Beau

The latest denizen of Mary Kay's zoological entourage is Beau, beloved companion of a former coworker.

The old tree

During the years when I was an avid walker, I came to "relate" to several trees in the East Bay that reminded me of the inner strength and stick-to-it-ness that are often needed  to persevere in an often stern and unforgiving world. This one is in Livermore's Sycamore Grove along a horse trail that passes across the arroyo (at least it did then when there was still water in the arroyo). Mary Kay surprised me by painting this for my new office from one of my favorite photos (from 2004).