Sing & Spreading Joy

 Before we head to the bridge, we stop for gas. It's cheaper on that side of town. On this day we pay $6.07. In other places in the valley, it is $6.09, $6.19...even $6.49! Insanity.

I sit inside the car, waiting, as he fills the tank. A small sedan pulls in, a bit fast...swinging past us and down another isle of pumps. The broad-faced, bearded young man has his window down, arm resting happily on the weatherstripping. His bright eyes are shining and he is joyfully singing along with Minnie RIperton -"Loving You", at the top of his lungs. He pops out of his car and heads into the station's store. But when the music stops, he continues the whistling the song as he walks along. He has a bounce in his step and the look of pure contentment on his face.

As we leave, I roll down my window and tell him thanks for the song!! He breaks out in huge smile, saying, "Isn't that a great song?!!" I tell him that it my junior high era and that I love it!

We drive off with smiles on our faces too, filled with so much joy! What a great encounter! 

Yesterday's bridge, yesterday's walk

Cool and cloudy, yet the sun's warmth still breaks through

A pair of hawks, side-by-side - gliding in swoops and circles and right in place

In other places around town, the hawks continue to ignore or fend off the crows/ravens. Their attitude appears so blasé. I'm not a hawk, but I'd be so frustrated being pestered so much!

The cottonwoods are filled with birdsong from unseen birds

The swallows dip, dive and dart over the mustard fields

Small bluebirds perch on the wire

Every moment a song

In This Village, Names Are Melodies

LINK 12:56 minutes

16 lizards bask, scatter and pose

Each one unique in look...their patterns, their expression, their frozen position.

Hello you two! 🙂

Today I noticed this multi-trunked tree and 

What unexpected joy have you embraced recently? 

 

May you sing out

May you share a kind word and smile

May you spread joy

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2026

Life In Color...And Black and White

 

I played around with today's bridge photos by evaporating the stunning blue sky and the greens and yellows. How much does that change the viewing experience? It was another gorgeous day for a short walk. I bit cooler, in the high 60°s, but so lovely. When the sun popped out from behind the clouds, it was so warm.

There were so many of the "swallow" like birds. They look, fly, are shaped like and have the coloring of swallows...but I just can't see where they are nesting. There is no place nearby that we've sighted nests. This is very different than the swallows under the bridge at City Park. I tried learning more...HERE and HERE...but I am still not sure what we are seeing. We did see a beautiful blue bird, that we thought was a bluebird, but could it have been a swallow?

Here are some appropriate nesting materials to offer birds in nature. I was surprise to see dryer lint, yarn, string or hair on the do not offer list. Huh, who knew?

We also saw two hawks peacefully soaring, when a crow (raven? haha) began to harass them. It kept swooping towards them until, finally one of the hawks had had enough and turned on it, almost getting a beak-full of that crow! The crow hung around for another moment before dashing far, far away! We have never seen this take place, as usually the hawks just ignore the crows, so we were fascinated watching them.

In other wildlife, we again saw the molting lizard from yesterday. It looks like it is wearing swim trunks for the warmer season! lol And J. spotted an egg crate. He is so good at seeing those. The cooler day brought the lizard count to just 7. We also saw another dead toad. Why? This is the second one this season and we saw one last year too. Intact and dead. We ponder why they are dying like this. The last one we saw recently is now completely gone, not a trace. Something must have carried it off. Life (and death) can be perplexing.

The river was very full today, after our big rain of Saturday night. It was muddy and moving very fast, which made for successful Pooh Sticks, even if you had to track those sticks quickly too. By the time we were leaving, the water looked a bit clearer. It was really moving!

Of course, I wouldn't forget Owly. She sat in her usual place, watching.

I've spent the past few days "harvesting" images from magazines. But, after beginning to feel a little surrounded by paper, I began doing a lot of gluing. I'm working in my "orange" book. This was a color that I did not think I would find a lot of, but I have.  The Smithsonian magazines have had a lot and I was gifted a Sunset magazine that holds a lot of images from the L.A. fires. I thought those would be tricky or depressing to use or bring bad energy in some way. But I have found ways to make some images useful. Thankful for creative abilities and changing my little corner of the world. 

[1971] I'd Love to Change the World - Ten Years After (Lyric Video)

LINK 3:44 minutes

I listen to you tube videos as I tear and cut and glue. The song above is an old favorite and the video looked like the surreal way one can put glue books together. As in the past, when every thing was seen through 'cloth' eyes...these days, everything is seen through glue book eyes. 

Here are some of the pages that have images. I've yet to add many words and there may be room for more images too. In other words, what you see is still in process.

As in the green book, the pages may not make sense, they may be humorous...they may make a point of some kind. Here is just one page spread explained:

The page below was a happy accident. I planned to use the background image for a two page spread. However as I began to glue, I accidentally placed it on the right page (instead of the whole 2 pages). Once stuck, what was I to do? I trimmed it up and added the remaining part of the image to the left page...but since I was not wild about this image in the first place, as it was of workers ripping up the "Black Lives Matter" banner from the road - I added the second part upside down. I added the striped washi tape to connect the two pages. Then I added the lady and her swell orange car and a couple of butterflies. There we go, much better. 
We can turn things on their heads and make them better, yes?

I am still having fun with this glue book thing. Good.

How do you allow yourself to see things in a new way?

 

May you find work-arounds

May you see the rebirth in the destruction

May you live a rich creative life

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2026

Solo, Flocks and a Herd

 

Big, stormy looking clouds providing that special kind of light...and more funky owl pics!

The wind was blowing her feathers a lot. In the second pic, it looks like she has on mascara. haha I'm thinking I should give up getting a good pic or even a barely decent photo. sigh.

The sky was gorgeous. We got a 20 second spattering of rain upon leaving the bridge. That was it.

Dust In the Wind - With ‪@Hildegardvonblingin‬

LINK

The crows were out in force today. They were swooping and chasing in small groups or just a few. Last night I remembered this article I had read about a herd of goats getting the job of brush clearance. This is one of the places we haven't been for a couple of months, the trail with the Little Free Library. So, after the visit to the bridge, we drove over to see if we could see them. They were not near the road, so we drove into the parking areas. We noticed new fencing near the edge above the stream.

The hills were eaten clean! Now, where are those goats? Ahhhh...there they are!

First we spotted small white dots out in the field. The photo looks like a watercolor painting. We continued on up the access road, where more temporary electric fencing lined the road. Then on the way back out, we spot many more!

I'd like to go back to see them again before they finish their job and get moved elsewhere or go home. I love this eco-friendly solution prior to "fire season" and feel a certain sense of pride that my city decided to go this route. Yay.

Home again.

Where can you go to see something new?

 

May you be tickled

May you feel glee

May you explore

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2026