Category Archives: Nature

Bombus Californicus or Fervidus

I saw this furry critter out in Palm Desert (photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey, UC Davis website) and I was happy to see it. I had not noticed any around our backyard near Los Angeles for a while. It may be that we don’t have enough flowering plants right now to attract them.

These are the black furry bumblebees with the yellow spot near their heads. I researched them a bit and found a post on the UC Davis website about these bubblebees and that they are now called Bombus Fervidus. I have read that the bubblebee is declining especially in Europe.

What kinds of bees are in your neighborhood and do you have bumblebees?

An interesting Bumblebee conservation Fact Sheet from the Xerces Society.

The Birds and the Bees and the Grapefruit Tree

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We went to Palm Desert for the weekend. We have put off coming out here for far too long. It has been about a year since we were last here. It is beautiful in the desert right now. Warm and sunny but not too hot.

The place where we are staying has many citrus trees on the property. The trees are in bloom with sweet smelling blossoms. There is fruit on the trees as well. There are grapefruit, orange and lemon trees.

There is a lovely large grapefruit tree in the backyard. The grapefruit tree provides shade and sweet perfume. It has been wonderfully relaxing to sit on a lounge chair, on the back yard patio, near this tree.

There are many honey bees, bumble bees, and hummingbirds flying amongst the citrus blossoms. As I sit very still I can watch the hummingbirds up close as they drink from the blossoms. There is a light breeze and mocking birds are singing. Very magical.

When you take the time to notice, you realize there is great beauty in the world. I feel such joy, my spirit soars and my heart is full to bursting. I whisper a prayer of thanks.

“If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happened better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb. (Don’t Hesitate)” –Mary Oliver

20150307_115248 Palm Desert Grapefruit Tree

Grapefruit tree in Palm Desert

One Elephant Seal and the Central California Coast

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I went on a spur of the moment trip and met my daughter in Cambria this past Sunday. It was a little over 3 hours drive about 200 miles north of where I live. The drive up was gorgeous. The most beautiful scenery starts above Ventura where the highway runs along the ocean. The day was sunny with moderate temperatures and the ocean appeared calm and blue. You get a beautiful view of the ocean up to Santa Barbara. Then again above Santa Barbara where you start getting more open countryside. Everything is still green. Up into Solvang there are rolling hills and oak trees. Above there around Los Alamos you start seeing vineyards. The vines are dormant now for the winter. Then you swing by some ocean communities again like Pismo Beach. Onward to San Luis Obispo and you connect with Highway 1 and head toward Morro Bay. Highway 1 then runs along the ocean up to Cambria.

I met my daughter at a restaurant called the Indigo Moon for lunch. She had driven down about 3 ½ hours from Northern California. There is a lovely beach in Cambria called Moonstone Beach. There is a wooden walkway on the bluffs and we took a walk there before sunset and had dinner at a restaurant above the beach. There are many inns along Moonstone Beach and we could see some people sitting out on the balconies.

Moonstone Beach by Snowfalcon on wikipedia

The next day ,after a delicious breakfast at a local diner called the Cambria Cafe ,we drove a bit further north to San Simeon. The Hearst Castle is located atop the hills here. We did not go to Hearst Castle but I have toured it in the past. The Hearst family owned many acres of land around the castle. My daughter and I said how glad we are that they gave the bulk of the land to a nature conservancy so it will not be developed. What a gift to have all this open land preserved. We went to the beach at San Simeon for more gorgeous views and saw an elephant seal sun bathing on the beach, (photo above). There were signs posted about the elephant seals stating they are a protected species. The signs warned not to approach them too close. It recommended staying back about 50-100 feet from them.

When we first saw the elephant seal I was worried it was sick, injured or worse because it was laying so still. Then it opened its eyes, looked around and, as we walked over to look, started to roll over and yawn.

It had a snout, that looked like a short elephant trunk, called a proboscis. I spied a couple of pointy teeth in its lower jaw. I thought it was a young male because of its size. It had some open wounds around its neck. I told my daughter that maybe it had gotten in a fight with an older male and been driven off. A park ranger later confirmed it was a male probably about 5 years old.

