I am at my new house listening to music while my fiancee is hanging curtains in the kitchen. It is a wonderful feeling to have someone in my life again! I was out looking at my backyard when the tree across the street caught my eye. It was all greens, yellows and reds with bare branches. It just seemed all mixed up and couldn't figure out what it wanted to do. As I was taking the picture there were big wet splops of rain... here comes the rain again! In the house I went to look at the pictures I had taken.

My Dream House

I have a dream of having a house like this close to the ocean... to hear the sounds of the waves as they pound against the sand and the rocks to lull you to sleep at night. In the morning the cool fog enveloping your house, tendrils stealing across the patio as you take your hot coffee outside to sit and listen to the muffled sounds of the day breaking around you, unseen.

I'd love to sit thre hearing the birds squabbling over some bit of washed up dead sea creature... the sea lions barking at each other as they haul themselves out on to the rocks knowing that sun is coming soon from behind the screen of fog.

These are only a few of the things that I long for at my dream home along the shoreline!

Sunset at Easter in Yuba City, California

It was a beautiful Sunset on a great Easter day... We had dinner of Ham, potatoes, several kinds of salad and homemade bread. We were hanging out on the back porch watching the day fad in to night. Back on the table was some Angle food cake and fresh strawberries for desert. Tony was playing his mandolin and the night was soft.... the mosquito's however were not! hahahaha! As soon as I snapped this photo I hightailed it back in to the house, but not without getting mosquito bites!

It was a beautiful day out on sunny Saturday afternoon... I could no longer stay indoors and so I decided to take my camera and go to the Sacramento Zoo. But as I approached the Zoo I was disappointed to see long lines of families, which is a good thing, but I wanted some peace. So I thought I'd go around the corner and find a parking spot and go to the WPA Rock Garden. After almost 15 minutes of hunting for a parking spot I finally found one and squeezed in... it looked bigger when I spotted it!

The garden had seen better days earlier in the spring, but there were still some blossoms hanging on for me to shoot. The garden was created in a bowl like depression against a hillside. Whoever designed this beautiful garden had in mind of colors, textures and scents. Nestled underneath a large shade tree were these lovely little purple flowers, no bigger than my thumbnail. I put on 10x macro extender lens and got down nose to stamen with the tiny flower and started to snap photos of it. With such a short focal length I couldn't quite get everything in focus and settled on the shot above.

I heard kids yelling and having a grand time in the Fairy Tale Land just across the lawns and down by the lake in the opposite side of the garden. I occasionally heard announcements from the Zoo from their public loud speakers announcing various events. I could feel the sun on my neck and shoulders and the high pitched hum of the hummingbirds as they worked the few remaining flowers. Occasionally I heard the quack of ducks as they came and went from the lake and the Canada Geese being the loudest when they took off for parts unknown.

I at last put my camera away, gave one last look at the little purple flowers that had so captivated my attention and walked back to my car which by now had been baking in the sun and drove home. I was happy and at peace thinking back on the sun drenched gardens, the happy children and the sound of the world all around me.