Two Surprises I Found at Larry Moore Park

A Short Walk in the Park

Fallen Part of Split Tree, © B. Radisavljevic

The house was warm; the background television noise was stressing me. I needed to get out. The sun would soon be gone. So off I went the two blocks to the park. I actually had a mission. A couple of weeks ago I had reported to the park maintenance office that a tree had just split. I sent them a photo. I wanted to see if anyone had acted on my information and corrected the situation. When I checked last week, the fallen part of the tree was still on the ground. You can see it in the photo above.

I was pleasantly surprised on this walk to see they had cleared the fallen tree away. I was sad they had been unable to save the tree, but I guess the split had killed all of it -- not just the fallen part of it. I'll have to give credit to the  maintenance people for getting the job down so quickly. That was my first surprise during my walk in the park.

The Sad Surprise

New Memorial Tree in Foreground, Stumps of Split Tree in Background, © B. Radisavljevic

As I was walking over to take a photo of the tree stumps, I noticed what appeared to be a small decorated Christmas tree. It had not been there three weeks ago when I walked past that area. You can see it in the foreground on the left.

It looks like they chipped a lot of the split tree right there, since wood chips covered the area. You can also see some of the logs from the tree stacked not far from the stumps. After taking the photo I took a closer look at the little Christmas tree. I had to wonder who would decorate a tiny tree in a public park at the end of June. So I read the note under the tree.

Decorated Memorial Tree, © B. Radisavljevic

When I read the note, it broke my heart. I'm a bereaved mom, too. I would like to know Ryan's story, but I probably never will. Was Ryan one of the homeless who camped in the Riverbed or the child of one of them? Did he drown? Or did his death have nothing to do with homelessness or the river? Perhaps his parents just wanted to put a monument in a public place for him that everyone in the neighborhood who walks the park will see.

Whoever Ryan was, however old he was, someone is grieving his death. They don't want it to be forgotten. I hope they leave this little tree here to grow up. Perhaps Ryan never had that chance. If anyone reading this knows Ryan's story, I hope they will comment below. I'd like to know. I won't tell the city maintenance people about this tree. But I'll keep an eye on it.

I reluctantly left to go home as the sun said goodbye.

The Sun Sets As I Grieve for Ryan and his Parents and a Fallen Tree, © B. Radisavljevic

Other Posts You May Enjoy

Kite Practice at Larry Moore Park at Dusk: My first experience watching a person use a parafoil kite.

What's Lurking Under the Willow Tree? Is that hollow a good place to hide?

What I Observed from My Bench at Larry Moore Park: You can see a lot from a park bench. Includes a video.

Wordless Wednesday: An Overflowing Fountain in Atascadero

The Fountain in The Sunken Gardens Overflowed During February Rains

The fountain in Atascadero's Sunken Gardens overflowed during the February rains. 

Paso Robles City Park is Wrapped in Orange

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Tuesday I read in the Paso Robles Daily News that the bandstand/gazebo in the City Park had been attacked by termites. Even before that we had construction going on in the park. The entire 12th Street entrance walkway and landscaping has been surrounded by orange netting for months. Now with the bandstand tented and surrounded with the orange fencing, it seems as though the city park is wrapped in orange. 

The photo on the right shows part of the tented gazebo with the orange construction fence.

The photo below shows the area closest to the 12th Street entrance. This is where the fountain used to be before the drought. This shot was taken from the north, as you enter the park from Pine Street with 12th Street on the right.

The photo below shows the same dry fountain area in February 2011, surrounded by planters with flowers and shrubs. This view is what one walking  in from 12th Street, looking toward the old Carnegie Library, would have seen until recently.

The next photo shows you an overview of the orange-wrapped construction zones from a distance as one enters the park from Pine Street.  Do you see the large pine tree leaning toward the gazebo? I hope it doesn't fall on it later on. A drought often weakens the roots and the tree begins to lean before it falls. We had to take out a pine tree that did that this year, and in Templeton one of our trees did fall.

Below is a closer look at the leaning tree from the other side of the gazebo, looking toward 12th Street. I'd hate to lose it, since it's the Hospice Memorial Tree.

