NAME THAT TREE #9

Devils Postpile National Monument

GAINING A FOOTHOLD

Tioga Pass

July, 2010

"Q" - NAME THAT TREE (#8)

Another Hawaii find.

MESSIN' AROUND AGAIN!

This proves it, once and for all! The moon really is made of green cheese! Looks like a Roquefort to me. Well, more Roquefort than bleu anyway.

MAJOR BURROUGHS ~~~~ SOAP BOX ALERT

I detest this feckless war, America's longest war, and its attendant siphoning off of our country's future leaders. Our men and women in uniform, thrust in harm's way daily, make incredible sacrifices. For what? I grieve for them and for their families who fearfully and proudly watch and wait and hope and pray their loved ones don't come home in a flag-draped pine box.

Go ahead and call me names, but flag-waving and firecrackers and meaningless "support our troops" bumper stickers have no impact on me. Yet finding this poignant, personal affirmation on a California country road was gut wrenching and heart breaking. I just want Major Burroughs and his fellow heroes to come home safely to their loved ones so they can get on with their lives in peace in THIS country.

IT'S A MADAGASCAR DAY GECKO...

...a diurnal subspecies of gecko.

FAREWELL-TO-SPRING...

or HERALD-TO-SUMMER. Whatever you call it, Clarkia (not sure of species) is a stunning, graceful wildflower that blooms when the hills start to dry out, and is one of my favorites.

When I lived in the Santa Cruz Mountains, hillsides were covered with these nodding, delicate beauties in May. Traveling Highway 49 in the Sierra Foothills in early July, there were miles and miles of Clarkia to heighten my pleasure of this back-country California road.

And here I thought I'd already seen California's wildflower peak.