Yesterday Carolyn André photographed these Sea Stacks near Elk off the Mendocino Coast. Sea Stacks used to be a part of the cliffs or headlands. Waves and wind erode the softer parts of the rock leaving the harder, more resistant rock behind. You can say they are created by Mother Nature - and she does such beautiful work! I thank Carolyn for this lovely photo and I post it here in honor of her friend, Daphne.
The bluffs are awash in color today as wildflowers are blooming in the warm sun. Wild rhododendrons began blooming this week and the first wild azaleas are opening to the sun. Orange bush monkey-flowers are blooming in earnest in sunny spots. This native plant doesn't want summer water. It's a host plant for a butterfly that is struggling - the Checkerspot Butterfly. And darned if it doesn't have medicinal qualities too. The flowers and root have antiseptic qualities that aid in the healing of scrapes and burns.
Last year my neighbor Charlie discovered two juvenile Western Screech Owls in a day roost on his property. Charlie took Rick and me to the dark, secluded area where the two young Owls quietly sat. I got as close as I dared to take this admittedly poor photo. But it does show the baby Owl. So Rick and I had Goldie Pound, birdhouse maker extraordinaire, make us an Western Screech Owl birdhouse in the hopes that one might nest there. So far...no luck! But we enjoy looking at the birdhouse on our daily walks. It's made out of the same redwood siding as our house and has a crystal hanging from the top.
One of the joys of living on the coast is watching the sun set "into" the ocean. If conditions are perfect, you might be rewarded with a green flash. The horizon must be clear for this phenomenon to appear. Here on the Mendonoma Coast the green flash is more like a pulse of emerald green light, as if someone was holding a flashlight just a bit above the sun as it disappears. Don't blink because it's usually over in a flash! It is particularly difficult to photograph but Frank Vaskelis captured one and has graciously allowed me to share here with you.
My best to you! Jeanne Jackson, Gualala
It's amazing but true. Millions of years ago Horsetails were the size of trees. Now they grow a foot or so high in and near the creek bed of Quinliven Creek and other creeks on the Mendonoma Coast. Huckleberry, our golden retriever, occasionally chomps the top off of one, to no ill effect. Equisetum is their Latin name and they too have medicinal qualities. In Native American medicine they were used to stop bleeding. They were also used for scrubbing pots. I just like looking at them in the forest!
