After the Fire · 279 days ago

Here are some pictures taken short weeks after the fire.

The leaves of these amaryllis grow in the Amarylis flowers blooming from the scorched bulbs Fire scorched amarylis bulbsspring and then dry up. The fire burned the leaves and the scorched the tops of the bulbs, which usually poke above ground.
I did not think they would bloom at their normal time in late August through September. But there they are.

The flames tore through the dry grass, much of it wild oats. In places it appeared to have sheared off the stalks at ground level and passed by, leaving the rest of the stalk on the ground.Burned wild oats Seedling oak trees of a few feet tall appeared burned to a crisp, but were putting up green sprouts within days. The native bunch grass also started to regenerate quickly. Even our state flower, the California Poppy was blooming within a month.

If all works as it should, you can mouse over the thumbnails for a caption, click on the thumbnail for a large image.

Some native bunch grasses in the burned area This may be harding grass California poppy, blooming from the ashes Some native bunch grasses in the burned area Oxalis grows from the ashes

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Fire! · 600 days ago

It happens so fast, but it could have been worse.

The arc caused by two wires (from the main PG&E power line that runs through the property) caused sparks to ignite the dry grass in the field. The insulator somehow broke and the lines came together, making a horrible noise. The loose one then settled on the crossarm of the power pole and the sparking stopped. But the damage was done: sparks had gotten to the grass and it blazed away.

Fortunately there wasn’t much of a breeze and the fire continued to spread in a circle, out from the pole. The ranch road runs diagonally above the charred area in the picture and acted as a fire break. If there had been gusty winds it might have been a different story. Until help arrived, we tried to maintain that line by beating it with wet burlap feed sacks. A mowed swath along the gravel road eased this part of the job by limiting the fuel right along the road. If you have a fast connection, click on the image to view a really detailed one. The power pole in the center of the picture is where the fire started—note that it isn’t even damaged.

Our local volunteer fire department and California Department of Forestry responded and contained the fire in no time. They even dispatched a bulldozer that wasn’t needed (see detailed picture), thank goodness.

We sincerely thank the firefighters for their fast response and the neighbors who called to report smoke, even though they didn’t know exactly where it was. This time of the year don’t take a chance! If you smell smoke, report it.

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Round and round · 688 days ago

As I was going for a wildflower walk in the spring I noticed how many round shapes occur in nature. Trying to be artistic, I edited my images to highlight the round shapes.

Leaves of a soaproot plant grow in a circleGreen radiating leaves of a plant I have not identified.Prickly green young thistle The green leaves of plantainA round of green lichen clinging to the bark of a treeBright yellow dandilionWhite colored alyssum blossomBlue-Eyed Grass, a blue star like flowerA bright orange calendula

I forgot that the background color for the articles on the page is not white, so the white background in the pictures appeared jarring to my eye. Discouraged, I saved this article as a draft so that is was not visible. I was going to fix those pictures! Now, a year-and-a-half later I have decided that I will never get around to it.

So here they are, in all their jarring glory.

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Mountain Lion? · 731 days ago

A neighbor has just reported that one of his goats was dragged off and partly eaten a week or so ago. I’ve been a non believer in mountain lions until recently. Obviously they are moving back into this territory.

Scat (feces) full of hair with a dime alongside for size comparison

One day as I got out of my car to close the gate I noticed a large scat beside the road. It was full of hair and much larger than any I’d seen from a coyote. Since I had my camera I snapped a picture and promptly forgot about it.

Today I got it out and compared it to some other pictures I found on the web. Identification is still up in the air, but I am heading out to count the sheep. I will be looking up when I walk under the trees and looking down in soft earth for tracks. I don’t expect to actually see one, but I will be on the lookout.

The last documented mountain lion sighting in this particular area (outside of very recently) was in 1903. So it appears to me that they are moving in to the area from elsewhere.

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This and that · 732 days ago


The other evening I snapped a picture of a beautiful sunset. We’ve had a lot of rain and even some snow at the higher elevations. Now the days are growing noticeably longer. This sunset, with its lowering clouds and ridgetops in silhouette seemed amazing to me.

A sign of spring was the first wildflower to be spotted. Usually I come across Milk Maids or naturalized blue Forget-Me-Nots in January or February.

A lupin plant with gray green leaves and blue flowers

This year after the snow, during a sunny pause I glimpsed this lupine in bloom on February 1.

This colony grows on a dry rocky sidehill that dries out very early in the spring. I have noticed over the years that if we have a dry spring but get enough unexpected late rain, this lupine will have new blooms on it at the same time it has seed pods that have already burst open to disperse the earlier crop of seeds.

We can have more rain or even snow, the groundhog can see his shadow and head back for more nap but I am assured that spring is on its way.

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