It's so hot...
the cows are giving evaporated milk.
It's so hot...
you realize that asphalt has a liquid state.
It's so hot...
you can make instant sun tea.
It's just freakin' hot is what it is. Yesterday we decided to try and beat the heat by using the clock. We got ourselves up and ready just before dawn and headed out about 6:15 into what was said to become the hottest day of the year and that turned out to be true (so far). Out the door we had a nice, fresh, 67º f (19º c) but nevertheless you could sense the heat coming. The entire journey was only about 2 hours and we made it back to air conditioned living with only a 10 degree increase in temperature outside. That didn't last long. By 11 AM we hit 100º f (37.7 c) and the day topped out at 107º (41.6º c). According to at least one weatherperson, that was a record.
Before I get to the photos from yesterday (081615) here are a few from 080915, a week earlier and a lot cooler with a high of 87º (30.5º c).
080915...
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| Two opuntia flowers |
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| Seed pod, Romneya coulteri, Matilija Poppy |
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| Empty seed pods, Penstemon centranthifolius, Scarlet Bugler |
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| Water lily |
081615...
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| Apache plume, sans plume |
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| Asclepias fascicularis, California Narrowleaf Milkweed |
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| Female rufous hummingbird |
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| Female rufous hummingbird |
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| Female rufous hummingbird, same one as above |
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| I believe this is Kalanchoe luciae |
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| Asclepias fascicularis, California Narrowleaf Milkweed |
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| Close up |
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| Hesperaloe parviflora |
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A nice surprise turning the corner, Red-tailed hawk in a sad looking Sequoia tree
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Note the rufous hummingbird on the left
Sequoia tree next image and just over the hawk's head in the 2nd picture below. These were 2 different hummingbirds, both a tad disgruntled over the hawk's presence. They both swooped and circled the hawk some but they seemed to keep more than a safe distance away. As far as I know the hawk remained perched in this spot for at least 15 minutes probably just to spite them.
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| San-Pedro-cactus, trichocereus-pachanoi |
TBD moth. I took the photo just to see what it looked like. Shot at 300 mm with a Canon close-up lens attached. Maybe some sort of forage looper? It's really tiny.
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| A young mockingbird testing its repertoire |
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| Canada geese, what they are doing here now I don't get |
That's all for now. Thanks for coming along for the walks. See you soon and hopefully in cooler climes.
I hope it was cooler today than yesterday. We peaked Saturday at 103F and came in just a degree cooler on Sunday but were back down in the low 80s today when the marine layer returned. Are you sure what you identified as agave flowers wasn't the flowers of the hesperaloe? I've never seen pink/red agave flowers.
ReplyDeleteYes, thank you! I messed up on that before and it turns out you corrected me, June 2013. It has a misplaced marker in the garden for some agave so I thought, what the heck. It's Hesperaloe parviflora.
ReplyDelete