Wildflowers

This morning we woke to the sound of thundering hooves. The heat wave was over, the morning air was cool, and Mufasa was celebrating. Jackson joined him for awhile but, for the most part, Mufasa was racing around the pasture by himself. Flash rarely joins in these antics; at 18 he's content to watch the others ricky-race around.

After chores, Brett and I went to the farmers market. Score! Fruit is starting to arrive: cherries, apricots, peaches, strawberries and blueberries. We also bought beets, chard, baby greens; cheese, bread, pasta and salsa. We were pretty loaded down walking back to the car.

At 9:30 I picked up my neighbor and we headed off to hike a bit further up in the Sierras. There were wildflowers everywhere. I am going to try and learn the name of at least one new plant every time we go.

We thought these were wild lilac but it turns out they are called Deerbrush. They were growing thickly, crowding the side of the trail and fragrant.


I did my best to keep up with her. She just celebrated her 70th birthday and I can barely manage her pace, huffing and puffing up the hills behind her. I'm 54, I'm in awe.

Lupine is one of my favorite wildflowers; that and California Poppies. She took me to a meadow with Harlequin lupine. Aren't they cool?

One of the two "new" plants for me today was Mountain Misery, which got its name because it grows everywhere and can get gummy and stick to your shoes. The early pioneers were not fans of Mountain Misery.

The other name I committed to memory is Monkeyflower. Yes, I picked the plants with the two funniest names. Its easier to remember them that way. I particularly like Bicolored Monkeyflower.

The views were spectacular. ...but not much snow on the peaks.

 Our trail would have been under snow normally at this time of year. I hope this drought ends soon; we need next winter to be very wet.