My Favorite Oak

This county is full of oak trees but one of my favorites is right in my back yard. It has a tree house which Peter and a friend built in its branches before we even purchased the lot on which it stands just behind our back fence. The tree house was fairly derelict from the beginning since they had no blueprint for it and used old wood they salvaged and dragged here. from I know not where.  I never asked where they got it. What I DO know is that they used about nine thousand nails and that the platform, which can't really be seen in this photo, is furnished with cup holders.

 It is hard for me to believe that they are both in college now. Hidden by the trunk is an archery target stuffed with a hay bale. The target has lasted about ten times longer than their interest in bows and arrows. They did offer to drag it away but when they discovered that it was inhabited by a wasp nest, they wanted nothing to do with it.

Spring has a way of arriving and disappearing again before it can be trusted. We woke this morning to rain which lasted most of the day, discouraging me from going to photograph the derelict Wolf House in Jack London State Park. It burned to the ground before Jack and his wife Charmian could move into it. His is a fascinating story. He came to Sonoma county for the same reason many of us have...for the natural beauty of the Sonoma Valley (Valley of the Moon) and the peace and quiet. It didn't quite work to that way for either of us, but it is still a wonderful place to live....