Maple leaves and redwood trees at Humboldt Redwoods State Park, California.

Campbell water tower at twilight. This 130-foot high tower was built in 1928. Campbell, California.

The Yaquina Bay Lighthouse, Newport, Oregon, was built in 1871. This was one of five lighthouses I saw on my redwoods and coast trip last September.

Redwood tree leaves at Hendy Woods State Park, California.

Morning fog moving over the trees and hills of Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve, Orinda, California. The towers are on Round Top.

Fox Squirrel at Lake Chabot, Anthony Chabot Regional Park, Alameda County, California.

Beauty in death: a faded flower in the yard with ant.

Flying great egret at Bay Point Regional Shoreline, Bay Point, California.

Large group of mushrooms at Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park, California. There were many mushrooms to see after the recent rains.

Contrasting greens in the foreground leaves and background trees at Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park, California.

Ladybug beetles (Coccinellidae) in Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park, California.

Caterpillar of some type of moth taken on a picnic table in Caddo Lake State Park, Texas.

Rainbow from the spray of Lower Yellowstone Falls, Wyoming.

Blue mountain layers just before sunrise. Dandridge, Tennessee.

Wet leaf on gravel after the rain. Chestnut Hill, Tennessee.

Reflected reeds in a pond at sunrise. Sacramento Pass BLM camp, Nevada.

Reeds and a mallard duck in the shallows of Contra Loma Regional Park Reservoir, California.

Delicate Arch at Arches National Park, Utah as seen from the lower viewpoint near sunset.

Lake Manly at Death Valley in shadow at sunset as seen from Dantes View, California.

Coquille River Lighthouse from across the river estuary. Bandon, Oregon.

I'm pretty sure this is dyer's polypore (Phaeolus schweinitzii). It was about ten inches long and on the forest floor at Hendy Woods State Park, California in September.

Cypress Tree reflections in the early morning on Caddo Lake, Texas.

Backlit red maple leaves at Lake Chabot, Alameda County, California.

Hallway and windows in the Kaiser Hospital Medical Building, San Leandro, California.

Red-shouldered hawk at Lake Chabot, Alameda County, California.

Fleabane on the grounds by Lake Chabot, Alameda County, California.

Douglas squirrel (chickaree) on a tree at Calaveras Big Trees State Park, California.

Ibbi Pip, one of six activist trolls created by Thomas Dambo to help humans rediscover nature and be good stewards of the earth. Ibbi Pip builds birdhouses in an oak forest. Special exhibition at Filoli, Woodside, California.

Colorful fall leaves and bare tree trunks along the Foothills Parkway, Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee.

What's is this? Elevator doors. I was attracted to the shiny reflections.

Young gull contortionist (it was preening) at Pismo Beach, California.

Sunset clouds from a farm at Corning, California.

Autumn color along the National Foothills Parkway, Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee.

Fuzzy yellow caterpillar (possibly a Virginia tiger moth caterpillar) at Seven Islands State Park, Knoxville, Tennessee.

Water drops from a sudden downpour running down the window at McGhee Tyson Airport, Alcoa, Tennessee.

White crab spider on a fern with morning dew. Hendy Woods State Park, California.

"The Big Tree" at the Big Tree Wayside in Redwood National and State Parks, California. According to a sign, this tree is 286 feet tall, 23.7 feet in diameter, 74.5 feet in circumference, and about 1500 years old. Signs pointed to many other "big" trees in the area.

Ashland mural on the back of a building, corner of Ashland Avenue and East 14th Street, Ashland, California. (Used to be San Leandro, California.)

One of two huts lived in by the Hendy Hermit who lived in the forest by himself until his death in 1981. Hendy Woods State Park, Mendocino County, California.

Small scene in the forest with a leaf, a redwood leaf, and a beetle of the genus Pterostichus on a piece of redwood. Hendy Woods State Park, California.

Dill blossom with a small beetle and possibly a fly in the morning sun at Hendy Woods State Park, California.

Trees in the morning mist near the Thomas H. Kuchel Visitor Center, Redwood National and State Parks, California.

South Falls in Silver Falls State Park, Oregon.

Close-up of cactus spines at Ruth Bancroft Garden and Nursery, Walnut Creek, California.

Owl's claw flower cluster near Crested Butte, Colorado.

Lupine leaves against a background of Slate River ripples near Crested Butte, Colorado.

Trees in snow at Forest Grove, Oregon.

Sunlight streaming into the forest. Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, California.

Balanced Rock at Arches National Park, Utah in July.

Redwood trees along the Bridle Trail at Reinhardt Redwoods Regional Park, Oakland, California.