Vanishing orchards and owls in odd places

"Vanishing Points" oil on canvas panel, 11x14"

I drove out to Brentwood the other day to paint yet more orchards in bloom. I did a show there last year, noticed all the orchards, and made a mental note to come back and check it out in the spring. So I packed up my trusty map book, which was printed in 1991 but shows elevation contours and even indicates landscape features like orchards or forest, and set out to find some orchards in bloom. I did find orchards, but I also found incredible urban sprawl. The old map book shows extensive orchards around the small town of Brentwood, and I couldn't help noticing that large swaths of the landscape have been transformed from orchard to shopping centers and housing developments. I suppose that makes me an incurable romantic, to be disapointed by the transformation of agricultural land to big box store.
But in the midst of all the sprawl, I was very surprised to find a pair of burrowing owls. They were in a lonely parking lot in Antioch, and didn't move when I drove up to take their picture.