This photograph's caption is based on what you don't see. I've run in this pleasant foothill location for a number of years and witnessed slow but sure encroachment of this area by residential development. More...

This photograph's caption is based on what you don't see. I've run in this pleasant foothill location for a number of years and witnessed slow but sure encroachment of this area by residential development. Not far over this hill, they are building again, and I'm sure it's only a matter of time before it is bull-dozed into yet another subdivision. The 'burbs are the front lines of the battle for the preservation of open space. Once consumed, open space is almost never restored.

This area was lost in 1999. When the bull-dozing started I grabbed my camera and went for a final run. It was difficult to see. The area to be developed was being cleared of all vegetation, and all life. The demarcation line was startling. At one point there was a huge pile of twisted and torn Laurel Sumac. A pair of Scrub Jays flittered from branch to branch, searching the pile for all that they had lost.