Early Morning Walk

 

Last week I did a couple early morning walks in the neighborhood. While most mornings were foggy, one was lovely. But in typical Northern California manner, the morning was very chilly. I left the house right when the sun was rising over the hills and threw some light onto the pavement.

So early, my shadow went across the entire intersection.

While some trees were already pretty bare, a lot of them were still wearing their autumn dress. It was particularly beautiful when the leaves were backlit.

With the sun climbing higher, my shadow became gradually shorter.

On my way I picked up a few leaves that had fallen to the ground. I will be using them in my journal.

Back home it was time for breakfast and a nice cup of coffee, which is also my ticket to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's T Tuesday.

To those of you who live in the US, I wish you a very happy Thanksgiving.

A Face and a Walk

 

Several weeks ago I showed you this spread in my art journal that I had just started. It took me forever to work on it and eventually today I called it finished because honestly, I became fed up with it.

First off, I don't like the face. I traced it from an ad in a magazine, but during the process I found out that I'm really not that good with painting realistic faces. At least not with this one and I think I will take a break in trying to paint human faces. It also took me forever to get out of the "ugly phase" - that's when I decided to add flowers. This was a bit of an experiment, because I painted these flowers with watercolors. Now, the substrate - papers collaged with matte medium and painted over with acrylic paints - is less than ideal for using watercolor and of course they reacted completely different than on watercolor paper - and I actually liked that. As the final touches I stamped a few butterflies and of course birds. I like the right page of the spread, but not so much the left one.

This is for Nicole's Friday Face Off.

Last Thursday my friend K and I went for a walk at Riverfront Park near Windsor, two lakes snuggled among the vineyards. I hadn't been there for several years, but it hasn't really changed very much.

We walked along Lake Wilson and when we arrived at Lake Benoist we were greeted by the following sign:

I remember when I was here last, we weren't able to get around the lake on the trail, but had to climb over boulders at the very end of the lake to continue the loop. It seems that this is an ongoing problem...

Even though the parking lot was rather full, we didn't see many people. It was an overcast day, perfect for a walk or hike.

Beautiful willows line the shore.

The trail for the most part followed the shore and only every now and then would lead further away. It was an easy hike.

There weren't as many wildflowers as at Spring Lake or Crane Creek, but we did see a few.

Natives on top: Blue elderberry (Sambucus mexicana) on the left and California wildrose (Rosa californica) on the right

Non-natives on the bottom: Greater periwinkle (Vinca major, very invasive) on the left and Anthemis cotula aka Stinking Chamomille on the right.

For our way back we decided to not walk along the lake again but take a different trail a bit higher up. It was a lovely walk and I always enjoy introducing K to new places. We have so many lovely Regional Parks here and I love to explore them.

Autumn Walk

 

The last couple days have been gorgeous fall days, sunny and warm but not hot. Perfect for having a walk along the North shore of a small lake in the vicinity of "my" lake.

In order to get to the North shore trail I crossed the dam. I saw a dad teaching his little son how to fish while others looked quite comfortable doing their own fishing. I wonder whether this guy caught anything or this was just his way of meditation.

The trail is one of those that I could hike along for hours. 

It offered lots of shade, but also many views of the lake. The birds were busy in the bushes. I heard Northern Flickers up in the trees, the Canada geese on the water (they are so noisy), but the loudest were the Red-winged Blackbirds that were merrily chatting along. It was quite the concert!

I was quite concerned to see so much Pampas grass (Cortaderia selloana) like in the picture above. It is native to South America, but it has become invasive throughout North America. Unfortunately it can displace native plants and destroy their habitats. We have high amounts of Pampas grass along the slopes at the coast. It's worrying that it has "settled" here as well and I wish the park service would act and remove it before it takes over more of the area. It does look pretty though.

Some parts of the trail were quite rough and rocky.

Of course I was pleased to see crooked trees. The trunk of the Buckeye, a California native, was covered with carved-in letters, but it was also fascinating to see how the tree heals itself. 

Towards the end of the lake there were more and more cattails (Typha). I do like these plants, but they can also be problematic because, although being a native plant they do have the ability to crowd out other native species. It's a rather aggressive spreader.

I was super excited to see a Great Blue Heron behind the cattails and this was the only time I regretted not to have taken my big camera with me (sorry for the bad photo).

