by Lorraine on April 29, 2009
This morning I saw out of the corner of my eye, a brief movement of pale yellow. It was in one of the Salt Bushes, underneath the window I was looking out of at the time. Then all of a sudden, there it was. A beautiful Swallowtail butterfly.
So delicate in it’s appearance and lovely with it’s black markings, fluttering gently through the garden and then it was gone.
With the arrival of Spring the garden has flourished, all of the plants have grown larger and there are so many blooming that the Hummingbirds have a difficult time choosing which plants to take necter from. They are so greedy and territorial and will chase each other out of the garden.
I also saw some Lesser Goldfinches, eating small insects off the leaves of the same bush where the Swallowtail butterfly had been and then the Rufus Hummingbirds once again appeared.
Which flower to chose? The Wooly Blue Curls, the Giant Penstemons, or how about the Mallows? All were alluring to these “speedsters” as they darted about the garden.
Last year there were a pair of Quail but I haven’t seen any this Spring, much to my disappointment. But the garden is lovely, tranquil and busy with life.
It is a reminder where life is to be found. In the “moment” and all around us if we’d just take a deep breath and see it. With all of the turmoil and suffering throughout the world, a garden and nature are loving antidotes to despair.
by Lorraine on April 25, 2009
We continued along the trail as it gradually climbed, giving us a beautiful view down into the gorge of Lions Canyon. I’ve been on this trail many times and it remains one of my favorites in the Sespe area. This day it was a surprise to see how much water was in the creek bed as typically there isn’t too much of it. It’s difficult to see it in this photo but the water was running very well and much more than I’ve seen in the past.
This section of the trail is quite narrow and rocky, with a great deal of scree and if you’re not careful and paying attention as you walk along it, you could end up having a fall. And in this area, that wouldn’t be advisable as it’s a long ways to the bottom, bouncing off of rocks and being impaled by Yuccas along the way to your watery destination below! 
I saw many patches of Indian Paintbrush, Blue Dicks ( don’t laugh), also know as Wild Hyacinth/Brodiaea pulchella and Chia that happens to be in the Salvia family of Sages and also a member of the Mint family.
I have Chia in my garden and I thought that it was a bit odd, that here I was at an approx. elevation of 3500′ and it was blooming, whereas it wasn’t in my own garden at a lower elevation. Weird, but in the last few days, I’m seeing it bloom there, too.
Eventually the trail drops down and intersects with another that comes over some low hills from Rose Valley. And this was where we were heading to work the new section of trail around the sinkhole. Here is a view, crossing over the creek.
I have more pictures to share and some really great ones of these huge buds coming up from Yucca plants/Yucca Whipplie or the common name, Our Lord’s Candle. They were everywhere on the connector trail and I’d love to go back sometime in May and see all of them blooming. It will be spectacular!