My daughter and I did a little hiking along the beach and on the bluffs above. It was so beautiful with clear blue skies and sunshine that reflected off the water. We saw a few monarch butterflies among the eucalyptus trees above the beach. The eucalyptus were so fragrant as we walked along and stepped on their fallen leaves and acorns. The Eucalyptus tree is not native to California. It was brought to California in the 1850s during the California Gold Rush from Australia.

We said goodbye in the early afternoon to make our drives in opposite directions. This trip made me realize I need to do this more often. Get out and see the beauty that is so close and is the California coast.

Elephant Seals at Piedras Blancas, California via wikipedia

|Jusjojan|

One Liner Wednesday

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“When we tug at a single thing in nature, we find it attached to the rest of the world.”

—John Muir

I love John Muir. He was a wonderful naturalist who co-founded the Sierra Club in California and influenced congress to pass a bill making Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks. He is called the father of the National Park Service.

Here is a bit via PBS on you tube:

And a biography of John Muir by the National Park Service via America Sings:

|LindaGHill|

Swift Water Rescue Has Your Back

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For my Stream of Consciousness Saturday post I decided to write about a local stream, the LA River. Our prompt today is to use the word “back” in our post.

The Army Corp of Engineers created a cement channel for much of the LA River. The process is called channelizing. This was meant to control flooding. What happens when we have a big rain is the river turns into a bullet train of water as it races through the channels like a gigantic water slide. Invariably some foolish, careless or uninformed people decide to go down to the river and are swept away. The LA Fire Department has a Swift Water Rescue Unit that will come to the rescue. People have died in past years despite desperate rescue attempts. Here is a story from the LA Times about the rescues from the recent storm which includes some video.

The Ventura County and LA Fire Departments, Police and Sheriffs Departments and the officials of other Southern California communities have been busy with a swift water rescue of 2 people, evacuating people from their homes and rescuing people trapped in their cars in mud slides along the Pacific Coast Highway.

In all these life threatening situations our Fire Departments, Police and Sheriff Departments really have our backs. We need to be aware of nature and potential threats in our environment and stay away from natural water channels, creeks and rivers during or after storms.

Video via news10d You Tube of Firefighters getting ready for rescue:

|LindaGHill|

Patience

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It is a good feeling to be looking back at this daily blogging challenge from the end. It wasn’t as hard as I had anticipated. On the whole, I am glad I did it. It was good to participate in the Nano Poblano community group because it helped me with meeting some new blogging friends.

I will be participating in a writing course with WordPress in December but may not be posting everything from that project. I plan to continue to post at least three times a week here on my blog. Well, here is my last post for this month.

Rain

“When clouds form in the skies we know that rain will follow but we must not wait for it. Nothing will be achieved by attempting to interfere with the future before the time is ripe. Patience is needed.”

—I Ching

This quote says more to me than just about being patient while waiting for rain. It can relate to any kind of waiting for something to happen. I know the restless, agitated feeling of wanting to find the answer to whatever I am seeking. I have found that I must learn to be patient. I have had this experience in the past. Whatever is supposed to happen will happen when it is time for it to happen. Patience.

“Significant rain to much of Southwest California Tuesday into Wednesday….This storm has the potential to bring heavy rainfall to much of Southern California next week.” —The Weather Channel (11/29)

We have been patient for quite a while. Good news to a state gripped by drought. We have had beautiful weather for most of November but we need rain. It is a bit cooler today, Saturday. We need rain because when things get so dried out and the weather stays hot the fire danger increases.

I saw a report online this morning that Northern California’s Fire Season is now over because their temperatures have been dropping. We are waiting for the same news here in Southern California. Patience.

|Nano Poblano|

The Coastal Redwoods of California

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California Coastal Redwoods

Mom-in-law near fallen redwood tree

Me and my mom-in-law

Kate near the trees

Coastal Redwoods

If you get a chance to visit California there are many beautiful sights to see. One I think is a must see are the coastal redwoods. I was born in San Francisco which is in Northern California. I met my husband there while we were both in college. I was at University of California San Francisco in the Nursing School and he was at Hastings Law School. Hastings is also part of the University of California.

