Nature's Sculptures, August 2006

Modern artists have nothing on the Coast Live Oak that lives along the Central Coast. They twist and turn, like gigantic crawling weeds in search of the sun. They grow tall and live long. They are a lovely site on the countryside, creating large, shady canopies. However, I would never plant one anywhere near my house.

They drop little leaves year around that are impossible to rake up. So they compost in a wet heap in your yard preventing much else from growing there. In the late summer, like now, they are infested with moth caterpillars that fall all over you when you sit under them. Yuck! In the early spring, they are infested with moths, just waiting to come into your home and eat all your clothes. They block the sunlight needed to prevent mold and mildew from setting into your roof. You aren't allowed to cut them, much less remove them. Good luck getting a permit to do so. They are protected. So if you drive around parts of Monterey and Carmel, you will see fences with branches growing through them because contractors have had to cut special holes in the boards to accomodate the tree.

Here's the really funny part; they grow all over Carmel in front of those $1.6 million 1 bedroom, 1 bath, mold invested shacks that so many people wish they could own. So much for the romance of living in Carmel-by-the-Sea! Nevertheless, they make from some interesting photos.