Friday Shoot Out- The Old Druid

The most widespread view is that "druid" derives from the Celtic word for an oak tree (doire in Irish Gaelic), a word whose root also meant "wisdom."

"...and I am here too, in front of it, hardly able to see for the flash and the brightness.

and sometimes I am that madcap person
clapping my hands and singing;
and sometimes....
I am that quiet person down on my knees."~mary oliver~

Earth Day, Image and a Visitor

This photo is to honor Earth Day. I live in one of the most beautiful places on earth and so, I thought I would share a piece of it with all of you. Before I took the picture I had to cleaned up the soda cans, fast food debris, and plastic water bottles that folks/jerks drop on their way to the river. I hope the arrogant, "I ride my bike to save the environment." guy who threw his water bottle off the edge of the road reads this. THERE IS A GARBAGE CAN DOWN AT THE RIVER.
There are also two mountain lions in the area. We have them on video, from my neighbor's deck. Enjoy your ride!

This is a picture that would make most of my friends say "What?" but this needs to be shown on Earth Day. It's my redneck, gun toting neighbor's way of being ecological. This is so cool! He goes to the local grocery store and picks up all of the old produce which, by the way, is still fit for human consumption but is tossed in the garbage because it doesn't look perfect anymore for the American food shopper. He brings a truckload back to his cows every week. I'm impressed with this effort and I give him the Earth Day award for the year.

And now I want to express my joy at getting to meet Kate Giffin of Tatersmama's (example of her wonderful posts, here). She one of my favorite bloggers.  Her blog is pretty, green and it goes with my Earth Day theme.  Well...,SHE'S HERE! She has arrived from Australia for a month to visit her son and family. On Saturday, she will have a little get-together in Murphy's, where she use to live, before she became an Aussie.
I'm looking forward to meeting her, face to face. I hope we don't scare each other to death with the stark reality of who we really are compared to our "professional images". Image is so important you know:
Farmlady(that's me)...,the wild, adventure seeking, multi-talented photographer who chose life on a farm in Northern California instead of being a movie star.
Kate..., the serious, free-lance writer from Hollywood who decided to try her luck in the Australian outback.
Image is everything in the blogging world. Don't you think?
Anyway..., we get to meet each other Saturday and I can't wait. After all, she likes, and "likes" is putting it mildly, Sam Elliott... that's all I have to say.

Almost Wordless Wednesday- Jellyfish at The Monterey Bay Aquarium

"The sea is as near as we come to another world." ~anne sievenson~

Avlia Beach, California

... and yes, I did walk all the way out to the end of the pier and back. I'm getting much braver about these things, even though I was praying to the God of natural disasters the whole time: Praying that we would not have a major earthquake or any another kind of geological upheavel while Sis and I were out there. The Gods were listening....

While I was gone....

The Wisteria exploded over the back porch...

The new babies learned the Hokey Pokey...

And sweet little pupster, Cutter, found a new resting place in the garden.