Below is a close-up looking up toward the sign in the Hospice Memorial Tree.

They are supposed to remove the tent from the gazebo sometime tomorrow along with the orange fence around it. I can only hope they also finish the rest of the construction before the spring festivals begin in the park. 

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A Lone Pine in the Clouds and Some Sky Posters

I had to pick up some tax forms in Templeton today. Since I haven't been outside for many days, I decided to take a photo walk along the north end of Main Street. The sky was deep blue with lots of fluffy white clouds in one direction and some darker ones toward the west which seemed to form a band that appeared near the sun. I was anticipating a spectacular sunset like the one we had last night. 

I parked beside the driveway that  led up the hill to the sheriff's station, grabbed my camera, and locked the car. I took a few shots of the trees, including this pine. Then I walked north, hoping  to get shots of the cattle on the hill by the freeway exit and that gorgeous sky. Just as I was ready to  take that first shot, the camera battery informed me it was dead. 

What's worse is that I had thought about taking the spare camera with me, but I hadn't charged it lately and thought it would be wasted effort. I so wanted that sky full of clouds. I could have gone to the top of a hill on the way home after my errands in town were finished and waited for sunset. Instead I had to race the clock home to get there before the sun went down.  Unfortunately, by the time I got home, both the sun and most of the clouds had already disappeared behind the hills,   and all I got was this rather disappointing sunset. You can just see the tail ends of the clouds near the retreating sun.

Has this ever happened to you? 

I was hoping to get photos that look more like the ones in  these sky posters I created on Zazzle while on other photo walks that were more successful. 

 Poster: Oak after Sunset Poster Poster: Tree against cloudy blue sky. Poster Poster: Billowing clouds at sunset Poster Canvas:Treetops in the Clouds Canvas Print Large Inspirational Poster of Clouds at Dusk Poster: Trees Reaching Toward Heaven Poster Poster: Tree tops tangled against cloudy blue sky Poster Large Poster of Spectacular Dark Sunset Poster of Cloudy Sky over Open Land Poster-Sunset Over the Oaks in Paso Robles Poster

Squirrel Hunting at the Medical Center in Templeton

I Didn't Expect to See Squirrels at the Medical Center

I had only intended to get a quote for new lenses at the optical center at San Luis Eye Associates this afternoon. It only took a few minutes, and as I was headed back to my car, I saw a ball of gray fur in motion at the base of a pine tree near my car. Fortunately I had my camera in my purse. I pulled it out to go squirrel hunting. Before I could focus on the ball of fur, it was heading up the tree. Squirrels are very quick.

© B. Radisavljevic

He spent a bit of time moving from limb to limb and branch to branch. He settled for a minute or two here. Then he took off again to explore the tree. At one point a friend joined him, but I couldn't get the two together. They were chasing each other.

© B. Radisavljevic

After after one squirrel jumped to the next tree and explored it for a while, he (or she?) decided to start down. Then my husband, whom I'd not expected to see, drove into the lot to pick up his glasses and I went back in to see what he was up to.

© B. Radisavljevic

When he left I stayed to see where my prey had gone. I finally spied a squirrel in the second tree. It might have been either of them. It finally started down.

© B. Radisavljevic

After coming down, the squirrel ran along the edge of the parking lot near the trees toward a fence by another tree. I did take the photo of him on the fence, but it was blurry. Those squirrels seem to go into motion the minute you get in focus. I finally lost track of him. I couldn't help but wonder where his home was. There were so many trees in the area he could have lived anywhere.

After he was out of sight, there wasn't much point in hanging around the parking lot any longer, so I started toward the car to go home. On the way I took a picture of where the whole adventure had started. For, of course, it started in this hole.

© B. Radisavljevic

If You Like Squirrels, You Might Like These Cards

Do you like squirrels? Perhaps you'd like to send some of these squirrel photo cards to some friends.

