Stumped

I didn't take any photos today and was stumped for something to post. Then I thought about the photos I had taken awhile back of my favorite stumps here on the property. I was going to make a stump post but the photos got lost in iPhoto. Ah, but I found them and decided to post these two pics. The top photo is of the stump by the front gate. Some years it has more moss growing on it and some years I have planted myrtle in it or other flowers.

This stump is not too far away from the gate and it has a small cedar growing out of the middle. I think they call these stumps "mothers" or at least they do in the redwood forests when redwood seedlings grow up out of another tree. I have lots of photos of other stumps, but I figure a person can only look at so many stumps unless they are a stump aficionado. Don't think there are too many of those.

I fell in love with trees, stumps and nature walks when we lived in the Santa Cruz Mountains. I used to take the girls to Henry Cowell State Park here in Felton (photos.) We would visit the nature center, walk the trails, identify trees and plants, and visit Roaring Camp next door and feed the ducks and geese. Sometimes we would make a day of it and take a picnic. I always tried to remember to take a flashlight so we could take it inside the hollow Captain Fremont Redwood tree here (story is he camped in it) so we could see the shelves they made in the side of the tree. Every year the opening is getting smaller, so eventually the opening to the burned out center will be closed and the tree will look whole.

I do miss the redwood trees in the area and on our property (neat photos here.) There is just something so special about a huge redwood tree. It is not just the size, but the fact that it has been alive for thousands of years through so much history. When I was standing inside or next to one of those trees it made the history of the area come alive for me. I am grateful for the people who fought to save the redwoods for all of us to enjoy.

Felton here is a neat little town and reminds me a lot of the old gold towns up here where I now live. On our jaunts we used to stop in Felton at a book store and then at a little cafe in an old hotel that made the best berry pies I ever had. I used to visit Felton with a friend's family when I was in high school and never thought I would be taking my children there to enjoy the same sights.

I knew some people in Felton, who had dobermans, so I could tell dobie stories too, but not now.

[1 egg today]

Smiles

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