east of the sutter buttes

May 24
morning near the Sutter Buttes - Pennington Road
a little lost but okay



breezy cloudy w/sun breaking through - comfortable & a little humid

Found the place: Gray Lodge Wildlife Area
but not the people I was meeting - well, I won't waste the trip nor too much time looking for people when I came to shoot - maybe I'll find them as I wander -



Wandering leads me down a path to what I think is a fruiting Mulberry tree, which already has a poem written for it -



Wandering takes me back down the path - with a big jack rabbit trotting down the path headed straight for me. I slow & try not to scare him but he's having none of it & vanishes into the bullrushes.

I find a couple fellow photographers - we set off on the official trail together...


Wildlife Stop #1 in our self-guided tour


#2


#9


#14
Along the canal - wood duck hiding


On the driving loop (my parked car blocking the one lane, but no one else is around)


Sutter Buttes in the background

On the way out:

Almond Orchard Road


headed back - oaks w/ Sutter Buttes

the tree

May 23, 06 - midday
James & Janet's property
"the tree"

May 9, 06

May 9, 06
midday
Miller Park on the Sacramento River

At last a chance to see some of my painter friends on a paint out day -

warm, clear skies, a little breezy - perfect weather

The river is still very high from the late winter & early spring storms. Snowpack this year is nearly twice that of normal - no drought this year.



Giant old poplars lean out over the water.



High water marks leave the trees bleached from earlier flooding.

east sac garden

May 3, 06
10 a.m.
Gann garden, East Sac
clear, sunny, warm but a cool breeze



Coming back to earlier light in this garden - and a few more flowers. Joan says there's more to come before the tour in another week and a half.



The canopy overhead catches my eye. This garden is protected by tall hedges and trees on three sides - the walls of the outside room. I sit and wait a little while for the sun to move and change the light - sometimes I can actually see the pollen floating in the air and soon my nostrils confirm it with a small sneezing fit. Flying creatures visit: a humming bird, a swallowtail, a huge black crow.



11ish
Beverly Lamb's garden
weather is staying nice

Alistair the Westie is good company and warns off any would-be intruding squirrels.



I sit and look at the garden, trying to really let it soak in. Seeing takes time - I think others have said it before but it's quite true.



Alistair leaves then comes back, plays in water and mud a bit and then comes to see what I'm up to. I sit and watch the light move across the garden some more.