Jasper Ridge

As a side benefit to volunteering with MROSD, I got in on a wildflower walk at Jasper Ridge last weekend.  We seem to have just missed the peak at that location, but there were still many nice blooms.  Here are a few for you to enjoy:

First, there was grass (good native grasses).

 We gradually found some blooms.

Close-up of the goldfields which form a yellow carpet when they are happy.

Silver puff.

 A new serpentine-soil-loving plant for me to remember: california plantain (the fuzzy white and green flowers with the red dots).  Not sure what the pink thing is (maybe a red maid); the tiny yellow ones are hill lotus, and the little five-petalled white ones are linanthus.

Nice fairy lantern in the sun.

 Spring California hillside.

And, I've definitely not missed the wildflower peak elsewhere, given that Nim and I counted 37 different species on a short hike at Coe the other weekend and the number of brilliant orange poppies I saw as I rode along Skyline this morning.  Might just have to go on a hike tomorrow...

Unplugged for Spring Break

In case you missed it, we unplugged for most of spring break and went camping and hiking at Arroyo Seco.  We should do this more often...

The Getting-In Process

Hmm...is it warm enough?

Maybe...

Look at me!

 Time to get the arms and tummy wet

No, really -- I'm getting in now!

 Finally.

Post-swim lizard basking.

Growing

Same kid, same campsite, same tree, year and a half of growth

Nov 2012

April 2014

Itty bitty baby deer

Seen this morning on the road up to Fremont Older Open Space Preserve:  deer + two very small, very spotted, very wobbly fawns.

The first one didn't even run away, but merely stood in the road as I came up next to it and fumbled for the camera.  "Hi!  What are you?"

The second one had slightly more of a self-preservation instinct, going to the side of the road and huddling in some branches.  "If I don't move, you can't see me."

Tooth pull

Last week, Mom and I went to the dentist. Seems normal, right? Turns out that an incoming tooth was going to mess up my front teeth, as a baby tooth was pushing it away. What seemed like a regular dentist appointment soon was complicated by a tooth pull.  Man, does Novocaine painkiller do weird things to your upper lip! We went to the store afterwards to get ice cream, and ended up getting strawberries. I knew they were fresh and ripe and had a really strong scent, but the painkiller made it so that my left nostril was so numb I couldn't sniff them!

Later, I drew the following picture, starring some characters I made up:

 

 

5 lb 2.7 oz

Tacks on the road in three separate corners of Old Santa Cruz Highway this morning.  How rude.  I avoided them, but saw several other cyclists who did not, so I felt compelled to pick them all up on my way back down the hill.

All told,  5 lb 2.7 oz of tacks.  That's almost as much as the kiddo when she was born.  I may have missed a couple, so call it a baby's worth.

Or 2346 grams, with an average weight of 1.4 grams each.  1676 tacks.  Almost as many tacks as feet of elevation gain on this relatively modest 20 mile ride.

1676 tacks.  20-30 minutes of tack picking-up.  About a tack a second.

Very full pockets.  More than 5 lb of tacks.

Clearly, I need to melt them all down and make dinosaurs (also seen on ride).

Yesterday's weather

At the top of Mt. Hamilton

I rode up both the front and back sides (didn't suffer enough on the front for a proper close-to-birthday ride!) for a total of almost 7000 feet. 

Gloves were very salty afterward.

This is 25 degrees higher than last week, when I had to content myself with stalking newts in the rain...