The Slough expresses itself

Just when I thought I would take a hiatus, the Slough explodes and I have to share. I had a day of discovery and I fell completely in love with a new flower. It's a little rush. Pink curly stigmas. . . I swear if I ever start a girl band that would be our name.

I need to go back and see if the stem is round or flat. That will determine what its name is, according to modern botanists. Though it is what it is, despite any name we give. It's growing next to a beautiful wet meadow that is off limits to the public.


Then I went to scout for seeds of an annual lupine I was SURE was growing in a field off trail. I found my lupine (yay!) and then turned to see bluedicks. I don't see many of these out here so I got in closer to take a picture and saw this spider taking down a bee. Again, the Slough expresses itself.

haitus

I am going on a haitus from the restoration blog. I'll return when interesting things are happening around the Slough. Of course interesting things are always happening around the Slough! I'll return when I want to write about it OR if I can get others to share their stories about the restoration efforts.

Meanwhile, the flowers are exploding. The weeds are growing over my head. The ticks are crawling and biting. The poison oak is leafing out with oil and shine. The freshwater is drying. The wind is blowing. The birds are nesting. The bees are pollinating. I could go on and on and on and on. . .

the art of restoration

Restoration is not always done by the rule and law of peer reviewed journal articles. Often it's the subtleties of finding oak seedlings where you thought you would plant them next year. Or forgetting you had seed for many years only to find that once sown, they germinated better than any other batch you'd ever sown. It's the observation with all the senses; spending lots of time in the field; taking copious notes. Then, just when you thought you had something figured out, mama nature pulls the rug right out from under your feet.
I'm humbled out there.