Stump

Oddly enough, this stump didn't look very good in mono, despite the fact that it is certainly monochromatic. Tree cutting continues all around us and might do so for decades by the look of it, but the county just got a large grant to help in the effort. It has been widely proven that the state's erstwhile 'no burn' policy, along with drought and high temperatures are largely responsible for such catastrophic wildfires. We're told that the Native Americans had controlled burns every year which cleared away the underbrush and 'ladder foliage' that leads flames from the understory to the canopy. 

Around here, fire has taken care of the understory but the burnt dead trees are still a hazard, particularly if they fall on power lines. Our hapless power company, which famously neglected this type of maintenance has been found to be at fault for just about every fire that has burned in its territory. They have been bankrupted twice by lawsuits resulting from their neglect. I think that now the problem has become so great that, despite the almost constant presence of PG&E trucks,  there is no way to do all the deferred maintenance and incurred fire damage that has occurred over many decades. 

I don't know when this stump was cut, but long before the fire I suspect.Perhaps it was just revealed when other things burned or were cut down.I  love the patterns left by saws, natural decay and beetles. I have a root from the arbutus that used to grow outside our bedroom before the fire. Our gardener removed it in more or less one piece and it was impressive to watch him work.  I have saved the resulting root and am still looking for the right place to put it.

Dana observed the Saturday morning coffee tradition here this morning even though Jim is visiting his mother in Indiana. She arranged a lot of pots and a stone table to make a much more pleasing display at the edge of our deck under the bird feeders. The ground squirrels have eaten every flower we have tried to plant in these pots, so tomorrow we are going to go to the nursery to look for some grasses and succulents to put in them. Nobody seems to like to eat them. It's always a fun place to visit and with any luck we can get Dana to come with us to help us complete her 'still life with pots.' She really has a wonderful eye.