 Squirrel in red autumn tree greeting card Baby Squirrel in Tree Large Greeting Card Begging Squirrel Happy Birthday Greeting Card ADD Squirrel Photo Greeting Card squirrel greeting card Cute Squirrel Smiling Greeting Card

One Way to Remove a Large Tree

I mentioned a few posts back that we had a large pine tree about to fall. It seemed prudent to remove it before that happened. I will show you the entire tree again so that you can see the contrast between the tree in the ground and the tree on the ground. You can see how tall it is compared to the six-foot fence, and of course, it's already part of the way down.

There are many ways to get rid of an unwanted tree. We chose to hire a handyman. What that sometimes means is that a project may take longer than it might in the hands of a professional tree service. It didn't take two men working together long to get the tree cut down, but it's taken almost a week to get all the tree parts hauled away.

I want you to see how large the tree really is by showing you its parts. I guess I had expected the tree to be cut lumberjack style with cuts to the trunk and the tree falling whole. That isn't what happened. It was safer to remove the branches first to make the tree lighter. This photo shows most of the branches that were cut before the trunk.

This is a view from a different perspective. You can click this or any of these photos to enlarge them.

The men stacked some of the branches, though not as many, in the center of the yard, perhaps to make them easier to carry away.

To help you put the size of the branches into perspective, I lined up one of the smaller branches next to this twelve-foot ladder.

My mother planted this as a small Christmas tree. The rings on the stump indicate that was just about 20 years ago, which would have been her first Christmas here. Think about these photos if you ever decide to plant a living Christmas tree, and make sure you have enough room. Take into account that fact that surrounding trees will also grow larger, and that pine trees have shallow roots.

The stump was cut away to ground level a couple of days after the initial cut.

I'm  hoping you will be able to see a couple of the roots in this photo to the right. One of the roots is toward the right between some green leaves about 2/3 of the way down.  The roots are hard to see because they blend so well into the pine needles and shadows. You will have to  click and enlarge the photo to see them. If you follow the line of that root back past where some pine needles cover it, you will get a feel for how long it really is -- about eight feet. It heads back underground at a rosebush.

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The Welcome Rain

I Saw Raindrops Through My Window

As I was revising a piece of writing this afternoon, I was startled to see raindrops falling as I glanced out the window. It was hard to believe, so I dashed outside to check, and sure enough. There was a light rain falling. What a blessing! Once before I was so happy to see rain break a drought that I wrote this poem about rain.

Leaning Pine Tree about to Fall,  © B. Radisavljevic

I Escape from The Noise of Cutting the Tree

I took a lunch break after my headache-inducing afternoon of filling out loan applications and editing. Just as I was starting lunch, Hubby called to say he'd hired someone to cut down that leaning pine you see in the photo, and he'd arrive in about fifteen minutes.  I was not in any condition to listen to a power saw for two hours, so I finished lunch quickly and was out the door almost as soon as the man arrived to cut that tree that's about to fall. As usual, I headed for the library with a book to read as my escape.

A Walk Around the Park

My head still hurt and the library was a bit stuffy and not all that quiet, so I decided to take a walk around the park. I love to walk on overcast days when it's cool enough. The clouds make the sky beautiful on days when it has just rained.

Eleventh Street Between Rain Storms, © B. Radisavljevic

I grabbed my camera and headed over to Park Street from the library parking lot. I walked toward Pine Street and took this photo of the sky at a little after six.


As I walked through and around the park I saw that it really is getting to be autumn. I will show you photos later in the week to support that. Nature is putting on quite a show. But today I cared mostly about the sky. As I approached Spring Street from the park, I focused on the clouds above and to the left of the Paso Robles Inn Coffee Shop.

Sky Above Paso Robles Inn Coffee Shop Between Rain Storms, © B. Radisavljevic

After I took the picture above, I decided to go back to the car and read a bit more until it was time to head for the gym. It began to rain again about seven. I decided to skip the gym to avoid being out in the rain. I went home only to discover the tree cutter's saw wasn't working and the tree was still there. So I guess we will go through this again soon after the saw is fixed


Below we see San Luis Obispo in the Rain. I took the picture from the car while we were stopped at a traffic light.

Rain Falliing at Sunset in San Luis Obispo, CA Postcard

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