When I reached the end of the lake I decided not to do the loop back but go back the same way. This part is less crowded and I eventually found a bench where I could sit, listen to the birds and write in my journal. 

Morning at the Lake

 

Do you see the egret?

After a long long time I finally went to "my" lake again this week. The last time I walked there was back in September of last year - more than 9 months ago. Hard to believe that so much time without visiting has gone by.

But on Wednesday there was nothing stopping me to finally walk at the lake again. It was good to see the old crooked tree again that I love so much. A lot of poison oak had grown up the trunk.

There were new markers for the cross country teams that train and race here. When Kaefer was in middle school she was part of her school's cross country team and I remember those afternoon or Saturday morning races along the trails.

Maintenance crews were busy trimming overhanging branches, cutting back brush and taking out the rambling blackberry bushes that are incredibly invasive and endanger our native species. I was glad to see these men and women working so hard. This work is also important for wildfire prevention.

 Some places hadn't changed at all...

... whereas others looked very different. This bench is right at the lake and often the water was licking at the base of it, but today the cattails have grown further along the shore and almost completely hide the view of the lake.

New signs were put up as well, and I was particularly happy about this one since I always was annoyed by the fishing trash I found along the ground and in the trees at the shore.

 The bench where my friend Liz and I often sit and talk for hours was still there and fortunately no cattails in front of it. Form here we often watched otters, the ducks and geese and also some ospreys.

The other crooked tree was still there as well. It's always the crooked trees that are my favorites.

Further up from the lake along a narrow trail where almost never anybody walks I have found my favorite spot. I often sit here, listen to the birds and write in my journal. It's a great spot to meditate. Often, there are deer around - and today they were lying in the shade of the manzanita. So I didn't stop here, but kept on walking, enjoying the beauty of this special place.

 

An Image and Its Story - November 2019

I am a day late for last month's "An Image and Its Story" - this is what a Thanksgiving weekend does to you. I guess you can relate.

I was almost finished with my morning walk around the lake and on my way to my car when I came upon these two. The moment I stepped off the trail out of the woods I had seen them, but since from that perspective they were only silhouettes against the sun I wasn't quite sure what exactly the second "person" was - yes, I had first thought it was another human being (and I wasn't the only one - a lady who came towards us while I was taking the picture told us that she had first thought the woman was sitting there with her boyfriend!). The closer I got and changed my position to the sun I could finally see the dog and had to chuckle inwardly. But then immediately the photographer kicked in and I thought what a great photo this would make, so I asked the woman whether I can take her picture from the back with the dog by her side. She readily agreed. Unfortunately the dog didn't look straight over the lake like its owner but turned its head because there was another dog approaching (with the "boyfriend"-lady). However, when I saw the photo I thought no matter what, it was sweet and I just loved this moment of a human-dog friendship. There was so much tenderness and love between the two - this picture easily made November's image.

Early Morning at the Lake

After my request for some extra hours of work in September was ignored, I am back to my regular work schedule. Today was my first day off after the craziness of the past four weeks and I was happily walking around the lake. It was fairly early, and it was one of those perfect mornings when the fog burns off soon after seven o'clock, letting us enjoy the warm and beautiful morning light.

I love this light. Everything appears a bit magical and I see things that I might "normally" just pass by.

Even though we still have a lot of summer left in this corner of the world, there already was a hint of autumn color to be seen. The quality of the light was not as harsh and tended to be more earthy.

I noticed more fishermen than usual. The lake was very still, and maybe that's a great condition for fishing. It certainly offered some beautiful photo opportunities.

At the end of the little peninsula I saw a great egret hanging out close to the bench. I was able to get a shot of it before it flew off across the lake to the shore that I had just come from.

What were those splashes in the water that I had heard? Oh, those otters!! These three otters have been residing in the lake for a few years now, but I don't see them very often. It's always very special when I discover them playing in the water. They are a funny little crowd, but usually they disappear when they notice people.

While walking the trails I noticed more signs that autumn is just around the corner.

What a magnificent spider web! These crawlers are fantastic architects; their skill amazes me over and over again.

During the past four weeks I was dreaming of going down to the lake and I missed it so much. This morning was a wonderful treat that I had waited for impatiently. I feel so blessed to live in this beautiful area. I'm certainly not a city girl.