Santa Rosa Station

It was a grey morning with a fine mist falling this morning when I wandered around looking for an interesting picture that wasn't a flower. The Railroad Station was built of local basalt stone by Italian stonemasons in the 1870's when trains ran regularly. There have been no trains for years and the depot is now a tourist information center, but the new SMART train is supposed to start running between Santa Rosa and San Rafael this year.
I liked the flowering pear trees which brighten up a monochromatic day.

I've been musing today about the return of Scott Kelly,  after a record 340 days on the International Space Station. He was reported to be two inches taller when he touched down yesterday due to the decompression of his spine in a gravity free atmosphere. However, by this morning, gravity had reasserted itself, he had lost the two inches and every muscle in his body hurt. It will take another year to analyze the effect of a whole year in space on his body, but he had this to say about it 

Initially, this time coming out of the capsule, I felt better than last time.But at some point those two lines have crossed. My level of muscle soreness and fatigue is a lot higher than it was last time. It makes me think there is a linear function to it (meaning the more time you spend in space, the worse you will feel when you return.)

I will be interested  to see what conclusions will be drawn and what the lasting effects will be not only on Scott Kelly's body, but on his mind and spirit as well. His twin brother, Commander Mark,Kelly,  once an astronaut himself, will certainly be a unique "control". His mind body and spirit have had their own challenges as he continues to care for his wife, Gabrielle Giffords, who survived an assassination attempt in 2011 with brain injuries.