On the Sterling Pointe trails

We found lots of rocks and boulders, lots of moss and lichen, lots of climbing and descending along the sides of the hills overlooking Folsom’s dry lake bed in February 2021. I shot all these images with my small point-and-shoot Fujifilm camera as I explored the trails that rise and fall, curve, and crisscross each other. It was all too […]

Read More →

Moat Creek details

When I stopped along Highway 1 to check out the Moat Creek beach access in December 2023, it was not my first visit. But it was the first time I followed the trail up onto the bluffs above the beach. What I found was a neat little loop trail, although at the time I was slightly disappointed that it wasn’t […]

Read More →

Petrified gifts

I have only a handful of pictures shot with my phone inside the gift shop, which is fairly small but absolutely packed with surprising rock and mineral samples in just about every color of the rainbow. I didn’t want to linger too long without buying something — but making up my mind was a serious challenge! I also appreciated the […]

Read More →

Ocean sounds

One of my favorite YouTube videos recently is a 12-hour soundscape of ocean waves; I frequently use it to lull myself to sleep. When I gaze at these images from the Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden in Fort Bragg, it’s easy to summon up the boom and crash of waves along a rocky shore along with the fresh salt air on […]

Read More →

Remember springtime

You may have noticed I’ve been taking a break lately from Memory Monday; I haven’t been feeling too much inspiration from the material I have on hand. Maybe I’ll come back to it later on or something new will come up. In the meantime, I’ve still got loads of more recent memories that I enjoy looking back on. At the […]

Read More →

Grand Canyon: Duck on a Rock

I was so busy admiring the far horizon that I barely even noticed the famous rock formation on my left. Maybe I didn’t have the best angle on it; even after I had snapped a photo of the interpretive sign, I’ll admit I couldn’t see the duck until I looked at the photos much later. Now it’s clear as day […]

Read More →

Down by the river side

Secret Ravine is not actually a river but a somewhat seasonal creek running through southern Placer County. It’s connected to Miner’s Ravine and, eventually, to Dry Creek (formerly Linda Creek), a smaller tributary of the Sacramento River. It’s not necessary to know all this, however, to be able to enjoy a quiet morning in the shade beside the creek, listening […]

Read More →