Monday mural: Montclair Village

This mural was a collaboration between the Montclair business district and the local high school.  It is painted on the side of a local pharmacy.  The Village is a neighborhood in the Oakland hills just above Highway 13.  It's an upscale area that caters to local residents.

Welcome to Monday Mural: if you like murals or have a mural you'd like to post, this meme's for you.  Just follow the Linky steps below.  You decide what constitutes a mural.  Once you start looking, you find them everywhere.  I'm sorry to report that I can't get Linky to load.  If anyone else has had this difficulty, please let me know what resolved the problem.  I hope you will still visit one another through the links participants are leaving with their comments.  Fingers crossed...

"Be kind; everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”  Rev. John Watson

house in the woods

This Tudor style sits in a small glen where Temescal Creek runs above ground before it runs into Temescal Lake.  The house was built in the 20s or 30s, long before the Warren Freeway landed at its doorstep.  And before people cared that they were building on an earthquake fault line.  Being below the freeway and in a densely wooded area helps mitigate the sound of traffic.  But still, it can't be as calming as when families first moved into the area.  Progress.

SOOC Sunday: bouquet

Spotted at Lake Temescal.  I imagine a child picked this bouquet of wild flowers, got distracted (ooh, look at that butterfly!), and accidentally left it behind.  I was surprised at the color accuracy of this image straight out of the camera.  Shows that even a blind squirrel finds an acorn now and then.  For more unaltered images, visit Jan's meme SOOC Sunday.

Sunday Bridge Series: near the Bridgeview trail head

Only a few feet from the Warren freeway, which runs the length of the Oakland hills, is a trail head that leads through Dimond Canyon to Dimond Park.  I followed it for a bit and found this little bridge crossing what I think is Sausal Creek.  The trail descends steeply and cuts through redwood stands, wild berry brambles, and fern groves.  Oakland has a number of these natural preserves that survive in the midst of a decidedly urban setting.  I assume the bridge in "Bridgeview" is not the little footpath seen here.  Another day I'll follow the trail to its end and get a shot of the bridge it refers to.  For an array of bridges from around the world, visit «Louis'» Sunday Bridges Series.