Oaks on the Laguna.

If there were one central feature of my landscape, it would be the majestic live oaks, with their crazy quilt branches. Ancient oaks like this one dot the grasslands of our dry seasonal lake, the Laguna de Santa Rosa. They are still dressed up in their delicate leaves even at the height of fall. 

When I walked out there yesterday, the offshore winds were blowing hard and dry enough to make my throat rasp. With the vigilance of a post-traumatic community, the few fires that started in last night’s high winds were extinguished before they spread.