Yesterday's walk report: Here Comes the Rain Again

Sunday, January 26th

Despite arriving about 19 days too late the current rain is mostly a welcomed visitor in Southern California. There is, of course, a newly revised, special concern over mud slides after days on end of devastating fires. For me, at home, the first measurable rain showed up last night around 8:10. However, hours earlier a small cell drifted over my house and despite knowing that rain was in the forecast I stepped outside to see what was making noise on the roof. I have a rock roof and after so many days of intense winds blowing things around the light tapping on the roof sounded out of place. Plus the rapping, tapping and ultimate drumming of rain on the roof had become a somewhat forgotten event. It was at least odd enough for me to think it was something else and, in fact, I first thought it might be my feral kitty friend, Vit.

Since it began yesterday and up to this moment mid-day, we've gotten .55" with a mere .62" for the season. It's raining right now.

I'll reiterate, I knew we were going to get some rain and from earlier predictions it seemed much of that would be coming today yet despite any of that my thoughts into yesterday afternoon were I would be out walking and taking pictures again today. No dice. I did however get out late yesterday afternoon and again during a precipitation pause this morning to toss down some wildflower seeds. That usually would happen sometime around first seasonal rains the last week of October or certainly before the second week of November, giving seedlings a strong enough start before potential frosts. Winter's final hurrah in this valley. Winter quickly fades into spring. Spring all too soon becomes summer. I'm calling the current effort for seedlings to make it a crapshoot.

Here's a front yard close up from December 28, 2022. The longer leafed seedlings are Dimorphotheca sinuata (an African daisy). I'm also spotting Clarkia unguiculata (elegant clarkia), Lupinus succulentus (arroyo lupine) and amongst the weeds, common mallow and that parsley looking leaf is common storksbill. All of these plants would typically become hardy enough to withstand light frosts early in the coming year. The storksbill actually protects the wildflowers. Although, there were a few occasions where I would cover them with bed sheets. I don't care what the neighbors say.

Anyway, I managed a modest two mile walk yesterday and took some pictures. 

Saturday, January 25th

Limonium perezii (sea lavender). My sister gave me a couple of these plants some years ago. I was quite fond of them but they were somewhat ironically killed off by an onslaught of wildflowers one year.

Here are two images taken in March of 2014 from my front yard.

And one from April of 2013.

Back to Saturday's walk...

This is some type of Aster.

A young mockingbird. There's always a mockingbird.

I think these are Prunus persica (peach) blossoms but it seems kinda early in the year.

This is Erica canaliculata. I should grow some just for the namesake.

These are Argyranthemum, Marguerite daisy.

Unfortunately I still had a close-up lens attached to my 70-300 mm lens when this red-tailed hawk showed up overhead. While I've learned to unscrew that quickly and to palm it in my right hand so I can continue taking pictures without having to put it back in its case I still ended up missing the best shots of this bird.

That's it. I contemplated walking farther but I was on a college campus and from the parking lot off to my left it appeared there were a lot of students. I was more tuned into quiet spaces so I left.