I can really feel sympathy for those poor souls in New York, stranded on airplanes and digging out from another blast of winter-y goodness. It was a brutal 70-ish today in the Bay Area, and The Boy and I checked out the Pulgas Ridge Open Space Preserve. It's days like today that remind me why I wanted to live on the Peninsula, where there are miles of trails and amazing views right in my back yard. Of course, there were caches to hunt (and find - huzzah!), though a bumper crop of poison oak kept us a away from a couple I loaded in the Garmin. Ah well. Those shining trios of leaves also keep folks on the trail, which is a valuable aid in keeping the land in good shape! Then of course there are the heartwarming warning signs against ticks, rattlesnakes, and mountain lions...
It's been a pretty good winter, moisture-wise, because there are signs of a great wildflower season everywhere. Just in our little 2.5 mile or so stroll, we saw several kinds in bloom, and more getting ready to erupt soon. Took some time to educate myself about the actual flower species (my existing naming scheme consisted mainly of terms like "pretty red one, " and "spotted leaf one"), and definitely identified:
* Indian Warrior
* Mission Bells
* Fetid adders tongue
* Sticky monkey flower
* Giant trillium
Rad.
