Purple (?) Bridge

Remember the Purple Bridge that we pass on our way to Bear Valley every Tuesday? We may have to give it another name now; every inch of it has been re-painted and decorated. And about time - we had despaired of any artist coming to re-paint it. It was very ordinary (although purple) for a long time. Now on the end posts of the bridge it says 'HOPE' and 'PAZ'. And it's beautiful.

Gull on the Crek

Yesterday we walked along Corte Madera Creek at low tide, where we saw this gull looking for breakfast on the edge of the water. The shadows above are reflections of the opposite shore.

The Cat Who Walked By Himself

One of my favorite stories by Rudyard Kipling is The Cat Who Walked By Himself. But he wasn't thinking of this cat at the Morgan Horse Barns near the beginning of Bear Valley Trail. For one, this is not Himself but Herself and secondly, she has her shadow with her.

For your reading pleasure, the first paragraph of Kipling's short story:

HEAR and attend and listen; for this befell and behappened and became and was, O my Best Beloved, when the Tame animals were wild. The Dog was wild, and the Horse was wild, and the Cow was wild, and the Sheep was wild, and the Pig was wild--as wild as wild could be--and they walked in the Wet Wild Woods by their wild lones. But the wildest of all the wild animals was the Cat. He walked by himself, and all places were alike to him.

Frosty fence

When we left home at 6:30 Tuesday morning, it was 43 degrees F. We thought that was pretty cold. BUT - when we got to Bear Valley Trail it was 27º F!! And there was frost everywhere, even on the grass and the mud was crunchy. There were no ice-covered puddles because we have had so little rain. Very cold for us.

Old crop, new crop

In with the new - but the old is still here!

Three crows

Here's a very fresh photo - from this morning. These three crows are sitting on the top of a tree that looks much too spindly to hold them! I wish I could send you a sound track of their cawing.

Blue at rest

Here is last week's Great Blue Heron before he flew over the water.

Snake in the grass

You've heard of a snake in the grass? Well, I saw one! It was along Corte Madera Creek.

Nebula

If I told you I photographed a page in an astronomy book and that this is The Great Bullseye Nebula, would you believe me?

Well, you shouldn't; this is an iridescent oil spot on wet pavement and Hans pointed it out to me in the parking lot of The Half Day Café yesterday morning.

Sunrise

Another sunrise - last week. This week we have complete cloud cover, so there are no pretty sunrises.

Blue glass

Cold wine in a blue glass.

Bouquet

Yesterday we had lunch with Herb and LaVerne at Jason's Restaurant. There were many beautiful flower arrangements throughout the restaurant and I especially liked this one in the Ladies Room. Herb loaned me his camera and then kindly sent me the photo to send to you today. (And the food was very good.)

And now I'm off to watch the inauguration!

Flying Blue

A Great Blue Heron on the wing at The Ponds

Eucalyptus

On Tennessee Valley Trail there is a eucalyptus tree that bends all the way to the ground. The leaves interspersed with new growth and a few seed pods always catch my eye - so here they are for you.

Tennessee Valley

Last Sunday a bunch of us walkers and runners met at the Tennessee Valley parking lot and headed out toward the ocean. Some of the faster ones caught sight of it and a slow one like me did not. But I got to see the rolling hills of green on the way.

Crows

Yesterday morning on Corte Madera Creek there was a big, raucous bunch (a murder) of crows flying around in a swirl. Then some of them settled into this tree across the creek and quieted down. The sun wasn't up yet at a little after 7am.

Maybe a flock of crows is called a murder because they can be such pests that that is what people would like to do to them?

Early morning fog

Low-hanging early morning fog in December.

Pine tree

This is a pine tree that is visible from the path along Corte Madera Creek but I had never noticed it until this area became filled with water. Combo of rain and high tide, I think.

The theme this week must be reflections!

Trees

I didn't look straight up to take this photo; I looked (almost) straight down into a puddle on Bear Valley Trail. You can see the edges of the puddle in the upper right and lower right of the picture.

This is same puddle in which I took Bob's picture for yesterday. I turned it upside down to look as if he had no feet. My favorite comment - Susan M. said, Perhaps he was a politician who was defeated?

Feet?

What happened to this man's feet?

Quartet

A quartet at the ponds last week.

And for a change of mood - Doesn't one of them look like a stem of broccoli?

Why fly when you can walk?

At The Ponds the other day, these ducks wanted to get from the shore to the water. And did they fly? No, they walked!

Why do cows all face the same direction? I got some wonderfully imaginative answers to my question. And in the Internet world there seems to be little consensus. It seems that: 1) no one knows why they do it, and 2) many disagree that cows do it at all. This web site talks about cows perhaps having a sense of the magnetic north and south: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,410284,00.html

And here's some hilarious craziness about the subject:
http://mikesledge.blogspot.com/2006/08/why-cows-do-what-they-do.html

Cows

Can you tell me, why do cows in a field all face the same direction?

Bright bush

On that foggy Tuesday last week (last year!) there were some bright spots - besides the blackberries; there was this wonderfully yellow bush. And notice the green? Even though it's winter and deciduous trees are mostly bare, this is the season when it rains and the grass grows!

Ice

On Sunday, it was COLD here - 31 degrees Fahrenheit. To some of you that won't seem that cold, but we're not used to it. To demonstrate, see this dog watering dish at The Ponds. Someone knocked out some of the ice to give their dog a drink, and you can see how thick the ice is, about half an inch.