Rain and Rays

...storms have been rolling across the valley since late Friday night.  I love the fury and the fierceness, the dark entangled with light.  This beam came out of nowhere, spearing through the clouds like a laser in the misty rain...

First Sign

...this morning I took the boys to the county park for the first time since May 15th--the park is closed to dogs from May to September 15th.  It was lovely and peaceful and so blissfully quiet.  Though too soon for the visible signs of change, I took this photo of a small tree across the river that's just beginning to show its Fall colors...

Toil

...it's blazing hot today, temps over 100*.  I saw what I thought was a dust devil down in the valley below my house this afternoon.  It turned out to be a farmer, plowing his fields, on a day neither man nor beast should have been out there.  Clicking on the photo--taken with my telephoto through wavy layers of heat--shows the image with a melting, cartoon-like effect.  Poor tractor man...

Contrast

...meandering at an old (1910) homestead called Doc Bailey's this morning.  Behind me are the mountains and a most fertile expanse called Garden Valley--aptly named as the whole area was farmland in the time of the settlers.  There are still a few farms, though nowadays much of the land has been converted to wineries and vineyards.  I loved this lone tree in a seemingly barren landscape...

 

And yet, turning--with the tree at my back--the contrast is startling, both in the landscape and the weather.  It's one of those light/dark days, clouds rolling like tumbleweed across the sky...

Broken Rainbow

...my view this morning out the living room windows.  It's very warm, humid and suffocating today, I'm thinking because the clouds are pressing the heat down--like a steam iron.  This rainbow was beautiful as it struck one of the hidden valleys, lighting it up like a beacon, but more interesting to me were those odd streaks that broke up the arc...

Two Views

...forest fires continue to rage, the air heavy with smoke, a choking reminder of what's happening out of sight and out of control.

This is a shot I took in late May, across the valley below my mountain...

The smoke-filled valley this afternoon, so thick it completely blocked the sun, making the day seem perilously close to dusk...

La luna

...I was out on the front deck last night looking for shooting stars.  During the height of the Perseids over the weekend, the smoke was so thick from the fires, I couldn't see a thing.  Last night, instead of stars, I was captivated by the moon, half full and beautiful in the sky.

I'll take the moon over the sun any day...