A New Year in California

Happy 2011 readers! I've been in California for the past week or so, I have a lot to write about but instead am just going to share some photos from my time so far.

On Wednesday, December 29, my Dad and I set off for California. We left on a dark evening after dinner, with clear skies over Seattle. Around Kent (15 miles south of Seattle) we ran into a snowstorm, complete with lightening. The snow turned to hail in Tacoma, after that it was clear sailing all the way to Longview.

The next day we continued our journey, enjoying a savory breakfast at a Denny's outside Portland, pie and coffee at Peggy's in Rice Hill, Oregon and this beautiful evening light on Mt. Shasta after crossing the Siskiyou Mountains:

More Mt. Shasta

We stayed in a Travelodge in Red Bluff and continued south the next day.

A chilly morning at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, near Willows, CA

Snow geese at the Sacramento NWR

I celebrated the new year in good company, in a karaoke booth in San Francisco with some friends. I spent a couple days in the city, then a night in Oakland, then down to Santa Cruz. Winter pruning in the Chadwick garden with Orin, the 2nd year apprentices and various other folks on a sunny, warm January afternoon was a real pleasure:

This is not how the 'up' garden looked when I began the apprenticeship last April.

All in all, it's been good to be back in California, my absence making me appreciate places and people I had taken for granted, and prompting new reflections about my own course. I am glad I was able to spend the afternoon enjoying the oak tree collection at the UC Davis Arboretum amidst news of pesticide poisoned bees:

http://animals.change.org/blog/view/wikileaks_uncovers_government_bee_killing_conspiracy

And some incredibly tragic new from Arizona:

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2011/01/murder-in-arizona-live-blogging.html

Hope the New Year is treating you well.

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