Monday, June 21, 2010
Summer 2010
First day of Summer
It does not feel like it. That is a common refrain this summer. There were wintry days.....more of them than usual in spring. Rain, too. Now, summer is here but in the San Francisco Peninsula the temperature is unusually low. The breeze picks up in the evening and the fog comes rolling in from the Pacific west of us.
But there would be days when the temperature will climb over 90° (approx. 32 degrees C) and we will yearn for relief.
The cool days lengthened the display of wild flowers. There are still some to be found but on a recent hike in the foothills I came across Clarkias (Farewell to Spring). The meadows have lost their lush greenness. And a woman walking with a child warned us to be watchful about rattle snakes. Said that she came across one. Summer is here.
Elegant Clarkias, Ewing Hill, Black Mountain Trail, Los Altos, CA.
©Musafir
California Indian Pink, Black Mountain Trail, Los Altos, CA
©Musafir
Blue Bedder Penstemon (Penstemon heterophyllus). Black Mountain Trail, Los Altos, CA.
©Musafir
Yellow Mariposa Lily, Wunderlich Park, Woodside, CA.
©Musafir
Giant Puffball Mushroom
©Musafir
I don't forage for mushrooms in warm weather. Came across some giant puffballs at Pulgas Ridge in April. Good eating.
A summer haiku from brooksbookshaiku.com
at the beach . . .
a crab's sideways walk
on the hot sand
a crab's sideways walk
on the hot sand
--Matt O.
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