From the road, the lake looked pretty enough. So we stopped, hoping to find a nice, shady bench to eat the plums we’d gotten earlier in the day. Found a bench, close to the water, and soon realized why no one was sitting there: the water was disgusting – full of green and brown algae with that lingering stink that crawls up inside your nose for a few hours.

So we took a walk instead, where we saw a long hedge that was completely covered with spiders’ webs. But aat least they didn’t stink, and some of them had water drops caught on them.

Clear Lake*, California

*Ironic, no?

photographed 7.29.2012