I Went Away

 

Joshua Tree, CA ©2011

Away I went, into old photos in search of a few in particular...and what joy in finding the one above. I always liked this shot and the fact that I left the people in, allowing them to add so much to the overall feel. There were so many folks there appreciating the sunset. We did too.

Then I went away on a you tube video trip. This time going someplace I will never see in person. It was beautiful. The cherry trees are something else!

A quiet road trip through western Norway

LINK 20:44 minutes

On the other hand, today I went away to take a small walk at the Little Free Library trail. The last time we were there it was filled with goats making an easy task of clearing brush on the hillsides.

I Still Have No Idea

LINK 14:32 minutes

The hills before us on the road were lush, a variety of butterflies and dragonflies were everywhere...a large raven(?) and turkey vultures (above)...warmth on the back of my neck...a place to relax.

 The purple sage was in glorious bloom and smelled so good! The evidence of the goat's work was obvious.

Today I think: thank goodness for nature and art. Both have the capacity to soothe and teach, for they both are reliably always there (soothing), but also always changing (teaching). This is a good balance for me.

What things support you when you need it? 

 

May you allow yourself to be taught

May you embrace being soothed when needed

May you hold what is important to you in heart & hand

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2026

A Day in the City with Elephants - Part #3

 

The fancy part of town!

Money and cacti and elephants - oh my!

Even the art and fire hydrants have bling!

Tree loving me, reminded of an old favorite in Santa Barbara...but I refrained from climbing this one!

Sculptures sprinkled throughout the park. Some made more sense than others, at least to me. 

A beautiful, greenish pond, complete with lily pads and seagulls and a nice edge for sitting.

Here are the sculptures seen above, from top to bottom:

Takeaway, 2018

Endless V, 2012

Erratic, 2007

Peace and Love, 2019

The Drummer, 1989-1990

We checked out the "merch", which was in front of a very cool 'post office' building...while  one young one checks out another. Meanwhile, we seem to be the only ones amazed by the driverless cars! I did not feel safe crossing the road, as one sat waiting to turn right. How does it know not to hit me?!! Yikes. Not my world. I can't explain how odd it looked to see - not a soul - in the front seats of those cars. I was much more comfortable among the elephants.

August brought in an elephant...how could it not?! Along side of the elephant, August brought in a lion's head - as in the many similar door knockers we see in the British 'murder shows' we watch. As a child, I had my mom's old nightstand that had a lion's head drawer pull. 🦁 These days, I've been known to say that I want a lion's head door knocker! haha A needless bit of silly fun. Plus, August is for Leo the Lion - my mama's birth month.

While cleaning out photos, I found these old art shots, printed in wallet size. The beaded driftwood was made for a friend. The drum belonged to a teacher I once worked with. She had a beautiful tradition with the preschool children during a particular time of year, where the sun could be seen getting lower and lower and lower towards the sea (the school was near the bluffs above the ocean). As the sun began to sink, she would get out her drum and they would "Drum the Sun Down" together. She drummed and they all chanted. This was the rock they sat upon during this ritual. I have always felt that these are some of the unique gifts teachers can give the children in their care...things that sing of magic and ring deep and true, for they come from the heart of a teacher.

Lastly, the circle of wishing rocks pics were taken on laminated 12X12 craft paper.  The paper was used in my Pre-K classes at the table where 'manipulative or dramatic play toys' were set up. The paper's background served as an inspiration for play by providing a complimentary setting for whatever additional materials were at hand. It was great fun coming up with these curriculum prompts. Anyway, I'd decided to take some of these 'circle' pics with my Wishing Rocks collection. I printed out lots in those days and used them for many purposes. Creative fun for me! 

You can see more old posts with the circle of rocks HERE and HERE. 

Anyway, I made my teacher friend a lil bookmark with the drum on one side and the circle of rocks on the other, with some 'magic' yarn to top it off. I have not written on it, but my thoughts were something about "traditions" on the drum side and "May the Circle Be Unbroken" on the rocks side. For now I am leaving the words off, so perhaps she can add ones that have meaning to her.

How do you take in future technology? 

 

May you step out of your comfort zone, but embrace deeply your return 'home' 

May you spend time in the moments

May you create gifts in all kinds of ways

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2025

By The Numbers

 Today's temperature: 79° 

Today's lizard count: 17, a new record

Today's hills conquered: 1

Today's nest discoveries: 2

Today's CMB count: 1 left (out of 10 planted in the past 4 days)

**NOTE: The CBM still there today was not where I planted it. The one left is the one that was planted near the 'men working' sign. It was moved to the very first post after crossing the bridge and beginning the longer path. This fascinates me and makes me silly-happy.

Higher & Higher✈️Sunny Almost Hovers - 0.9 Sec!⏳Fledge Watch Is Here!👀@FOBBVCAM 2025-05-13

LINK 5:53 minutes

From the small bits of Big Bear Eagle videos I've watched, I've learned things I never knew. I bring that with me to the bridge or city park, as I observe the habits and nesting places of local birds.

Today was very exciting as we approached the bridge, a crow sat up top. As we got closer, I saw another crow in the nest. At first, I thought it was a pair of crows (as I'd noticed the other day). But then, another adult sized crow flew up to the top of the bridge. It was only there for a moment, before flying off again. When I looked to the nest again, I saw that the crow in the nest was much smaller. So, did we see a pair with their offspring?

I couldn't capture the other adult, as it flew off so quickly. But, doesn't the one in the nest look considerably smaller?
This was very exciting to me, as I've never seen a pair of crows and their young one before.

There is the chance (of course) that this is the pair and the other one was an intruder of some sort. We may never truly know.

We went up the hill today, which I've not been able to do recently. I took it slow and then slowly took in the views.

I'm appreciating taking photos of the bridge from varied vantage points.

I'm enjoying taking photos to play with and change to black & white.

There is a word that I could not think of to describe this black and white photo. It was right on the tip of my tongue, but to no avail. What word would you use?

As I walked and when I got home again, I considered the drawn sunflower. I was unsure about the large square of white around it, but also unsure if I wanted to fill in such a large space. I finally decided to try it and I'm glad I did. It gives the flower a whole different feel.

*NOTE: We shared our water again with the sunflower, not that it needs the help...but, it feels nice.

For some reason, this bare tree really stood out to me today. I looked around for evidence of pruning, since there were a lot of city workers here today (pruning the trees/shrubs in the parking lot). Changing it to a black & white image has that same Grapes of Wrath feeling coming up.

I looked up into the 'live twig' nest, which is across and a few joints down from the crow's nest. I couldn't determine if there was a bird in there, so I zoomed in on the image once home and the pic was uploaded. Now, it is an awful photo, for sure...but, I believe there to be a hawk sitting on the nest. I have seen hawks by the bridge and I have seen them bantering with crows above the bridge as well...so, it seems possible. What do you think? Hawk?

What exciting bird visits we've had lately! We keep saying too bad Grant (the young bird watcher with a professional camera) isn't here! 

I ended up using 3 shades of blue to fill in around the sunflower. So I guess that can stand as my last "number" for this post.

What kinds of things do you count?  Who do you count on?

 

May you catch some air

May you flap and fly

May you totally soar

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2025 

#goodenough