Archives

You can be led down the garden path, get off the beaten path, take the path less traveled. Everywhere are references to paths in literature and philosophy.

 

Each year I wait for them in my garden and so do the robins, varied thrush, jays, spotted towhees, grosbeaks and band-tailed pigeons. The fruit of sambucus mexicana, a California native plant, is relished by an incredible number of songbirds. The creamy flower clusters in the spring are a favorite of bees and other beneficial insects. My Western Elderberry grows tall and gangly in the shade of a California bay tree, shorter and more compact in the sun. Their exuberance for life makes me happy just to watch them provide for so many other species.

One of my fondest childhood memories is a Tahoe camping trip in the rain that my dad saved by digging a moat around our tent. So it was with unbridled enthusiasm that I started off in the rain a couple of weeks ago to camp at Pinnacles National Monument.