I GET THE BLUES WHEN IT RAINS

Right now I would greet rain with primitive shrieks of joy because it would not only settle some of the yellow pollen drifting about, it would also knock some of it off the menacing yellow pine cones. They look like giant wasps hanging in the trees.

This shrub is Ceanothus, one of 60 species of shrubs or trees in the buckthorn family. I don't know the name of this particular variety but it has little round balls and is a true blue. Other varieties, often called "California lilac" run to a lavender shade and a lilac blossom shape. Most are evergreen but some have adapted to harsh climates by becoming deciduous. This particular one can't quite make up its mind.

The red brick strip seen under the shrub is actually a bench and part of a retaining wall built to keep the hillside from sliding down.

The two chairs in the distance are sitting on "reclaimed land," by which I mean land created via the traditional log barrier, filled with soil and Bob's your uncle, a sliver of lawn and a place to sit out in the summer. Prior to building that, the land ended pretty much where you see the red sandstone ball.

Pine cones laden with pollen: PINE CONES