I was walking on the Carmel Mission Trail looking up for something new to photograph when I caught a glance of something in front of me–a hawk feather resting peacefully on dried underbrush. The feather is a reminder of the natural beauty of woods and wildlife. Some say a well placed feather is good luck…and I think it is if you want it to be.
We’ve had giant harvest moons this week in Northern California. I was short of time, so I tried a hand-held shot that was blocked by trees. Rather than drive ten minutes to a better shooting area, I moved the camera a few degrees to the right to capture a street lamp behind tree leaves and got a “substitute harvest moon.”
The real moon to the left of a the street lamp.
Alpine lakes in the Sierras are excellent hiking destinations, provided there are no forest fires nearby. Crooked Lakes, California, is about a 100-minute drive from Sacramento .You park your car off a dirt road that goes deep into the woods. Lock it and walk for 30 minutes through tall pines, redwoods and cedars before you reach the first in a series of alpine lakes. The water is clear and cold. I saw three hikers and no rangers; so, there’s a good chance that no one from your office will see you.
The ongoing struggle of a guru turned limo driver. Last week: Chartan drives home after visiting Brazil who is recovering from surgery.
Rather than run to the apartment, Chartan held the steering wheel at 10 and 2 as he did when he was driving a fare. Straight ahead about 15-feet away was the first floor window of a unit that appeared to Chartan to have new tenants every few months. The white blinds were drawn while all the other units had had glassy reflections of the day’s end. Was anyone behind those blinds? Did it matter? Why was his racing mind dwelling on such a trivial fact?
Tomorrow was a work day. He was to drive Ms. Minerva to San Francisco for the first time in three months. She’d specifically requested that he’d be her driver. He should be pondering why she wanted him behind the wheel, not who was behind those blinds, if anyone. But a strange force was telling him that there was a person of great interest in that unit. He checked his face in the rear view mirror. He frowned, smiled, then closed his eyes.
Slowly he drifted back to Ms. Minerva’s mansion where he’d encountered the temptress, Elisa, in the aftermath of a concussion suffered at the hands of the car window bandit. It had been a bizarre time in his life, one he wanted to forget.
The blinds in the first floor unit shot up as if pulled to excess. Was that a naked woman staring at him? Elisa? Chartan opened his eyes and struggled for air. The blinds were down.
He left the car quickly and marched to the building entrance with thoughts of how he might avoid driving Ms. Minerva. The evil of Elisa had returned.
To be continued…
A two-foot high, flimsy gate isn’t a deterrent, even with a warning sign, as shown. Spotted this “attempt at something” near the north end of Carmel Beach. The side entrance also had a sign, minus a fence.
I did not see or hear a dog, nor did Molly who was sniffing elsewhere. File this under “whatever.”
The trail sign in the dunes above Carmel Beach says the area is home to the black legless lizard which burrows just below the sand. I assume the sandy veins behind the sign were made by the lizard. After I took this photo I saw a legless lizard dart between some ice plants. Add the legless lizard to the list of creatures that are new to me.
I was walking on the Carmel Mission Trail this week, spotting no signs of fall until I ran into a Fern-leaf Ironwood. Without question this is one messy tree, with its fallen leaves and bark swirling around the trunk like a river. And this is an evergreen thick with leaves above.