In those dating days we enjoyed all the beautiful surroundings available in the San Francisco Bay area. From the beautiful city itself and all the great restaurants to the beautiful wine country that was not a far drive from The City. When you live around San Francisco you always refer to it as The City.

One area we visited was north of The City, the beautiful coastal redwood forests. There is a new freeway running up there now. But the original highway is still there as well. It is called The Avenue of the Giants. These trees are so awe-inspiring. They are some of the oldest trees on earth. When you drive past them you get a sense of being in a prehistoric forest. The height and width of the trees dwarf you as if you are in the presence of gigantic dinosaurs.

The trees are fire and bug resistant. The last time we made the trip to see them was on our 30th wedding anniversary. A forest ranger told us a sad fact. That the only thing the trees were vulnerable to was the wind that has been created by the new freeway that was built near them. It creates some kind of wind corridor. It is blowing some of them over.

|Nano Poblano|

Zombie Fishing in Lake Michigan

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When I first saw the headline in the Huffington Post it did pique my curiosity. Oh no! Could this be another environmental disaster? There have been stories about zombie fish. Thank goodness they are not some horrible mutant caused by toxic pollution. The fish become zombies because they are shocked with an electric current so scientists can study their health status. The fish recover and are released back into the water. Although some people argue that being shocked with electricity is not a great experience for the fish.

Another zombie nature story that is not as benign. I was upset to read about zombie bees. There are so many accounts nowadays of the severe environmental stresses on honey bees. Now there is a parasitic fly that has been invading the bee colonies and using the bees as a host for its eggs. As a result of this parasite the infested bee’s behavior becomes very erratic and they demonstrate zombie night-time activity. Fortunately they die right after they begin to act this way.

So when I saw the headline that they were fishing zombies out of Lake Michigan I reluctantly clicked on it. I was relieved to find that it was not about any poor creature, neither human, animal, fish or insect becoming a zombie. Turns out a Halloween barge with a bunch of mannequins dressed as zombies sunk during windy weather. Now they are fishing them out of the lake.

I can see this as being the impetus for a good horror tale. ” Yup, we were out there fishing those zombie mannequins out of the lake when we noticed one of them looked like it had flesh rotting off of it. Then it’s eyes opened and it let out this high pitched inhuman scream……..” Or maybe a new reality TV show like ” Already Dead Catch.”

Huffington Post: Crews Have Been Pulling Zombies Out of Lake Michigan

|Nano Poblano| among other things.

Going Batty

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“She’s got bats in the belfry, squirrels in the attic, owls up in the loft. She’s apeshit, bughouse, batty, mad as a march hare” –by gramaticon

Bats are interesting. I have heard their echolocating cries in the evening. They do eat insects which helps control the insect population. I am glad we do not have any in our attic or any nearby belfries however.

When I first started posting daily for NaBloPoMo and Nano Poblano I thought I would go batty. I have gotten a bit less batty lately coping with the demands of writing.

I do attempt to read others blogs and courteously check in on most of the people who like mine. It has been nice to meet some new blogger friends.

One of my goals has been to connect with other writers and I think these events have helped.

So thanks to all the bloggers who have visited, liked and commented on my blog. Hope you keep visiting and I get to know you better. And welcome to anyone who may not have visited yet.

|LindaGHillSoCS|

A Post A Day Will Not Cause An Emotional Breakdown I Hope

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All right. I have committed to write a post a day for, and I am terrible at acronyms and why do we need them anyway, NaBloPoMo and Nano Poblano. OK I know poblano is a type of chile pepper and not an acronym.

This is the first day of November and we have had our first rain of the season all last night here in Southern California. It really gave me such a great feeling. In case you are unaware, we are going through a drought here.

I usually love listening to the rain at night but last night was particularly wonderful. I had just finished writing a post. My husband had the radio on in the bedroom. I think that blocked the sound of the rain at first. Then I heard a loud drip, drip, drip like there was a leak somewhere. Our plumbing has been noisy lately so I couldn’t be sure.

Then I thought maybe it is rain. It had been predicted for last night. I turned on the light over the backyard patio. I was so happy to see the dripping noise was the rain running off the edge of our tile roof.

It is like any everyday thing that you haven’t experienced for a long, long time and when it happens again it is so special. As if it has never happened before and this is the first time.