They're Back...

So... woke early this morning, slowing opening my eyes. A colorful vista materialized in the air by my bedroom door. The side of a large white metallic spaceship with vivid red emblems that stood out in sharp contrast to the dark of space - or maybe just the dark of my pre-dawn bedroom.

Yikes!

On awakening, I haven't seen a vivid vision, that isn't really there, in years. I've had a sense of mourning/missing that quirky aspect of my being since last October when I wrote about the Mountain Lion in my bedroom. When I am feeling firmly attached to grounded realities, I use rationalization to explain my visions. I rationalize that my waking visions are just that - visions - caused by faulty brain chemistry. It happens when I wake up, and the chemistry of my dreaming brain, spills over into my alert consciencness for a few seconds after I've opened my eyes and have become alert. It's rare I can drop the rationalization and allow myself to experience whatever the hell the visions are, for what they are - visions. They're so totally interesting to stare at as they float past in the darkness of my bedroom.

Back to this morning's vision. I woke up to momentarily see several cartoonish looking space aliens, guiding a UFO in to the open hatch of the space station. The beings were smiling, benevolent, as they floated into the port. Mystical? Other worldly? A strange inter-dimensional portent of things to come? How the hell should I know?

However one looks at it, I am totally stoked my 'visions' are back, at least for now. Yes, they scare the living daylights out of me, making my heart race from fear but what the hell. My heart needs the exercise and anyway who else can say they have their mind full of 3-D visons at the ready for their own personal waking enjoyment?

OUCH!

This morning in the manner of the royalty releasing the hounds, I did 'Release the Chickens!' After three days of confinement the girls were frantic to be out and about. While gone I had let their eggs just accumulate in their nest box. So this morning I collected 8 eggs from the past three days. I'll feed these 'old' eggs back to the girls as a smoothie; more details on that another day.

The point here is, of the 8 eggs the girls laid, 7 are the usual ensie eggs the girls normally lay, but one egg was HUMONGOUS. The rumours are true - young hens first lay small eggs, and then gradually when their behinds are ready for it, then come the Grade A, Extra Large eggs. Check this out; doesn't that gigantic egg look painful? My first thought when I saw it was some huge sumo-wrestler of a hen must have snuck in with the girls and laid that ringer.

Over Dale... and Home Again

Avenue of the Giants

Shortest visit to Crescent City ever, but better short than not at all.

For my drive home I hit the spots I missed on the way north, driving through Prairie Creek Redwoods where I took a short hike hit the visitor center. Then it was on through the Avenue of the Giants, under the shade of the redwood giants.


Estuary along Highway 101

Elk in the Mist

Tule or Roosevelt Elk?
While there I chatted with a cyclist who had biked his way down from Victoria, British Columbia, on his way south to Baja California. Yikes! Amazing what people do for fun. I know my friend Don would love to do that sort of thing some day, myself, I'd rather be shot and spared the effort. I'd be willing to drive from B.C. to Baja; does that count?

I drove south to Ukiah, then headed East on HWY 20, taking the scenic route through Bear Valley. Last year Bear Valley was spectacular.


Bear Valley Ranch
The first thing I spotted were totally adorable round, yellow flowers that hung like little balls from their stems. They grew along the hillside like diamonds in rubble.


My photo of a Golden Fairy Lantern

Love how round the Golden Fairy Lantern's are
This year it was pretty, but not on par with the vistas of wildflowers like last year. Still I saw enough pretty views to satisfy.


One of Few Wildflower Vistas in Bear Valley for 2010
Don't forget to click on photos for a better look

Yellow stripe of Goldfield flowers in distance
click to see the deep blue Larkspur peppered around the meadow

My visit took place after several of the flower species had called it a day, folding their pleasures and closing shop for the day; Cream Cups, some poppies and others.


Not Too Shabby for a 'bad' year, eh? I have never seen so many blue Larkspur in my life!

One of the few patches I could find for 2010

Not terrifically showy, but new to me: poofy Cream Sacs
In reflection, it's strange how wildflowers worship just sort of snuck up on me in the past year. When I was a student I had friends who were dotty about wildflower & plants. Non of their zeal registered with me. But perhaps last year being a bumper crop year for wildflowers is what triggered me to suddenly care. I mean, up until last year I took photos of flowers but wouldn't have dreamed of driving anywhere to look at them. Maybe it's just nice having wildflowers to gawk at when my feathered quarry aren't cooperative. What's next? Dragonflies? Uh... NO.