09-14-09 Drive home from San Juan Bautista. 11-02-09

Since October 15th I have been posting pictures from PIQF '09. Now it is time to continue with my life - such as it is.

When I visit Mary and Joe in San Juan Bautista I always try to coax Bud "the sweet cat" into my bed - after more than 30 years I still miss having a furry little sleeping pal. Bud will have no part of it - he doesn't even really like to be petted. Corky is not cuddly and will only stay on my bed for an hour or so - and NEVER on his parent's bed. In this picture Bud has usurped the large round bed of Sassy, the Sussex Spaniel who sleeps in his crate in the master bedroom.

So, I sleep alone in a single bed in "the little girl's room", right next to the window where I can open my eyes and see the dawn reflections. Or the brilliant stars at night. I sleep in this room because it has no carpet and the lovely guest room does. My allergies can really get me down at times, so best avoid those that I can avoid. This picture proves that I have seen the dawn twice in one month - extraordinary!

Along the east side of Hwy 152 there is pasture for these Belted Galloway cattle, commonly referred to as "Belties". The breed originated in Scotland and has been in this country for at least several hundred years. I have only seen them the last few years - the first time I thought they were bandaged around their middle. Belly button surgery??

Curving up to the Pacheco Pass there is a large swath of burned trees, grass and fence posts from a fire that burned here at the end of August. These are live oaks which should be all green, but now they show the fire damage very clearly. The grassy hills are starting to green from the rain that fell on the previous Tuesday.

Over the pass and headed down to the Central Valley there was still water on the road from earlier showers. The wet pavement shines between the yellow line and the grass, but this was all I saw of rain that day. Notice again how the grass is thicker right along the edge of the pavement - it is the rain runoff that is soaked up running off the road, while the area further away does not receive much of anything until the serious rains begin.

I made my usual stop in Santa Nella for a latte at Starbuck's then swung onto I-5 for the four to five hours to Placentia. Not much traffic and I managed to get through Pasadena before the commute traffic slowed everyone to a crawl. That was two weeks ago today.