Up on the roof

A few of us 'more mature' youngsters remember the old hit "Up on the Roof". Penned by Carole King, I always prefered the Laura Nyro cover. Anyway, I've always enjoyed getting up there; as a contractor it's one of the few less-celebrated perks of "housework".

But as I gazed up into the afternoon sun one day recently, I noticed a few buzzing bees hovering around one of our chimneys, and having had a certain experience here with said buzzing, I decided to investigate.

Once I got up there, I was distracted by the uncommon perspective that being up on the roof affords, so I snapped a few pictures to help convey that perspective:

Here, the main path approaches the house:

Looking down off the roof's edge to water's edge.

Here, the means to get down to that water's edge:

And looking straight down the rocky rampart.

Along the southern edge of the house looking west:

At that path's end is this vantage point....

looking westward....

Even on the roof, the wild things grow and bloom...

...the ocean side of the house, the sea terrace.

and from the same vantage point, looking south:

...and northward along the granite path towards the greenhouse.

Rooftop view of Point Lobos:

On the east side, we see the courtyard in bloom...

...and my spotter keeping an eye on me....

Now, back to work...the bees are buzzing in and out of this chimney at the very top...

...but a close inspection reveals only a few scouts, but no major hive-building activity or imperial colonization...

The view from up here is captivating, architecturally and otherwise:

The very top of the chimney is missing it's spark arrestor, which is revealed by the fact that old roofing tar outlines the footprint of where it used to reside atop the chimney. This explains why the bees are making inquiries regarding available real estate. I'll have to explore suitable options for capping the chimney opening with a new spark (and bee) arrestor.