(no subject)

[javacat]

I drove back to my house through Southern Sonoma County yesterday. The rains have produced grass - enough to cover the hillsides but leave deer trails and cow paths showing white in contrast. Winter in California is as to spring on the east coast. It's a treat to be outside and be a thankful observor of the different shades of green that are beginning to appear. Alot of our trees are not decidious, the magnificant & native live oak first among them. They stand gnarled and sentinental against deeping blue skies as the sun starts to go down. Buckeyes are down to bare bones, having shed the last of their leaves and chestnuts in the first heavy rains, but they are the first tree to bud, in late winter. I was surprised to read recently in a Native Plant booklet that dog fennel (anise) is an invasive non-native; I'd thought it was native; the mature plants are starting to die, leaving brown lacey stalks that are an excellent bird habitat, while the tiny new fronds, bright green, are starting to peek up at the base of the parents.