: Wildwood

The Other Side

The Other Side

With spring here, the hills are green instead of brown, there are flowers by the roadsides, and we have been enjoying 50+ F for several weeks – more to come, and perhaps even rain! Living in a dry land is dull at times, and as it becomes dryer, it becomes duller. So, when the poppies and lupines bloom, it is indeed a time to celebrate.

I came to Wildwood Park looking for them. Did I miss them? I think I must have, but I have seen them along a nearby road.

Despite that, it was good to get out. I took one of our dogs, too; they always enjoy an outing. Today was cool enough for a jacket and shoes and socks. The wind kept blowing my hair into my face and sometimes I would line up a shot only to see my hair in the viewfinder instead of whatever.

Here, I am one side of a deep ravine while the houses in the distance are on the other side, easily a half mile or so from my viewpoint. The bottom of the ravine is a creek which fills with flood waters and can easily kill anyone foolish enough to be in it – a few people have died over the years when the winter rains come. Today, no rain, but the sky was rather leaden, the breeze quirky, and the day just glorious.

Instax Afternoon

This afternoon I finally got out for a walk – the weather was not in the high 90s by 10 a.m. It felt so good to be outdoors after nearly 6 weeks inside or in the shade, trying to keep from melting. In general, heat doesn’t bother me, but exercising and sweating in such temperatures gets to me, and it seems this year has been particularly intense. The only walks seem to occur at night, once the sun has gone down and the sidewalks quit sizzling. Our air conditioning ran non-stop a few days in a row, which is unusual for us, but that gives you a sense of the heat – but at least our humidity is relatively low, unlike the southeast.

I decided to play with my Instax Wide by FujiFilm. Normally I just take a picture here and there with my instant cameras but thought it would be fun to use it as the camera to record today’s wanderings. Thus, in no particular order, a few scenes from my afternoon’s perambulation.  Click on an image to move through the gallery.

Overcast

The last week has been so hot- nearly 100F for several days – and sticky with 9% humidity! Yeah, laugh, but in a dry climate you become so aware of moisture, it’s absurd.

Right now, as I write this, the sky is yellowish with smoke from the nearby forest fires. The entire western US is ready to go up in flames, and when I think of our upcoming road trip, all of which is through the western US, I wonder if anything will be left for us to see.

Thus, an overcast day is just what I would like to see. Rain would be great.

This was taken with the Olympus XA4 and Fuji Pro 400H film.

A View of Mount Clef

Another photography film panorama, this time with only two images.  Mount Clef is not really high – probably only a few hundred feet off the valley floor.  Where I live, it is a series of valleys, located within the first mountain range in from the Pacific.  Nonetheless, the hike up Mount Clef provides views around, out to sea, and into the deeper valley – the Santa Rosa Valley – behind the ridge.  Right now, it’s rattlesnake season, so one treads carefully, on the trails, and looking around as you walk.  Dogs are tightly on leash, if you have any brains.