Atlas and Diary

Opening up the trails has given us more and easier ways to get to the east side of the property, and from the verge of the woods and eastern fields I watched the sunrise a few days ago.

Moving the gaze south one encounters the neighbor's massive oaks.

First rays catching the interior of the cedar forest.

This sequence approaches the ruined bridge near the grade control structure under the county road.

It floated in a flood and turned sideways and was destroyed. We think we can salvage much of the material to build the replacement bridge. It's going to be a good challenge to build something that we can take the tractor across and that will withstand flooding.

Looking back the other way.

Of course, the full moon always sets opposite the rising sun, so by the time I got back out of the woods on the west side...

And here some spatterlight in the grandmother cottonwood tree.

Saturday midday a rather violent thunderstorm blew through, leaving an inch and a half in the gauges after about 40 minutes. There were no puddles, no runoff, and three hours later no indication that rain had fallen except that everything was a lot cleaner with the dust rinsed away. We could use a rain like that every day for a week, so it's no end to the drought. But the rain we did get and the moderate temperatures behind its cool front have made everything look and feel better. It's been cool enough to really enjoy the pond and Deck Dock.