Vast And Quiet

Actually, there were lots and lots of Meadow Larks, and Crickets!...but quiet in the sense of only Nature's Sounds...a place to sit awhile all day!...and by the time I reached the Plain, it was afternoon, and with just a half tank of gas, and not sure if I could roll all the way across, and reach a Gas Station too, I turned Silver about, and went back to 58, and thought to go West to Morrow Bay...thought was to continue the way I had intend when diverted to the Plain on the last visit....but in Atascadero, set aside plans to spend the Night and visit Big Sur, and returned to the Valley....it was a day of indecision...hmmph...all week I daydreamed of going to the Plain to see Wildflowers, in spite of the web reports of not many Flowers blooming...not many Flowers blooming hereabout either!....and even thought to begin the journey Sunday night, but too sleepy...work just...makes us all sleepy...anyway, I did roll out around nine Monday morning, and took 41...at the Mariposa Grove, thought to just shorten the journey and visit Bass Lake, which I hadn't seen...now, having seen it, I still really haven't seen it!....just glimpses through the Trees as I rolled out and back...Bass Lake is a curio...a Reservoir with a Four Lane Highway to it, surrounded by Condos and such...not what I expected!...41 to Wawona from the Valley is a twisty twiny Road, and I didn't want to come back that way, taking a nap was really becoming attractive!, and so went to Oakhurst, and almost took the Road from there to Mariposa, but thought, "I've come this far..."...I have a lot of 'I've come this far' moments!!...and so continued out 41 down the Hill to 5 and South on 5 to Buttonwillow, where after some map study, reached 58, and turned into the Plain on the Dirt Road to Soda Lake, which became Seven Mile Road, and that reached Soda Lake Road, which henceforth, is Meadow Lark Road!....on all my rollarounds in the Flat Countryside there have been Meadow Larks, but on the Plain one can hear Meadow Larks singing mile after mile...very hard to get pics though!....on this, the second rollalong Meadow Lark Road, not so many Hawks-- Redtails, and One Northern Harrier...Bird pic up is of Ibis Flock, sighted from the Soda Lake overlook....Flowers are Tidy Tips, and, I think, Goldfields....here and there Patch Fields of these Flowers blooming...and not many other Flowers!...pics of those for sometime...more of report too!....today: after Breakfast, Shuttled over to the Village...Kodak print came of Tule Lake Eagle...in Oakhurst, there is West Coast, which does photo prints, and I keep meaning to stop in and find out about the printing they do...it is very simple to upload to Kodak online, and have prints arrive in mail....but expensive...and I can make my own prints with good inks, but I dont know if the inks are more light fast than Kodak's, or if West Coast's are more light fast than both!...color prints fade....some inks, I've read, are using earth mineral colors, like professional oil paints, which last for centuries....and, it's a kinda dilemma....on the few occasions I've given away prints, or accepted a token payment for my prints, I've come away wondering how long the colors will stay bright....and really, I often come to the concluding thought that I must make my own prints, and mount them in mats....a Cabin industry of sorts...hmmph...the colors on computer screens are knockdown....always a bit disappointed when after seeing pic up, I look at print of same....but prints, like books!, have their place...anywayanyway, Shuttled back, and napped, snacked for lunch at Last Chance, and napped some more!...and no pics or walk today...hmmph...oh...Ibis a new bird, for me...missed pic of Ibis Flock above Silver...