The point of this post is to share the next three images, but I didn't want any of those to be in the top spot, so I'm including a shot taken from Mt. Tam last week.
A few years ago I found this 1928 picture of the block I live on. It was pretty amazing to see what everything was built on. Who'd have thought by looking at all that dune scrubland that by 2022 a vacant lot (and one still exists) would cost more than a million bucks.
Back in 2015 I pulled a screen shot of the same area from Google Maps. I just stumbled on these pictures the other day, and one change since 2015 that I noticed right away is how much the hedge on the right has developed.
As you can see from a phone snap I shot just minutes ago, the Red Trumpet Vine has gone crazy during the last seven years. Hardly any of the original supporting hedge still shows.
Those big pine trees might be marked for death, which would be a shame. Just walking under them and smelling the fresh pine scent moments ago took me out of the city and up to the Sierra. Yesterday I watched a couple of crows chase a squirrel out of its top branches. Sometimes the crown fills with cherry-headed conures, which presumably feed on the pine nuts. I'm often amazed to see such big trees anchored in sand dune, and all the gopher tunnels around the roots can't help.
Speaking of layers of time, I joined the Navy on Friday the 13th of May -- 45 years ago!
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