Day: April 16, 2009

And more wildflowers

I tried. I really tried to narrow down my wildflower photos, but darn, they are just going off, right now. Particularly the blue bonnet lupine – you know the short little ones that are so bright, they almost hurt one’s eyes? Yeah, those ones. I still haven’t finished posting my others, and here I am with new ones!!

Lupines & Sea blue

Oh, you see a lowly poppy here, as well as the popcorn flower (I really must learn its botanical name) as well as the lovely legume, vetch. Yup, that is the ocean in the background.

You’ll probably be tired of bright blue lupines (aka blue bonnets) when I am finished with this post. Probably, but not me. They are around such a relatively short time, and this way, we can look at them all year!

dsc_1988It used to take me only 1/2 an hour to get down to the highway. I cannot do it in less than an hour, now-a-days. Gee, I wonder why?

dsc_20291Isn’t that one of the most gorgeous things you’ve ever seen? And why are we surprised that all the city folk want to come here? Where else can they see something like this? Now, if we could teach them that those fields they want to tear up with their 4×4 when there are no flowers  could all look like this if they stayed on the road, we’d make some progress! This one used to get torn up, but the USFS set up a ditch and a berm to prevent off-roading, which is not allowed up here.

dsc_2040Okay, I have more, but I guess I will change hues. Don’t want you getting bored. Here is some clover, not owl’s clover, which I’ve seen, but not much of.

dsc_2031

Some of these are not as clear as they could be, as it was a VERY windy day when I took these. They were in a relatively sheltered area, or none of them would have been clear. 

Okay, and how about the lovely Flannel Bush? Yellow goes well with blue, don’t you think? This one is located at Pacific Valley School, in Gail’s front garden. I’ve asked for seeds, but, as I recall (I’ll have to look it up) this may be one of the seeds that I have to put in a tray and set fire too for it to germinate. See, fire does play a roll.

dsc_2009I think that is all for tonight. Tomorrow, I have off. I am meeting friends for a variety of activities throughout the day. This weekend, I’ll be putting up “No trespassing” signs so that people can have fun tearing them down. It’s what they do, up here in the wilds of Big Sur. I guess they think nobody has the right to be as lucky as I am.

dsc_2042

Sorry, I could not help myself. I so love these lupines! Promise, this is the last one, at least, today.

Trespassers & Threats

After seeing the hikers on Easter come up through my property, I posted this on the Ventana Wilderness Alliance Forum:

“Because Ventana Wilderness is closed, the Silver Peak Wilderness has increased numbers of hikers, campers, and other users, as it should. Some of these users are not respectful of private property. I had 4 hikers come up Home Ridge on Easter which lets out right by my spring road, who hiked through my property without my permission. They were greeted by my four guard dogs, who fortunately did not attack. Trespassers are fair game to my pack. I’m not implying that these trespassers are members of VWA by posting here, I do not know. But I do know that other hikers also read this forum, as well.
All I ask is that when you hike an area, please find out where the private property is located, and do NOT hike it without the owner’s permission. Do not assume that the owner, living on the edge of the Silver Peak Wilderness, will not mind. We do. Just stop by the PV station and ask. Many people do not seem to know (or care) that there is private property here. On Home Ridge alone, there are at least five parcels besides my own, which is at the top, two of whom also complained about the hikers. Hike the Prewitt Loop. Home Ridge is not a trail, but a dozer cut left from the Chalk Fire. Please. I won’t be as nice with the next trespassers.”

I got a very nice response from Boon, with a positive suggestion on how to prevent this. But I also received this threat from an anonymous poster:

“Re: Private Property & Silver Peak Wilderness

Postby guest on Thu Apr 16, 2009 7:46 am

Oh.. An arms race.   

To protect myself, from being attacked if I wander off a trail and onto private property, I will naturally not want to be hurt by dogs. I will now need to carry my 9mm ruger, and have my protective pit-bulls with me. They and I are quite harmless unless an aggressive dog or gun-toting pot-grower happens my way. ( Not that all or even most protective land owners are pot-growers)”

I see this person as an aberation, and certainly not indicative of the vast majority of the VWA members. But he has certainly given me pause for thought about how I handle trespassers in the future. I’m not going to get into “an arms race” with this jerk, but if I am not nice to trespassers this year, you have this idiot to thank for it. I don’t know who he is, so any trespasser could be him — carrying a 9 mm Ruger. Nice, huh? 
You can see the entire thread here:
http://www.ventanawild.org/forum08/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=187