•

One of the joys of living by the Pacific Ocean is watching the storms come in. We have two more lined up and then we are promised some warm and dry weather. When the storm let up late yesterday morning, locals headed to the grocery store where we hugged each other and asked how long each other had been out of power. This morning on our walk the beautiful sound of  the song of a male American Goldfinch filled the air. We heard more bird chirps behind us and stopped to let them catch up with us. Soon a flock of Pygmy Nuthatches and Chestnut-backed Chickadees were surrounding us with their calls. Now that's what I call magic time.

•

Mother Nature keeps throwing storm after storm at the Mendonoma Coast. For quite a ways out the Pacific Ocean is a muddy brown from all the creeks and rivers that empty into it. There is nothing subtle about the ocean today. You can hear its roar from miles away. On a walk in the forest, our golden retriever, Huckleberry, discovered a large moss-covered boulder had tumbled down a bank onto our trail. A little furniture arranging had been taking place overnight! You can see in the other photo that Quinliven Creek is doing its best impression of a mighty river, running fast and muddy, but oh so beautiful to watch.

• 5 Comments

•

One sign of spring on the Mendonoma Coast is the appearance of the Queen of the wildflowers, the exquiste Calypso Orchid. A patch of a dozen or so bloom on a neighboring property in an untouched forest. To find them in the dark duff is like finding a living jewel. Notice the dark green leaf which is flat on the duff. The leaf appears first, then the slender stalk with the orchid flower. It's not very big, so to find one is proof that you are paying attention!

• 2 Comments

•

The sunrise is reflected on the clouds out on the Pacific Ocean. The Mendocino Coast, in particular Gualala, has been hit with numerous power outages from the last storm and four more storms are lined up before we get a chance to dry out a bit. In this picture you can see the big swells coming straight in. A few hours later the winds shifted in the storm direction and the surface water ran south to north. The ocean was telling all who were paying attention that another storm was on the way. Still, on this morning's walk with Huckleberry, our golden retriever, we found signs that spring really is here.

•

After Saturday night's/Sunday morning's wild storm, Rick and I checked our forest this morning for wind damage. We found surprisingly little though neighbors have big trees down and power is out for many of us still. I saw the first green tips of several Red Clintonias, one of my favorite wildflowers. It doesn't usually bloom until the first of May but seeing the first shoots brings the picture of its lovely blooms to my mind's eye. Along a shady path on a dead Tan Oak we stopped to admire a beautiful group of Turkey Tail mushrooms. This wild mushroom is being studied by scientists for its medicinal qualities. We might have a wonder drug growing wild in the forest! My wonder drug was seeing a large pod of Gray Whales late yesterday afternoon with at least two calves headed north.