Spring . . . Early

“We hear you, fellow-creatures. We know we are wrecking the world and we are afraid. What we have unleashed has such momentum now, we don’t know how to turn it around. Don’t leave us alone, we need your help. You need us too for your own survival. Are there powers there you can share with us?

I, lichen, work slowly, very slowly. Time is my friend. This is

what I give you: patience for the long haul and perseverance.

It is a dark time. As deep-diving trout I offer you my fearlessness of the dark. 

I am caterpillar. The leaves I eat taste bitter now. But dimly I

sense a great change coming. What I offer you, humans, is my

willingness to dissolve and transform. I do that without knowing what the end-result will be, so I share with you my courage too.”

                                                              JOANNA MACY                                                                                      

Blossoms on the Aristolochia californica (Dutchman's pipe vine) 

The Dutchman's pipe vine pictured above is my very favorite of all native vines. The pipe shaped blossoms are just so interesting! When the plant specific insect, the fungus gnat, comes to the flower, it gets temporarily trapped inside until it is thoroughly dusted with pollen. Slowly the flower relaxes and allows the gnat to escape and to spread the pollen. The vine itself is easy to grow, and grow it does each season. Once well established it can use pruning. The meager plant here does not seem to grow as fast as I remember they did at MuRefuge. I have planted an additional two very small plants purchased from California Flora Nursery in Fulton. I do so ever hope they will flourish here and grow into robust vines covered with flowers and fruit. I am looking forward to when the Pipevine Swallowtail females lay eggs on the leaves so I can watch the caterpillars gobble up the leaves.

Below are pictures I took of the entire event of egg, caterpillar, to butterfly while living at MuRefuge.

Eggs

Caterpillar

Chrysalis and caterpillar

Just emerged California Pipevine Swallowtail (butterfly)

I am looking forward to viewing the entire process here as well. It is such an extremely astonishing process to be hold!

 

"May it be beautiful before me.

May it be beautiful behind me.

May it be beautiful below me

May it be beautiful above me.

May it be beautiful all around me.

In beauty it is finished.

In beauty it is finished."

                           NAVAHO CHANT

It is beautiful all around us here in Cotati and in fact everywhere we drive in Sonoma County. It is Spring with a vast array of flowering bushes, trees and perennials.

The plum trees with both white and pink flowers
are in bloom everywhere. This one, and the one below
 are in the park just across the street from our
Cotati home. Shasta and I walk this
way every morning on our 2 mile walk.

These are on the hill a ways South of our house

where Shasta often walks with her "Dads" in the morning.

The camellias blooming this Spring
in an array of pinks, reds and white
are really spectacular.
I remember it was one of my mother's favorite
flowers she became acquainted with
while living in Southern California
in her early married life.

Oxalis stricta (common yellow woodsorrel)
is an ubiquitous weed found in almost
everyone's lawn or garden here in Sonoma County.

This picture was recently
taken at my acupuncturist's 
in the West County.

Manzanita bushes are in full bloom all around
the county. Some have pale pink flowers
while others have pure white ones.
This is one of my very favorite native bushes!

Each Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings I pass
this stunning display of rosemary cascading down
a wall in the front yard of a home which
is atop a gentle slope.

And nearby is this beautiful Flowering quince.

The deciduous Magnolia trees are flowering.
This one is white but I pass on Shasta's and my
morning walk others that are pink.

And just down the street a crabapple 

is covered with glorious flowers.

Spring is one of my favorite seasons; the other one is Fall. I am so delighted that Spring has already arrived in spite of the minimal rainfall so far in 2022. No doubt we are in for a record breaking dry year here in Sonoma County but Shasta has not a care in the world. Below she is nestled in our arugula bed after one of her Auntie T's recent visits.

“May our bodies, our minds, our spirts, learn a new rhythm paced

by the rhythmic pulse of the whole created order.

May spring come to us, be in us, and recreate life in us.

CHINOOK PSALTER

Spring arrived early during one of the top ten hottest, driest months of February on record here in the Bay Area. May we whole heartedly celebrate Spring and all her glory with a hearty, frequent

 

Glorious Spring

Our arrival in Sonoma County was heralded by verdant green rolling hills, teeny tiny lambs gamboling together, cows and calves feasting on fields of lush green grass and fruit tree in glorious bloom.

Rosemary in full flower
near the Joe Rodota Trail

Wild plum tree in bloom along the Joe Rodota Trail
in Sebastopol. This trail was previously a railroad track . . .
now a wonderful biking, walking, running path
between Sebastopol and Santa Rosa.

Ahhhhhhhh . . . the very best is BEing at sea level where my heart is so happy because it does not have to work so hard and walking is pleasurably easy rather than a breath taking experience. Shasta is enjoying eating fresh green grass on our early morning stroll down the lane. She does miss her romps with Hobbs at Lopez Park however. 

The Spring or Vernal Equinox is March 20, 2021. It occurs when the Sun heading North in the sky crosses the equator line. This tilting more towards the Sun results in increasing daylight hours and warming temperatures here in the Northern Hemisphere. This shift brings about all the glorious signs of Spring that are so uplifting after Winter. 

We have recently come from the high mountainous desert of Santa Fe, New Mexico, where it was Winter when we departed. Thus we are especially joyful to BE experiencing the vibrancy of Spring here in Sonoma County. Rain has been falling a number of days we have been here. The rain feels so nourishing and many tell us that it is so needed. Auntie T in Point Reyes Station, California, tells us she has measured only 1/2 of her typical rainfall in her rain gauge.

Wild turkeys with the males strutting their stuff by fanning
out their tails and puffing up their feather to attract the females.

Mustard blooming in the foreground
Valley Oaks in the back ground.

This whole year plus of "lock down" has taken a toll on all of us. At this time of Spring when we see renewal all about us, may we feel the vitality of springtime and the regenerative energy. Ahold of the season's energy may we dig deep to tap into our own resilience for each day going forward during these trying times.

How strange and wonderful our home, our earth,
With its swirling vaporous atmosphere,
Its flowing and frozen climbing creatures,
The croaking things with wings that hang on rocks
And soar through fog, the furry grass, the scaly seas
How utterly rich and wild . . .
Yet some among us have the nerve,
The insolence, the brass, the gall to whine
About the limitations of our earthbound fate
And yearn for some more perfect world beyond the sky
We are none of us good enough
For the world we have.
         Edward Abbey

As we celebrate Spring in all her glory may we each have a joyful belly