Reflections

One major incentive for writing things down is to remind myself later about the dates, places and events that I have forgotten when I'm so caught up with life. Looking back at these following photos, I cannot precisely pinpoint their locations without enlisting geo-tagging software and the likes, however my memories of how I felt while capturing these photos are still strong.

Although somewhat camouflaged, this three-inch chipmunk from Sequoia National Forest was scurrying around restlessly sniffing and collecting objects. Once approaching this pine cone, it rested its palm momentarily, striking a leaning pose long enough for me to snap this photo. I am unsure if it was contemplating pushing the object along or using it as a leaning post.

These sheep were just the cutest! They saw my car stopping on the side of the road and got curious, enough to trot over timidly to check things out. From a distance, their wool looked as soft as a dandelion, but as they got nearer, the texture looked puffy but coarse. I have not touched a live sheep before so it was hard to judge if prefabricated wool is as soft as what we have in our clothing.

The weather was heavily overcast with an incoming fog along HWY 5 near Valencia. I was wrapping up my long drive from Reno and didn't expect to see much on the way back into town. Out from a clearing and in between heavy pockets of fog, I saw these creatures grazing lazily away, unaffected by the cold weather and drizzling rain. I was mesmerized by the analogous colors of their leathery skin and that of the surrounding grass. This scene reminds me of images captured in travel magazines of the Sahara.