A Quote for Monday

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. ~~ Anne Frank

Sunday Sunsets - Just Decorative

I like the clouds, especially the ones just above the mountains, but that flat sky always kicks my claustrophobia into overdrive.  There's no translucency to this kind of sky at all, probably because the air here, and most places in the west, is so full of particulates from all the fires.  No rain in those clouds either.  They're just decorative...

Maybe Soon?

Today I saw a California Sister (Adelpha californica).

They usually don't show up until around the third week of September.

They were so named because Arthur Butler, a British entomologist who "discovered" the butterflies in 1865, thought their wings resembled a nun's habit.  I don't know about you, but I've never seen a nun wearing a habit that was orange, black, red, blue, gray and white...

 I'm hoping the early appearance of this California Sister means autumn will be making an appearance soon!

Wednesday's Winding Road

This time, a winding garden path in happier times when it was green...

Blooming Today

Wild California Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum).  Many Native Americans used to use various parts of the plant to treat headaches, diarrhea, wounds and sore throats. Some still do...

Firecracker Penstemon (Penstemon eatonii) also grows wild in all southwestern desert "sky islands."  Hummingbirds love it, and it's also grown commercially.  It needs really good drainage and not too much water in the summer.

A Quote for Monday

Laughter is timeless, imagination has no age, and dreams are forever.  Walt Disney

Sunday Sunsets

Taken in July of 2008.

A Whole New Pack

By 1924, wolves in California had been hunted, trapped and slaughtered to extinction...

In 2011 a wandering wolf, OR-7, was found in Northern California, the first wolf to be sighted in California in nearly 90 years. He and his pack roam between California and Oregon.

Last week a new pack, consisting of a mom, dad, and three babies, were sighted in California's Siskiyou wilderness.  The 1.8 million acre Siskiyou wilderness is bordered by the Pacific ocean on the west and extends well into the Siskiyou mountains in the east and the Cascade Mountains in the north.  Its a great area for wolves, rich in food, water,  shelter and thousands of miles of wilderness.  Unlike the poor wolves in Alaska, Montana, Wyoming and Idaho, California wolves are protected from being murdered by humans by the California Endangered Species Act.

Above and below is what some of their home looks like...

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Photos from Pinterest.

Faeries Friday

Dancing in the back garden, she was so intent on her sparkle magic she didn't see the human with the camera...

A Quote for Monday

           Nature is what we know
           Yet have not art to say
            So impotent our wisdom is
            To her simplicity. ~~ Emily Dickinson

Yosemite National Park, California (photo from Pinterest)

Sunday Sunsets

Faeries Friday

 I found this photo on Pinterest and noticed an interesting thing.  When this photo is viewed in the small size, it looks like a faery who is wearing a blue dress.  But, when the photo is enlarged the faery immediately transforms herself into a moth.  Or maybe it's just something with my eyesight... 

Watching Clouds

Billows and dollops of whipped cream...

Castles in the air...

What could be better ...

On a lazy summer's day ...  

Than sitting on the side of a mountain and watching clouds?

Wednesday's Winding Road

This street is like a lot of the streets up here ~ one narrow lane winding through a steep sided little valley that has a creek flowing through on its way down to a lake.

A Quote for Monday

If they breathe, they live...

If they live, they feel...

If they feel, they love...

If they love, they are aware...

If they are aware, they have a soul.  ~~ Anthony Douglas Williams

Sunday Sunsets

A tiny portion of one of the west end bays of Big Bear Lake.  The fish were jumping up for their sunset dinner of bugs.  Try as I might (I think I took about sixty photos) I couldn't capture a fish with my camera, just the rings they left as they re-entered the water.

A Word from Pumpkin

"Hey! It's World Cat Day!  Go be kind to a cat, or lots of them. And, while you're at it, rescue some dogs, too.  I can't believe it's the 21st century and there are still homeless pets!  Well, go on, what are you waiting for!?" 

Faeries Friday

A Faery cottage...

Taken just as she was going in the door...or coming out.  It's hard to tell because there was so much Faery dust in the air!  ;)

Papilio

This butterfly, a pale swallowtail (Papilio eurymedon), is common in these mountains.  They look like the also-common western swallowtail except they're white and black instead of yellow and black.  You can't really tell from this photo, but this one is about as big as they get - 4 to 5 inches across.

Birds tend to leave them alone; their markings tell the birds that they have a terrible taste.

They're such a beautiful gift from nature, I can't help oohing and aahing every time I see one, and it's even better when they stay still long enough for me to get a photo!

Wednesday's Winding Road - With a View

Looking north -

Looking south -

Looking west to Lake Arrowhead -

Zooming in a little, we see a boat on the lake -

Zooming in a lot, we see the water skier!  (Blurry on purpose...I always hope people who may be photographing me and mine unawares will blur us, too). 

A Quote for Monday

There are times when we stop, we sit still.  We listen and breezes from a whole other world start to whisper.  James Carroll

Sunday Sunsets

Success!  I've been trying to post photos for the last two days...finally, I switched browsers.  I hope this works, and doesn't mess up the rest of my blog...