Saturday, May 31, 2025

A Clump of Days (AKA The Most Photos Ever...Too Much?)

Monday, May 26, 2025

Define "gentle"...this path was labeled as such! We walked a short distance, rounded a bend and then this...going up anyone?!! We turned around and headed out to another location.

So, off to San Francisquito Creek Trail we went - where the flowers grew, the Yuccas were in full bloom, the cane danced in the breeze and where the creek was dry - covered in whitened moss and history's debris.

I called this a petrified acorn. I have no idea what it is. A seed? Caught up in the moment of discovery, a handful of treasures came home with us. More on this later.

Are there Hidden Populations of Parrots Living in the United States?

LINK 10:37 minutes

This video interested me because there were flocks of 'wild parrots' near my old work. You'd be surprised how loud they are when going for a lunch time walk! I learned there are other flocks around the country. Maybe near you?

Tuesday, May 27, 2025

Exiting the medical building, this beauty right above us.

This one raised up high off of the hot pavement.

Friday, May 30, 2025

With days in the high 90's...we looked for a trail with shade. Placerita Nature Center provided that. The walk started with a beautiful new bench.

I was particularly drawn to the way the flowers appeared whilst growing within the golden dried weeds, grasses. Who defines what a weed is anyway?

As the trail started, the creek bed was bone dry. I'd been hoping for some water after watching the video I'd just posted. However, that is hard to find around here in this heat. The view in the pic above was taken from a very lovely bench, placed under an oak tree. The trail, dappled in sunlight turned out to be the perfect location.

A few more paces up the trail and the pungent smell of decaying leaves, mosses and so on rose up to great us. "I smell water", I declared and I was right. This murky, slow moving creek ended right here. We observed for some time and discovered dozens of polliwogs! Can you see them?

Another comfy bench under the trees. I could have sat there for a very long time. The sunlight through the trees, the perching crows cawing, the warm breeze...all provided a sense of peace in a big, busy, icky world.

Saturday, May 31, 2025

Another 97 degree day and a mid day walk at the bridge. It was super noisy on the human end of things (lots of freeway traffic, 6 tween boys on electric mini-bikes, speedy bicycle riders), but super quiet on the natural side of things (5 lizards and a crow or two - that's it).

I planted two more CMB today, bringing the count up to 82. I also have decided that my short-lived foray back to collecting rocks etc. is over. I took 4 of the smallest rocks with me to the bridge, placing them on fence posts. As I finish with my turn with the others, I'll take those back to nature as well. The debris from the dam break could have made it to the bridge, as the flood went all the way to the ocean. Leaving the treasures where someone else can say "wow, look!" seems like an okay thing to do.

The crow was sitting, beak open (panting?) in the heat. I checked on the dead frog and it seems to be getting buried by the ants. The sandy dirt around it is churned up and beginning to cover its rear end. It's a bit hard to witness, but the natural process carries on, no matter what humans think about it. I could not see any birds in the two nests today. This made me surprisingly sad. They may have been hunkered down in the heat too?

Everyone of these individual thoughts seems to come with some weighted, philosophical pondering.

I don't know what will be next here. I drug my feet about posting each of these excursions in nature, but in the end - I often use this space as a tracker for myself. So even if no one wants to walk with me, I wanted the record here. With that said, it is also working-not working for me...so I need to think about it some more.

I wonder what blogging means to me right now?

May you remember in ways that make you feel good

May you question yourself, as much as you question the world

May you keep looking, in case you've missed something

#goodenough

Friday, May 30, 2025

Water

Water Teaching with Edna Manitowabi

LINK 35:34 minutes

May you...

Monday, May 26, 2025

Outdoor Life

More from yesterday's Nature Stroll...

One of the first things we saw were these stumps. Looking at them, I was stumped! how does a tree grow within a tree? What am I missing here? I can imagine how the smaller 'volunteers' could push up against the main trunk...but how does a younger growth become fully incased within the main trunk?

The edges and the cracks in the pavement held dozens of sunflowers. They were everywhere!

We chuckled at the fact that just the other day we were commenting on the fact that there was much fewer mustard plants this year...then yesterday it was everywhere!!

I didn't chuckle at the two very large off leash Rottweilers, which galloped towards us, while their owners laughed from way back on the trail: smile, laugh, "Oh they're friendly" haha, smile, chuckle, "They won't hurt you". I put myself on the other side of J. and his thick wooden cane. I got slobbered on and a large dog nose pushed up against me, but I was grateful we did not get jumped on. Grrr. Sigh.

We inspected seed pods and flowers and berries...

There were rocks, brick...and a place to sit...

What a beautiful day!

The story continues...I made the "4th Little Pig". She's adorable! You met the others recently HERE. I was also super excited to find this little lucite drawer so the pieces will have a home and the children will learn how to respectfully care for these small additions to the 4 storytelling pillows. I plan to give this part of the set to her next week. I'm also hoping to get a photo of the pillows too. We'll see.

Sunday at the bridge. It was a low-count lizard day...only 5. But, we saw the crows and hawks(?) in their nests again. It is so hard to believe how close they nest to one another. The nests held more than one bird. Plus, there was another adult crow in the connector right nest to the one holding the crow nest. It did not appear to have a nest in it...but there was a bird for sure. Was it an adult partner? We don't know. It is still hard to tell if there are babies or only adults.
Whoever it is that was home at the bridge this day, it was very exciting to see.

We walked to the fence break and then decided to go down the hill to see the massive pruning job that was done. There were so many trees just drastically topped off. It felt different being down there...lower than the trail, lower than the wires, within the riverbed trees...a different view of the bridge.