Thistles and Gabriel Fauré

Saturday, 10 June 2017

Almost 9 hours on the trail today. I had intended to do mostly a hike, but I needed to check on purple star thistle, and there was enough that I ended up only walking about 15 miles. On the plus side, some really pretty things to see.

I think Mariposa lilies are the prettiest of the wildflowers. They also come in yellow, but I like the white and pink ones best.

Very pretty rock and vegetation, almost surrealistic.

This reminds me of a propeller. A drone flower maybe?

Here we have a California native, the Venus thistle. I have an abiding hatred for most thistles, but I have to admit this one, and the Indian thistle, are very attractive.

This is fairly uncommon. The Midpeninsula volunteer project coordinator says she has only seen them in one place. Well, we now have a dozen more examples, along the Waterwheel Creek trail in Montebello Open Space Preserve.

They are also called cobweb thistle.

Much beloved by hummers, at least by this one.

Oh boy! More over there!

A fully flowered out honeypot.

But there’s more than just thistles. These little guys are only an inch or three tall.

An alien with its hand on its hip!

This one, especially, reminds me of something you might see at the bottom of an aquarium.

Long day. Good day.

While I cleaned up, Jacky roasted a pork. Well, not the entire porc, but more than enough for dinner. Then we walked downtown to attend a live performance highlighted by Fauré’s Requiem. One of those that bring tears to the eye!