Because of the drought...the related extraordinarily warm days...we are almost into summer here in California.  Spring was a mere blip in January and summer-like temps had already set in.

Regardless whether this weather is the result of global warming (which I believe to be true) or simply a planet cycle...it still is real and we have to prepare for it.  In fact last summer was so warm here along the coast...without the usual fog and cool temps...that I fully plan on getting patio furniture this year.  Instead of huddling in my home on a cool and foggy summer morning...I will be on the patio with my laptop and a cup of coffee...enjoying the warm sunlight.

NASA says California will be out of water on one year.  Already the central valley farmers are pumping 20,000,000 year old water out of their wells...water that can never ever be replaced.  Will California become a dust-bowl?  Will its cities be abandoned because of the lack of water?  It will be interesting...

Methinks I took this picture from the wrong side of the sculpture.  If I were to have taken it from the other side..."the front" it would have represented the sun setting over the ocean waves.  Ah well...

Rockaway Beach is like this tiny gem tucked away along the shore in Pacifica.  It has a wonderful shop called "Christmas by the Cove."  It has restaurants:  Moonraker, Nick's,Surf Spot, etc.  It has art galleries.

Since it is close to where I live, I am frequently there.  Oh...and during the holidays...I do some quality shopping at "Christmas by the Cove."

This picture was taken at a dear friends home in Carmel Valley.  He loves to garden and his garden is proof of that love.  I live in an apartment and unfortunately cannot have a garden such as this.  Oh how I wish I could...

Look at all of those tasty little grapes soon to become a tasty Chardonnay or a tasty Cabernet.  This picture was taken up in Napa.  I do not make it to Napa all that much anymore for it has become crowded and pretentious.  Day trips up into that wine country are no longer as much fun.  Rather, though, when I want to go to vineyards and do some wine tasting, I find that California's Central Valley is now coming into it's own.  There are wonderful vintners in Tracy, Lodi, and even Livermore.

I find there to be a kind of stark beauty in this old photograph...the birch tree's white bark juxtaposed against the dark green of the spruce and balsam...and the cold snow covering the ground.  Outside it was was cold but inside my parents house it was always warm, comforting, and inviting.  Even though I do not remember exactly the taking of this picture...I do remember a warm and cozy kitchen filled with the smell of home-baked bread fresh from the oven, I remember my mother's smile, and the ever-going pot of coffee also giving out it's own inviting smell of fresh brewed coffee.

The first few years that I lived here...at the south end of Sharp Beach were a few houses.  They were a touch ramshackled but a "surfer dudes" lived in them and I am sure those guys had their focus more on the wave than on the places where they lived.  Then during one violent winter storm the houses were washed away.  There was no loss of life for by then they were vacant.  This wall and this tree are all that is left of where they were...

Many years ago after stopping for breakfast/brunch in Pescadero, I took that winding back road that would eventually end up connecting to Hwy 84.  Along this road, which winds through the San Pedro mountains and the redwood forests, I came across this house!  Whimsical is the word that comes to mind.

This picture was taken later afternoon/early evening as the sun began to sink over the coastal mountains...yet it still captures the golden hills of California's central valley.  In this picture I think that they resemble sand dunes.

A very warm sunny summer day at a Tracy, CA vineyard...spent walking through its gardens...enjoying sounds of birds and bees...smelling the perfume of flowers...bliss....

This picture was taken at a vineyard in Tracy, CA...I cannot remember the vineyards name...but what I do remember: a warm summer evening, dinner outside under the stars, and listening to wonderful live jazz music.