How many years does it take before abandoned objects become art?

I often find myself photographing the old and broken down, but it requires a number of years of aging to get the proper amount of rust, enough broken windows, or whatever symbolizes the conquest of nature over our small efforts.

We are in that cautious hiking stage where a trip is soon enough that we don't have time to heal if we do serious hurt to ourselves through improvident exertions. A couple of weeks ago we did the falls loop on Mt. Diablo and managed to stress Susan's knees, so since then have kept walking, but on flatter terrain.

This walk was through Round Valley Preserve, a ranch purchased by an Irish immigrant, Thomas Murphy, in 1873, and finally sold by his grandson in 1988 to the East Bay Regional Park District for open space.

Our route kept to the valley floor, just right for healing knees. Here and there as we passed along, were rusty pieces of farm equipment, sitting or fallen in their place of last use.

Some examples:

There were of course, numerous flowers, ground squirrels, raptors, vultures, etc. Those you'll find in Susan's images. This trip I chose rust.