Crazy Melaleucas: Palisades Park

Anyone who has visited Santa Monica's Palisades Park will be familiar with these extraordinary,  trees- trees that don't grow vertical, as we expect trees to grow, but sprawl horizontally all over the grass.  They are Pink Melaleucas, or Western Tea Myrtles, natives of Australia and a member of the extensive Eucalyptus family- the Melaleucas themselves including over 100 species.

Apparently they get their name from the Greek words melas meaning black and leucas meaning white, because in the bush fires of Australia their trunks would be blackened while the upper branches remained white.  Needless to say, the Palisade's ones are neither black nor white but I find their strange, twisted bark incredibly sculptural:

Apart from the wonderful shapes these trees make, they also cause wonderful shadows:

The rhythmical, compex flow of their lines brings to (my) mind some of Leonardo's studies of the movement of water:

Now this one- contrary to what I said earlier- is quite black, but from age rather than fire I guess:

I am often surprized how trees with extra-tough looking bark can produce delicate flowers.  The Pink Melaleuka has a profusion of these charming little pink or lilac "pom-poms":

These result in strange cone-like clusters of seeds:

For those who don't know Palisades Park, it is high up on the cliffs above the Pacific Ocean, which often forms a backdrop for the trees:

If you are there around sunset, you can catch them with the reflective glow:

And then if you turn West towards the Ocean you will find the shapes of the Melaleucas making endless "windows" through which to see both sun and sea:

Sunsets in Kelston

Kelston is a tiny village near Bath, by the River Avon. There is nothing much there apart from the village pub, an organic farm and a scattering of houses. It is totally- and delightfully- rural.

I recently stayed there with a friend and revelled in the very unspoilt land. Although not Samuel Palmer country, going for an evening walk when there was that miraculous reflected sunset glow on the landscape I was reminded of his paintings. Here is Kelston Hill:



And here is another very English scene, including English Oaks!


From up on Kelston Hill there are wonderful views of the surrounding landscape. I found the undulating curves of these fields fascinating:




On another evening, taking the two charming whippets for a walk, we were suddenly aware of a blast of colour- this was no gentle evening glow:



And here one was reminded of Rothko rather than Samuel Palmer:




Trees silhouetted against a sunset are, to me, always nostalgic:






And I will conclude with two quiet images, showing the last remnants of the sunset:

Santa Monica Sunsets

One thing I regret now that I am in LA rather than in Santa Monica is the accessibility of seeing the sunsets over the Ocean. Although it takes no time to get there, I am usually in a hurry to return home before the rush hour traffic, which means I miss the sunsets. However, I have made a point of catching them a couple of times recently so feel it is appropriate to end the year with the cliche of the sun going out of sight... at any rate, like most people, I love sunsets!

I will start with some images taken a few weeks ago, first walking towards Palisades Park:


And here in the Park is one of the Pink Melaleucas, framing some palms:



Now, just the palms against the sky and the ocean:




Then I became aware of the New Moon, framed by palms:


And here, just the Moon above the ocean:


Now just the sky and ocean...


Finally, to end the year on an up-beat note, here are a couple of more fragile, optimistic sunsets taken this week:

LA Trees on December Walk

And now it is December...and the acceleration to Christmas is in full swing. However, simultaneously the Fall is taking place here in little pockets among the evergreens. Being in Southern California, one does miss the total dramatic effect of the changing seasons, so one gets very excited by these vignettes...

This morning when I took my granddaughter Violet to the nearby Playground, there was an amazing blue, blue sky and the reds and yellows of the occasional Maple and London Plane trees were exhilarating. It is never that easy to concentrate on taking photos when looking after a baby, so in the late afternoon I went out alone with a camera. By now, of course, there was a totally different light and those particular trees were no longer exciting - but that's the wonderful thing about changing light, you always find that something else now looks exciting, the unexpected...

At the start of my walk, the evening sun's reflected "glow" was burnishing the leaves:






And now it was lighting up the limbs of the trees too:



Next, as I walked down onto the Eastern side of a hill, the glow was no longer on the trees, but was reflected on the Eastern sky, the trees becoming silhouettes:




I then turned South-Westwards, and here was another sky. I have photographed these Palm trees many times against a clear blue sky, so was elated to see them in this evening light:




My next excitement was seeing a tiny slither of upside-down (to us from the UK) new moon, behind the trees:



And then a shaggy, bird-like Palm:


Finally, a completely different visual experience:- side-walk trees turned into magical Christmas Trees: