Nostalgia

I'll be too busy to hike with my camera today, but I can never get far from memories/images of the beautiful place where I live. This morning, while sorting my photo files, I pulled out four that were powerful images (for me) of the Quincy area. The poppies, of course, are almost a cliche of California's roadside scenery. Millions of poppy pictures are out there. But I still try to get better ones. Not in the photo competition sense, but in the sense of really trying to get the essential beauty of the poppy into my brain. The daisies are among the three or four flowers that I jokingly call "bug magnets" because on the nature walks I lead, they can be counted upon to harbor all sorts of interesting bugs - some just feeding, some pollinating, and, who knows, maybe they too are enjoying the scenery. Crimson Columbine, representing the diverse buttercup family, is a favorite on just about every trail I frequent including the ones in my neighborhood in Boyle Ravine. Finally, the relatively uncommon Spotted Coral Root, a saprophytic orchid that hides in the shade and usually gets a couple of feet tall, right under my nose, before I realize it has arrived!