Top of the World, originally uploaded by ronWLS.

Had a chance last week to catch a ride up Shasta Bally. I was on the top of the mountain about 15 years ago but then we had to walk up from Sheep Camp. It was a 4 hour hike up the road. With a four-wheel drive it was closer to 30 minutes.
It is such a great view from the top. You’re able to see Whiskeytown Lake, Redding, the Sacramento River and Lake Shasta among other points of interest. Since our drive up to the top it has snowed and I would imagine the road will be closed the rest of the winter.

Fireworks 3, originally uploaded by ronWLS.

Like death and taxes the fireworks show always happens. Well usually. This year they didn’t happen till October 18 and I kind of liked it. Seemed like less people were present and it happened earlier in the evening that normal.

Post Rain River, originally uploaded by ronWLS.

Yes. Fall is coming. Well actually it is already here but I don’t really consider it really here till I start wearing long sleeve shirts. The leaves are still green for the most part but a nice rain last weekend has brightened the sky and cleaned the air. Anticipation is in the air!

Day49 - Arrr!, originally uploaded by ronWLS.

Talk like a pirate day! Well I did some of that today and lots of work today. We have a pirate theme at work so it seemed befitting to wear the garb. Hope everyone had a wonderful day and has a great weekend.

So Smokey, originally uploaded by ronWLS.

Here is my entry from July 8th the day I took this photo:

Today was the 3rd day in a row that the readings for Redding air were over 250 in the “Very Unhealthy” to “Dangerous” range. The fires have been burning over a month now and even though most are “contained” it is still very bad. Contained just means that there is a perimeter around the fire and that they should spread any further but there are still burning and filling the air with smoke. I just hope that we don’t have to wait till the winter rains before we see clear blue skies again.

It has been a nasty fire season so far. The past week alone it seemed there was one or two fires every day in the local area. We’ve been lucky so far that no fires have happened in our canyon. About 4 or 5 years ago there was a summer that saw about 4 fires down our ridge. The worst thing is that the fire season is really about to start and fires have been raging for over 2 months already.

Threatning, originally uploaded by ronWLS.

Who would thought that the first day of summer in such a dry year would be full of rain and clouds. Unfortunately it was also full of lightning which started about 800 fires in Northern California and now our skies are totally smoky.

Sky and Weeds, originally uploaded by ronWLS.

I first of all love when I find a scene worthy of a photo and have my dSLR with me. Shooting in RAW makes it easy to enhance the image and make it look the way I want. But sometimes I don’t have that camera with me so I am glad that I got the little Canon last year. It does a decent job at capturing what I want so it’s not completely lost.
I know you can’t tell from this photo the size of these weeds but there were quite large. Thought it would be a cool one.

Churn Creek near Lema Ranch, originally uploaded by ronWLS.

I’ve been here in Redding almost 20 years now and it never ceases to amaze me at the kind of thing I can find that I didn’t in L.A. County. I can be in the city and really be pretty close to homes and houses and see something like this. Streams and fish and birds and trails and all things like that. I guess that I could find this kind of scene in LA when I was young but maybe I couldn’t.

But, I still enjoy the fact that I can find it here. Glad to be here and don’t plan on leaving anytime soon.

The Joey Rose

Originally uploaded by ronWLS.

It’s that time of year again. Flowers are blooming in the gardens of gardeners and those that are in to that kind of activity. Me, I just like to document some of it. Not really the gardener type but do appreciate the beauty. My dad always has some great stuff blooming and this year is no exception. Here’s to you dad!

Nothing but Speed

Originally uploaded by ronWLS.

Kool April Nites. Usually is. Not now. Weather has been sweet for this type of event but it threatens to get worst then better.