cazalea
[Seiko Moderator]
20933
Walking in a canyon called Cañon
We walked after breakfast in a canyon along a street called Cañon. You might recall a post from last year called Pocket Parks where we briefly passed through this area.
As expected, the rains have produced a generous crop of flowers -- rooftop high in this case!
A pine cone the size of a pineapple, enough to knock you out if it fell.
The house across from us has been unfinished for 30 years, but there seems to be some action there now.
Last year it looked like this:
There has been some progress, but the old race car below it hasn't moved. I wonder if it goes with the house?
This view gives you the sense of the size of a Torrey Pine, and the "meadow" of ice plant my wife is floating in the midst of.
In all that expanse of green with purple flowers, I noticed ONE yellow blossom.
The animals weren't too cooperative today but a few birds were scoring a late breakfast.
Some kind of green bug.
This one watched impassively, not moving.
I could see this bird catching and flipping a worm around but couldn't get a lock on the focus. At least you can see his catch.
In a stroke of good luck and focus, I caught a noisy hummer in mid-air as he hovered near me.
My wife was admiring the trees.
and the sprinkling of multi-colored flowers almost everywhere.
The purples are finished and wilted, while the yellows are coming to full ripeness.
We wandered up this path a bit further.
as the occasional cyclist zipped down or groaned up the canyon.
Today I wore a Jorg Hysek dual time watch. Home time nearest me and away time on the top.
Looking ahead up the canyon
Looking behind, you can see the unfinished house on the right and Mexico is faintly visible in the distance
A randomly-situated stand of cactus
A small cluster of newish homes are on the hillside opposite us.
but our attention is fixed on the trees which are very barky
and dangerously losing huge limbs probably due to excess weight caused by the unusual amount of water this year.
We dashed across the road, escaping this commuter headed somewhere with a cargo bike.
Our goal was to inspect this fantastic bloom on a century plant, maybe 20 feet tall? before it keels over.
The bees were happily working the many thousands of fresh blossoms at its tip. The blooms at the bottom are already spent (see the previous photo)
A courageous bird near my feet was looking for lunch, and didn't mind being photographed.
Perhaps he was looking at this fellow, who sadly and loudly emitted groans and growls in a repeating pattern, over and over the whole length of the road. We could hear him long before we could see him coming.
A hummingbird observed our departure, and I like to think it wished us, "bon voyage".
As we returned home,
we saw this ad hoc advertising billboard at the intersection.
We hope you enjoyed this more wilderness, less architecture walk today.
Cazalea
PS - another view of the century plant blooming, to give you a sense of its size.
Walking in a canyon called Cañon
We walked after breakfast in a canyon along a street called Cañon. You might recall a post from last year called Pocket Parks where we briefly passed through this area. As expected, the rains have produced a generous crop of flowers -- rooftop high in thi...
Love your pictures!
I hope one day to be able to do this! But I need more free time first!
Thank you, it helps to be retired and to have the camera gear ready by the front door
I would also say for me it took a long time to get my wife on board, as she is a fitness-oriented person who cared more about "the pace versus the place" and more about getting to the end rather than wandering through the middle of whatever we encountered...
Wow! That's an awesome story, that you can get your wife on board with it.
Makes it much more fun!
I have never known or seen a cactus tree!
i always learn something new, and I really like the fact that it is often something nature related that I share with the others at home. The century plant is wild! Magnificent as always.👌🏽
Here's ours in the back garden
Bees love these giant flowering stalks They start out straight, then bend over as the weight gets uneven or the plant can no longer bear the strain against the wind or hillside. Size of the plant. After the blooms are gone Mike ...
Great stuff Mike! I've been racing up and down that street on bikes, motorcycles and cars since the 60s but never at a pace where I could appreciate everything that's there. That
Yamaha-Ford powered Bondourant SHO is a gem! Wonder if it's the V6 or the later V8 model? Might be time to do that canyon on my feet!
You can only imagine how something as huge as that which isn’t a building or other man-made structure looks to a city kid like me 🤯
Look at all those bees in the close up…what a special flower that is.
Lovely photos and story to match. Thank you very much!
I have the same Jorg Hysek watch. My dad gave it to me years ago. I don’t know exactly where it is but now I will go seek it out. Never seen another one until today!