Davenport Dreams - Santa Cruz County Coastline

Jasper has his own ideas about the best way to spend a winter's day in California

Davenport Landing Beach is about twenty minutes north of the town of Santa Cruz

Grenwich Time - Walking Jefferson Market Garden (NYC Field Trip)

I went part way along with Rosalinda when she headed off to her graduate studies Friday night , then made an abrupt turn at Washington Square and headed for West Greenwich Village.  Yah, yah, I know they call it "the village" around here. I was in the mood for a walk that involved more than window shopping, and I found it when I stumbled on Jefferson Market Garden. The garden is one of those hidden gems I always hope I'll discover on a ramble.

Backed up by the gorgeous historic Jefferson Market Library building, this secret garden packs a floral wallop in a compact footprint. Even in September the roses are still blooming in the sunny spots, along with varied colorful daises.  Hydrangea, a variety of tuberous and wax begonias, and a plethora of shade-loving flowers and ferns gather close beneath a green canopy. There's an inspirational greenhouse and pond as well - complete with water plants. 

 

 Despite it's small size a number of people, pups and kids had all managed to find a bench and a place to hang out and companion each other. I could have stayed all day, but the Boheminian charms of the West Village were calling.

Hiking Contra Costa - Mount Diablo In The Clouds

Mount Diablo in the Clouds

A Contra Costa hike was the perfect way to meetup and visit with new acquaintance, Lynn. We trekked first up a few steep hills above the lovely village of Danville, then along past playwright Eugene O'Neill's old place, and ended up walking back on a portion of the Iron Horse Trail, a Rails to Trails project that runs forty miles through nine towns and two counties. Along the way I got to pet a number of happy dogs and visit with their human companions. 

What better way to introduce ourselves to each other?

Next time we get together in Contra Costa County, I hope we'll have time to hike Mount Diablo State Park.

Old CA In Style - Flowers and Views at Windy Hill

Poppies and Yarrow in Bloom at Windy Hill

We've been hiking Windy Hill weekly, to help my husband get his legs ready for summer field work. 

That's just an excuse of course. 

Sure, the 7 mile loop from Portola Valley up to the top and back down is a great way to get in some hill climbing, but with wildflower season in full force here on the Peninsula, you're not hearing any complaints from local hikers, taking in the flores and colores. The vistas are fantastic as well. All along the way you're treated to sudden peaks at the top of the rounded hills, and excellent views of the San Franciso Bay below.

Less mobile folks can drive along Skyline Boulevard, and gain easy access to picnic tables at the top turn-around point. From there you can get some lovely vistas of the Pacific Ocean on one side of the road, and the Bay from the edge of the picnic area. You can also amble along a shortish side trail to the top of one of the rounded domes - perfect for flying a kite.  

And yes, you can take the pooch. Dogs are allowed on several Windy Hill trails. (If you start off in Portola Valley, check the dog signs carefully as there are multiple trail heads, some of which do not allow dogs).

BTW, Windy Hill is within athletic bike riding distance of Stanford University and Silicon Valley, though it's not a mountain bike area.

On my Flower-Lovin' Hiker's Bookshelf

              

Hiking Windy Hill: Wild Cream Colored Iris

California Native Wildflower - A Creamy Douglassi Iris 

Our California spring wildflowers are blooming like gangbusters at Windy Hill right now. The pooches and kids are enjoying themselves there too. You have to know where to go when you want to hike locally with your dog, and Windy Hill is a great place to take your best friend. Just make sure you choose the trail that's signed for dogs. There are no signs for children, so you can interpret that however you please.

Among the flowers we saw -  red columbine, brilliant blue hounds tongue, milk white hellebore, deep purple lupine, and plenty of pale rosy pink spring vetch in flower on a lovely, warm 7 mile hike yesterday.  I'd never seen the creamy version of douglassi iris I photographed above before. I double checked and found that it does occasionally occur in creamy shades and also hybridizes easily.

Another example of diversity in California!


              

Tarantula Tango OR The Tarantula and the Shoe Box

      As a kid I lived on two acres that my parents christened “Lizard Acres”, in what was then a very rural part of Arizona. There my folks designed and built a cinder block house with their own hands. The house was well laid out, cool in summer, and the cinder block walls exuded naturally trapped heat in the winter, but it was also full of  places where wildlife could creep in. 

     Whenever we went to take a bath*, there would generally be at least four forms of insect life. Vinagaroones were popular. They look a good bit like scorpions - which we often saw outside the house.

All prepped to take our bath, we would scream bloody murder at the sight of those bugs. Then my mother would yell out “Oh just put the shoebox over it, and I'll be in there in a minute!” She had no patience with our fussing. So I ran around stony naked (my sister being older was usually more modestly atired) waiting for our mother to come and displace the insect life to the out of doors. I think they came up the drain in the tub, and from there they sometimes migrated on to the walls and into the rest of the house.

Also tarantulas came into the house. They were most partial to my sisters bedroom wall which retained the kind of heat tarantulas liked. I don't know how the tarantulas got in. Seems like they’d have been too big for the tub’s drain. Our good old dog, Blackberry used to (I’m not making this up) play with one of the tarantulas that came regularly. My sister was particularly unhappy to find this member of theTheraphosidae family on her wall one night at bedtime. My mother finally got fed up with our screams, and killed that particular visitor.

The dog moped for days and my mother felt awful, because she realized she killed Blackberry's friend. She never killed another and we learned to accept insects as part of life.

My mother drew this beautiful tarantula a few years after we left the wilds of Arizona for the intensity of suburban life in California.

It was a good move for economic and educational reasons, but we all kind of missed the excitement of bath time at Lizard Acres.

*Where we the only folks with a tub-only-just-one bathroom back in the 60's? As a kid, I thought showers were the kind of luxury people only had in motels. 

The Rain in Spain Stays Mainly in the Plain, Thoughts on Surging Over a Language Barrier

Please CLICK ON THE ABOVE IMAGE to better enjoy the details

One Wet Terrier

El Parque de Buen Retiro

Madrid, Espagna

Photo altered using Photoshop CS4,

Original work is the copyright of, L. Shimer, 2010

Dogs can usually figure me out - humans - not always.

Spanish dogs seemed to understand me easily, no matter in which language I spoke to them. Madrillenos seem to like dogs as much as Californianos do. It seemed like every third person in Madrid, had a dog on a leash during the paseo.

I was very glad that I am comfortable using Spanish on my recent trip to Spain. I think it would be difficult to visit Madrid and the environs, without some proficiency in the language. My most challenging encounters with Spanish came when I was working through the process of buying train tickets within the Atoche Renfe metro/train station. When I became uncertain about where the train left from (turned out I had to get a train to another station - Chamartin- first!) , broke down and asked for help in English, it simply was not available. I just had to figure out how to come up with other words to use, to ask my questions.

Next day in Chamartin, confused by the displayed departure information, I again asked for help in English. My request was met with a shrug and a referral to another clerk who didn't understand my question. As I've learned when visiting other countries, these situations force me to figure out how to communicate my needs. And, Y hola !, did I feel proud of myself when I navigated two trains and a bus on my day trip from Madrid to Segovia. Particularly when an older woman bus driver praised me for traveling sola.

I found the Harper Collins "Language Survival Guide, SPAIN" book in my library and took that along as my travel dictionary. Not only does it have word lookup, but also sections such as transportation phrases and ticket layouts. It was really useful, and I liked it better than other dictionaries I've used.