Distortions...Sea, Sky or Black Hole?

We had a beautiful sunny day yesterday, but things had reverted by today. Sometimes overcast days produce interesting pictures, but I think I'll trade a boring picture for some sun. I do like to try and find abstract shots that I can take straight out of the camera, and these unusual looking clouds fit the bill. I took this picture on River Road.

Our power company, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) has just finished clear cutting the trees at the side of the River Road which were planted decades ago underneath the power lines. PG&E didn't trim the trees, nor did they top them. They cut them down to the ground causing the riverbanks to erode and the adjoining vineyards to flood. and leaving behind a veritable DMZ by the side of the road.

PG&E has amassed such a record for deferred and non-existent maintenance that they are now being sued by many homeowners who lost their homes in the 2017 fires.  They have been found responsible for their equipment starting dozens of fires and ordered by the Public Utilities Commission to do billions of dollars worth of repairs and restoration.  It's complicated and nobody knows what will happen, but PG&E has declared bankruptcy in order to avoid responsibility for these reparations, thousands of homeowners don't know if or when their lawsuits will ever be addressed, and PG&E trucks are everywhere, cutting trees, clearing ground, stringing wire and replacing poles. They put up four , FOUR, right in front of a lot behind us. Each pole has a large array of transformers and whatever else they seem to need rendering them incredibly ugly and rendering the lot behind them virtually useless. The only possible thing to do to try to hide it would be to plant trees to cover them....

Yesterday our neighbor, Cindy, got a call from a PG&E representative. There is a beautiful, stately oak tree shading the front of the house across the street which they are fixing up and getting ready to sell. In fact, it is the centerpiece of the garden. It has electrical wires running through its branches and the PG&E representative asked Cindy if she would "give us permission to remove it." "What?" said Cindy..."No. Of course I won't". "I get that a lot" he said.

Is it stupidity? Vindictiveness? Laziness? Overzealousness? Who knows? It is certainly a distortion of reality. "I don't think I would like to have your job", said Cindy.