False Solomon Seal, Maianthemum racemosum, began blooming this past week on the shady edges of our forest. "False" seems such a cruel description of this lovely wildflower.
It actually is edible when very young but shouldn't be harvested unless found in abundance. It certain does not grow in abundance on our property so I'll just enjoy its beauty. It also has medicinal qualities that native peoples utilized, including use as a cough remedy.
We share the Mendonoma Coast with Bobcats. These cats with tufted ears and bobbed tails can be seen hunting gophers and other rodents in meadows. It's always a treat to see them, a touch of the wild brought to you courtesy of Tom Osborne. I thank Tom for allowing me to share his photo with you here.
Friday the 13th is said to be an unlucky day. Well, I say phooey on that! Bettye Winters got a beautiful photograph of thunderclouds forming over Manchester Beach and the Point Arena Lighthouse. Look how the sun glints off of the newly restored white Lighthouse. Thanks to Bettye for allowing me to share her photo with you here.
Friday also brought a spectacular sunset and I was lucky enough to capture it with my camera from my deck in Anchor Bay.
As Bettye wrote me, "Love it here!"
A 12 inch long Ushio 110 volt, 500 watt light bulb washed up at Manchester State Beach recently and was found by Gary Humfeld. It has Asian characters on it.
I've been told it might have come from a ship. Again, any information you can give us to further our knowledge would be much appreciated! Isn't amazing the light bulb is intact?
Don Phelps found two of these large buoys washed up on Manchester State Beach. There were no barnacles on them so they hadn't been in the water for a long time.
Gary Humfeld found a smaller buoy that had been in the water a long time as it did have barnacles on it.
Below you will see two Asian characters and a series of numbers on the buoy.
Tomorrow I will post the photo of the large light bulb Gary found. If you can further our knowledge in any way, we would surely appreciate it.