Do local acorns predict a rough Winter ahead?

I’ve heard that bit of Redding lore. If true, our backyard oaks are telling us to buy a new coat, and stack another cord of wood. Acorn production this season has become overwhelming.Acorns1

Acorns3

Acorns4We’ll collect these and put them out back for the wildlife that depends on the oaks. Native people would know what to do with this year’s abundance, but I don’t know any good acorn recipes. What wine goes with acorn?

Acorns5They haven’t even finished falling!
Acorns6Longtime readers will recall images I took of a squirrel harvesting our oaks. But this year, we’ve seen few squirrels. As for Winter, we’ll find out soon enough. Mornings are now quite brisk. A sure sign of the season’s approach.

Poetic wild bird eggs

Birds eggs near Redding CA

How curious is the nest: no other bird
Uses such loose materials or weaves
Its dwelling in such spots – dead oaken leaves
Are placed without and velvet moss within
And little scraps of grass and, scant and spare,
What scarcely seem materials, down and hair.

eggs in nest in Shasta County

Snug lie her curious eggs in number five
Of deadened green or rather olive-brown,
And the old prickly thorn-bush guards them well.
So here we’ll leave them, still unknown to wrong,
As the old woodland’s legacy of song.

John Clare 1822

Images by Skip, Really Redding.

A Cinemagraph of Erin

A Cinemagraph is described as an image somewhere between a still photograph, and a video. I saw some very creative and artistic Cinemagraphs by talented New York photographer Jamie Beck. Inspired, I thought I’d try the technique. Like anything truly artistic, it’s much harder to do well than one might think.



Well, I learned a lot while creating it. I’d like to try some others. This was my first attempt. The effect is kind of mesmerizing. Thanks, Jamie. You should view her lovely photographs on her blog.

Images of metaphorical Manzanita

Real estate in Redding ca
Manzanita in Redding caThe living ruddy flesh of the Mazanita flows gracefully over the gray wooden skeleton of it’s past. A living glacier.

It doesn’t ask for much. A shallow footing of brittle gravel, or some hardpan clay. Daylong relentless scorching sun. Seeds germinate in nothing less than brushfire.

Tenacious Manzanita. Ubiquitous Manzanita. That’s Really Redding.

April showers bring May flowers

And then May showers beat them up. Here are a few images of Karry’s flower garden that I took yesterday, before it rained again.
Redding Ca snapdragonRedding ca Poppy
Redding CA pollenRedding CA geraniumflower in redding caPoppy stamen in redding caA city of spring flowers, it’s Really Redding.

Ornamental Manzanita

Manzanita is truly ubiquitous around here. The hardy bush thrives in solid clay, hard rock, and parched earth. I’ve sometimes heard harsh language used to describe this tenacious plant, for all sorts of reasons. But then I’ve seen the leaves sparkle in morning frost and dew. And I’ve admired the sculptural reddish wood as it gnarls and flows into resilient branches. Both loved and hated, Manzanita is just a fact of life around here. But this ornamental use of it is unique.
Manzanita1
Located on Highway 299W, you’ll see these fanciful beauties on your right, just before Swasey Drive as you head toward Whiskeytown. I’ve admired these for a long time.
Manzanita2
I just think these specimens are fabulous. Disciplined trimming reveals their inner beauty. Given this plants hardiness and ability to adapt under Redding’s often extreme climate, it’s odd that we don’t see this use more often. True Xeriscaping. I’ve seen folks go to bizarre lengths to keep a lawn green around here, as though Redding was somehow the British Isles. Really, they could just visit https://www.lawncare.net/ if they want to make sure their lawn looks its best. Meanwhile, you could plant these ornamentals in your yard and likely never water them. Just fertilize occasionally with chunks of cement and broken glass, and watch ’em grow. It’s Really Redding.

Manzanita3

I'm no photgrapher

I’m a guy with a camera. I take some lucky shots once in a while. I’ve improved my craft. But I’m no photographer. Sometimes, I check out sites like olgatopchii.com and various other photographer’s pages, just to get some inspiration. When I see what other people can produce, it does motivate me to take more photos and do better.

Nina Berman is a photographer. I was introduced to her work at this Huff Post article called Marine Wedding brings the war home.

Nina Berman’s website has her gallery mentioned in the article. Marine Wedding.

Sometimes on a Redding springtime Easter weekend, it’s easy to forget we are a nation at war. We folks here in Redding. Us. And sometimes a single photograph sums up a generation at war. This may be ours. Time will tell. An image that evokes our human condition. That’s what it means to be a photographer.
A photo of 4 ducks I took in Redding CA in 2010

Of clouds, and clouds of birds

Birds and clouds in Redding CA
Such beautiful skies yesterday. I found myself just looking up.
Birds and clouds in Redding CA
Looking up you notice birds.
Birds and clouds in Redding CA
Along about 5 pm, groups of birds flying in from the east gathered into a swirling circle. A tornado of birds.
Birds and clouds in Redding CA
Round and round they flew, making a cloud of their own, somewhere over the North Market Street Bridge.
Birds and clouds in Redding CA
And then individuals gradually peeled off from the group, and flew off to the southwest. Just a bit of bird fun, perhaps. Bird performance art. It’s Really Redding.

Live Music by DJ at the Red Lion

Talk about unclear on the concept. I had just been reading Jim Dyar’s recent article about the Hot Start to the Cascade’s season and thinking that Redding’s really developing quite a live music scene. Then this sign on Hilltop Drive took it all back. Via cell-phone camera:
LiveMusic
I like DJ’s as much as the next person, but if the only instrument you play is an MP3 file, you might not qualify as live music. Note to tourists driving by on Hilltop: This was probably a joke, see. We’re not like that, really. No, really.

If it isn’t live music, it’s dead music.