It's Part of the Price We Pay

This last weekend, while Dino was at the Central Valley Birding Symposium, I spent yet another few hours planting the last fifty or so bulbs.  Recent rain showers didn't do enough to soften anything up, so it was more pick work.  I kept at it until it was all done, even though it turned my arms to jelly.  I sure do hope those doodads actually bloom come spring. 

Monday, I finished up a bout with jury duty.  It was the first time I ended up actually serving on a jury, and a fascinating and also frustrating process it was.  The first day was devoted to picking the folks who were able to serve and were not: actively working for law enforcement or hopelessly biased in that direction, nursing mothers, ill, or for whom missing work would cause a financial hardship.  I didn't fit into any of those categories, so serve I did.

It was a criminal case, and in the end, we found the defendant not guilty.  The whole case boiled down to a neighborhood relationship gone bad. The evidence was virtually nonexistent and the main prosecution witness was a convicted felon and otherwise not believable. We were left with not only "A" reasonable doubt but any number of doubts. Something happened, but whatever it was, was not what he was charged with.

I got back that afternoon with just enough daylight left to go for a little walk down to the river, where I was pleased to see my little dipper bird and some of these mushrooms that like to grow in the moss on rocks. This particular rock was on a hillside overlooking the river which made for a bit of a challenging setup.