lost & found

Mar 31, 04
backyard
afternoon
warm, sunny, mid 70's, light breeze

Found these eggs out back earlier - about 1 1/2" long, plain white, broken but it seems from the outside, probably lunch for jays is my best guess. They were on the ground below tree and bush, but no nest in sight. I'll bet they were stolen then brought here to be eaten, much as the jays will bring a peanut from a neighbor's feeder.

record heat

March 17, 2004
Kohler School - out with 2nd graders today
after lunch
warm, sunny - forecast high 86, average high 67
- 8 of the 9 past days have tied or set records for heat, a fact that doesn't seem to impress 2nd graders very much!

tree branches out front

spring

Mar 15, 2004
1:15 - between classes
Kohler Elementary field
sunny, light breeze, about 80



Row of trees on the north side of the playground in various stages of fresh green growth. I'm sitting in the green growth of mixed ground cover, the back of my throat beginning to itch horribly and my nose beginning to drip - suddenly it occurs to me why I prefer summer to spring. By summer, all of my personal algergens have finished blooming and being outside is no longer a mixed blessing.

Hidden birds chirp, warble, twitter. A dog behind a fence gives a couple half-heartedbarks. An insect buzzes past my ear, another smaller one flits past my face. The breeze makes the little blades of grass wiggle, a ripple across the field. Another insect in my face, the tether ball chains gently tinkle, acting like windchimes.


photo retaken 3-17-04: lunched the first neg in the heat...

4:30 p.m.

4:30 p.m.
I pull into the parking space to pick up Dee from ballet and I'm greeted by back lit trees that border the empty lot next door.

The Polaroid print I pull leaves me disappointed - I hope the neg holds more details - The sight before me is all green and growing, my eye easily jumps the gap between low values and hot spots, making compromises that the film never will.

It amazes me how many people can come and go here and never seem to notice the little pieces of beauty that they pass, too busy to seem to care. I hope I'm wrong.

at school

Mar 11, 2004
2 p.m.
Sunny, warm, near 80
Kohler Elementary School



Warm sun on my back, pale green leaves begin to bud out on the tree in front of the school, little green aphids crawl across the page as I sit on the green hillside to write. I can hear the sounds of children calling out on the playground, tetherball chains against their poles, then the school bell calls an end to recess. Birds call out - maybe a magpie - then little twittering ones, then a mocking bird with its strong, changing song.

The hillside I sit on, next to the driveway, is covered in green. Fine small blades of grass puch up between various other weedy plants.

It all seems to blend together to form one big green growing mass. Here and there I spy tiny flower buds, holding the promise of what is to come. This weather is unusually warm, about 10 degrees above normal for this time of year, we'll see if it holds or id a cold front will snap us back into winter one more time...

palm dreams

Mar 9, 2004
Fountain Square Drive, Citrus Heights
about 3 p.m.
warm, sunny, clear, breezy
70's at last!

I noticed the palm trees last week - at least that's when I saw the photo, while filling up my gas tank. I see these trees regularly, every time I drive past this street. Today I scheduled in a time to stop: I'm in the parking lot for City Hall, warm sun shining down, the sound of the fountains drowning out most of the traffic. Small birds warble and chirp somewhere nearby, I'm guessing the bushes planted near the building. While I made the photographs, a couple crows caw-caw-cawed back and forth across the parking lot to each other, one perched for quite a while in the palm closest to my, seeming to cast an eye my way at times.