Central Valley Sunset
Time Lapse Landscapes
Our family home was bordered
by Modesto Ash, cottonwoods,
blooming magnolias.
My grandmother’s yard overflowed
with rosemary and oregano, miniature roses.
Her fecund garden produced zucchini,
swiss chard, tomatoes and peppers.
As a teen, I was surrounded by
Dad’s peach and almond orchards
interplanted with Texas melons, soybeans,
sweet fleshed casabas.
I caught tadpoles and minnows
in shrinking puddles left behind
in fields after flood irrigation.
Now I have escaped the Central Valley’s
fruit cutting sheds, miserable summer inferno.
From my Monterey front steps,
I hear percussive surf as it pummels
low-tide sand at Del Monte Beach.
At sunrise and twilight,
silvery sage, pungent jasmine
perfume chilly breezes
blowing in from the ocean.
Lilies and lantanas thrive.
Among bearded iris, I find a rustic nest
filled with feathery babies.
Scarlet salvia attracts chubby bumblebees.
Fiery nasturtium cascades
from moss-decoupaged planter.
Mother Nature ornaments my world
with hummingbirds, pink and lavender blossoms.
Our family home was bordered
by Modesto Ash, cottonwoods,
blooming magnolias.
My grandmother’s yard overflowed
with rosemary and oregano, miniature roses.
Her fecund garden produced zucchini,
swiss chard, tomatoes and peppers.
As a teen, I was surrounded by
Dad’s peach and almond orchards
interplanted with Texas melons, soybeans,
sweet fleshed casabas.
I caught tadpoles and minnows
in shrinking puddles left behind
in fields after flood irrigation.
Now I have escaped the Central Valley’s
fruit cutting sheds, miserable summer inferno.
From my Monterey front steps,
I hear percussive surf as it pummels
low-tide sand at Del Monte Beach.
At sunrise and twilight,
silvery sage, pungent jasmine
perfume chilly breezes
blowing in from the ocean.
Lilies and lantanas thrive.
Among bearded iris, I find a rustic nest
filled with feathery babies.
Scarlet salvia attracts chubby bumblebees.
Fiery nasturtium cascades
from moss-decoupaged planter.
Mother Nature ornaments my world
with hummingbirds, pink and lavender blossoms.
Front Yard Salvia and Hummingbird
