Neon Colors

Way back when I was posting to Willits Daily Photo, I made note of a damaged sign on Main Street  that never seemed to be lit up. Well, the proprietors not only fixed it, they added color.

Mossy Walk

Shiny Winter Creek

The streams of this valley all drain to the Eel River. I've been told they used to be teeming with migrating salmon, half a century ago.

Haiku

Meanwhile, back in Willits...

This could, plausibly, be gang tagging. Haiku is well known as Ukiah spelled backwards, and Ukiah is a neighboring town. It also hosts the (International) http://www.ukiahaiku.org/ Festival. If you enjoy composing haiku, this is your place.

Firewood

Primitive, and not so good for air quality, but a wood burning stove is all that heats the house at mom's place. Millions of people around the world do the same, in far tougher circumstances.

Scarlet Carpet

We really should shovel these old apples out of the yard, I suppose, but we more or less let them compost in place. The orchards up here have fed all sorts of creatures, from bears and boars to tiny hummingbirds. Winter carbohydrates are hard to come by, so we clear a path and carry on.

Around the Barn

 

Over a century old, a barn barely reveals its former function. Too dangerous to enter any more, I circle around it, remembering how I learned to drive on the old red Jeep, used to climb the rafters to jump down on old straw and manure, where I first saw a cow being milked. Most of the old apple orchards have died away, most of the farm implements are reduced to skeletal axles and wheels. Just yards away lie the bones of previous people connected with this land, including the homesteader himself, I'm told. This place has been part of me for all of my life, and even I must learn to let go. We are just here for a short while, in all our busy aspirations and worries, but the Earth abides.

Fir of Life and Death

A Douglas fir, probably already dead when a grass fire surrounded it two years ago, still stands as a resource for other forms of life. Eventually it will fall, returning nutrients to the soil from which it came.

Golden Delicious In-Waiting

A month and a half later, a golden delicious apple remains in place, caught up in its tree (as seen December 1st, below). It will be useful food for birds or animals as winter continues.