AN AFTERNOON OF CONTRASTS

I did not get out into Nature much in 2022 because I had some minor health issues that impacted my independence and mobility.  But I am now getting back to a more active routine.

It’s been a long dry year.  Until recently.

In 2023, it has been raining and raining, helping to undermine the ongoing drought being felt across California.  The hope is that a great wildflower bloom will erupt any time now.  In some places down south, flowers are already showing. 

I decided to take a little drive, just needing help from a friend to actually get in the car.  I can do everything else:  pick up lunch at a drive thru, maneuver into decent parking places to get some photos, wait patiently while enjoying the beautiful scenes, even getting myself and walker out of the car once home.  It was a good afternoon.

Being a long weekend, there were some other folks out and about, enjoying the Wind Wolves Preserve. But I was mostly alone and could ignore the others and simply enjoy the solitude.

I was hoping for the start of a growing display of wildflowers, but very few were evident.  Little pops of yellow were all I could find.

But the hills were delightfully green and the skies were blue.

I avoided people but enjoyed the company of some prairie dogs and a few birds.  Most of the birds—including meadowlarks—were heard but not seen. The meadowlark photo is from here in an earlier year. I have never yet seen a Kit Fox or Tarantula, but maybe I will get lucky on future trips.

Overall, it felt like a nice early spring day.  But the drive home reminded me that winter was still lurking.  As I crested the road into the mountains, the temperatures dropped, the vistas were dusted in a bit of snow, and the sun was muted behind some clouds.

 But I also drove right by some almond orchards as they are starting to blossom. Gorgeous!

Overall, it was a great afternoon of contrasts.  I hope to make more drives over the next several weeks to see more and more blossoms as they dance across the hills.