Creek Running North

I spent a few minutes in the front yard this morning taking random shots. I put the best of them up on my Flickr site. The above one is my favorite, though its composition leaves much to be desired.

Spring is odd this year. There were snow warnings last night to the 500-foot level in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The coldest nights of the year so far, and the little Narcissus along our front walk bloom unaffected. The plum trees up the street were in full February bloom one recent evening as Zeke and I walked past. Flowers and leaves were stripped by hail the next morning. One of these springs the variegated Agave americana I’ve been carrying from house to house for a quarter century will bloom and die. It was six inches across when I bought it, in a four-inch pot. Saying goodbye will be bittersweet, though I will have its pups.

A century from now, if no one kills it deliberately, my Yucca baccata will be thriving, just reaching middle age. It is a half mile from the Bay and ninety feet above sea level, so it may have to adapt to salt spray after a few decades.