An odd weather forecast yesterday (thunderstorms) had me on edge and on the lookout. Thunderstorms are roughly as rare here as snow -- although both are known to occur, this ain't Michigan.
This morning, a strange sky greeted me as I went out my back door. Its beauty was stunning. We seldom get a cloud cover like this one; it took me back to my boyhood in Michigan, when I'd lie in a field and watch the clouds overhead.
Another strange thing -- the clouds today didn't seem to move. Normally here, whatever whiteness is in our sky moves fast -- like a sped-up time-lapse photo, almost comical to behold.
Not this day. The clouds overhead were static, as if they'd taken a wrong turn from the tropics somewhere. Pretty girls put on shorts and sundresses; boys took off their shirts. It was another unlikley day of summer here in the Bay Area.
As had been heavily advertised for many weeks, the Bay Bridge was shut down tonight. One of the busiest bridges in the world (@300,000 cars a day) is closed until next Tuesday morning. Workers are demolishing part of the old structure (which was damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, an event I remember well); and somehow maneuvering into place a replacement section.
This sounds like one of those engineering feats so unimaginable, maybe it's best not to know more.
Caltrans, the state agency that maintains our infrastruture here in California, spent ~$1 million to warn the public of this impending closure. So, as the moment of closure approached (8 p.m. tonight) guess what?
Nobody was on the bridge! You could count the cars on the fingers of your hands. Such is the power of advertising in the modern age.
***
On my fence, overnight last night, a lone snail must have inched his way on a wave-like path up and down and back up and probably over into my neighbor's yard. As I sat out back this morning, contemplating the oddness of the sky, the snail's trail came to light, a ray of sun illuminating its silvery path.
Now, to be clear, I hate these snails. They are ugly, destructive creatures that every local gardener despises. We have many theories about how to keep them away (salt, beer, etc.) but they seem so well-adapted to this environment that they cannot really be excluded from our yards.
As much as I regard them with contempt, I had to admit this morning that this modest creature's path, left in silver on my fence, was inspiring.
The art of nature.
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3 comments:
Is this a mackerel sky? I remember Meryl Streep's character identifying it as such in a mid-80's movie called Plenty.
My nemesis is the slug, merely a snail without the disguise and silver soul.
They seem to love my zucchini. I suppose I grow enough to share. When people complain about the deer, I say, "Let them eat. I can go to the market."
I love your corn pictures. I grew three rows of corn. Each plant differed in height. Now the ears pop and then, stop? Small ears, though very sweet.
I'm loving your blog. Thank you.
Thank you, Wrapped and Zee for your kind comments. It is really, *really* nice to hear from people.
It has been a while since I felt the blog was on fire with words; thus the images have had to carry more of the load. But these things go in cycles, and the day of the 250-word post is certain to be replaced by the 1,000 entry some day soon...
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