it's an endless cycle- spring comes and tender, grassy shoots pop up everywhere. as the season goes on, the tender little shoots become long grasses and oat heads begin to form on long stalks. summer comes, the grain ripens. at the end of the summer, the husks pop open and the seeds are thrown about on the ground. there's something nostalgic and maybe even a little sad about the empty oat husks, swaying a little in the late summer breeze. the life is gone from them, their purpose complete. next year, though, the fruits of those now-golden and lifeless grasses and empty husks will be seen, popping through the earth in the early spring.

rural contra costa county, california