July 7, 2021. Heading back from the hills I saw big smoke and decided to drive over to get a better idea of how close to me it actually was... it was about a mile from the highway, I pulled over to take a few snapshots.

And then it snowed. It was a fortunate snow. From Sunday into Monday. So when I headed out on Monday, there were 6 - 8 inches of fresh powder and all of the snowmobiles had gone home. Just me, the snow and the silence.

Now that April is here, I guess it is safe to talk about Winter. it was a mild winter up here in the hills & I have discovered the joys of getting lost in the woods on snowshoes.

Well Golly, if one thing is for certain up in these hills it is that , at some point, the weather is going to turn chilly. At least the snow doesn't burn. And every thing looks different with snow around... It gives one the opportunity to take pictures of all of the same things and have them look fresh.

Been spending a little time wandering about the local hills seeing what they have to offer... on days when the air is clear enough... Which lately has been more often than not, couldn't say that a few weeks ago, and really, there isn't much I can say about the wildfires that hasn't been said better already. I've only been inconvenienced by the smoke & fires... others have had it infinitely worse.

I decided the ocean air was too thick so I headed up to the Sierras. Walking around a little bit. You might think that camera gear might become lighter the closer you get to outer space, but that ain't so. I am beginning to suspect that the weight of camera gear increases in direct ratio to the number of miles one carries it multiplied by altitude.

Buzzed down from Redding to Monterey... This is not the train I rode in on, but you can find it parked along highway 273 in Redding.

From Gilroy to Carmel and a bit of bobbling about inland

So I decided to take Highway One South from Mendocino to San Francisco It turned out to be a lovely day...

Not a whole lot to report. Been wandering about on the West Coast some more, resulting in a few more snapshots. These are from Northern & Central California.

Yikes, more pictures from the past few months. A little Random with no story line.

I stumbled into the Train Museum in Portola, Ca. Pictures ensued,

Some random shots from the past year. The Hayfield is a nice, tidy, decently maintained motel to look at.

It is all around us and it is relentless. Right now it is working at destroying our homes and cities. While we sleep at night it is tirelessly toiling away. Overcoming everything we know. Everything we have made. Everything we will ever do. There is no escape. We are in a symbiotic relationship with it. We love it deeply and without it we will die. Yet in the long run, our species will be gone and it will overrun this world until all life is gone and there is nothing left but a burnt ember orbiting the Sun.