Today's walk report: 012714

Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.
~Robert Brault~

That was the basic theme of my day, aside from some ackward and rather heavy lifting around the house trying to create order without simply chucking stuff in the trash.

I spent a good deal of time outside and while I don't seem to have much of a garden in the wide shot I'm finding all sorts of things to marvel at up close. Today I made myself tiny. I became my camera and entered a microcosm inside my front yard.

This continued into my walk. Mostly pictures, not a lot of ID'ing stuff either because for many I just don't know.

Right outside the front door...

A few more meters, I'm on the sidewalk now. African daisies, Dimorphotheca sinuata or Dimorphotheca aurantiaca.

Baby Snapdragon (Linaria maroccana), right next to the daisies.

Oleander about a block into the walk.

From a distance you may have thought this rose was old and tired. Come in close, it's alive.

A tiny flower on some hedges.

Ever make a wish on a dandelion?

The dried up spent fruit of the sweetgum tree. Last February I rolled my left foot on one of these and went for a tumble, fortunately sans camera.

No ID.

No ID #2.

This is a fruit tree on campus. I don't recall actually seeing the fruit though. Maybe a plum?

Yesterday I mentioned the scarlet bugler (Penstemon centranthifolius) was blooming, here's a photo.

I also mentioned another hummingbird favorite, Grevillea olivacea.

This young egret is a contrast to the little things above but is quite diminutive compared to the egret I usually saw back in October-December, seen here and here and in other posts too. Perhaps an offspring?

Australian Native Wattle Tree.

No ID #3 or is it 4?

Some sage. Maybe a variety of Salvia clevelandii. I don't know, mine all died.

The 1st image here was ID'd last year as Aloe striata "Coral Aloe." I'll double check the other one another day. I don't believe they're the same.

That's a lot of pictures, my eyes are tired. Goodnight.

Today's walk report: 011514

85, 85, 83, 82, 80, 81, 83, 80, 79, 77.
Those numbers represent predicted highs from today over 10 days. This is NOT a good thing. More on this in a moment.

Meanwhile, it was back to the rigors of a full, 8.79 km, campus walk today. I'm still taking it slow, trying to recuperate from a nagging and rather disgusting mucosal aftermath of a cold virus. I slept this afternoon after running a few errands one of which involved smogging a vehicle so I wasn't on foot this time. By sleeping I don't mean napping, I was out for a few hours. This related to AM coughing waking me up when I'm really not ready. Nevertheless, slow and methodical on the walk, taking every opportunity to pause, look around and try to find a photo op.

There weren't many.

85º brings out a winter dragonfly. I don't recall seeing dragonflies last winter. I believe this is a Variegated Meadowhawk.

Another angle. Try as I might I could not get close enough to this guy (I think it's male) to get a shot with my close-up attachment and I was maneuvering around in some territory where tree & bush branches plus some nasty agave weren't very accommodating.

The plant, by the way, is dried up silver sage remnants left over from summer. Fresh growth on the silver sage is coming in nicely already.

Anybody waiting on a package?

Back home. Every few days now I see a new flower popping up from the seed I scattered in October. I lost a lot of seedlings during a few days of December frost. It's hard to believe now that just a month ago we had dipped down to the upper 20ºs. I ended up ordering another 1 lb, two different 1/2 lb mixes, of wildflower seed today to try and offset my losses.

Arriving today. Baby Snapdragon, Linaria maroccana.

and about to open, Arroyo Lupine, Lupinus succulentus.