Plant of the Month

Grevillea robusta

(OK, so it has not been exactly 1 month since the last plant)

Commonly known as the Silk- or Silky-oak, or Australian Silver-oak, is the largest species in the genus Grevillea. It is a native of eastern coastal Australia. It is a fast growing evergreen tree, between 18-35 m tall with dark green delicately dented bipinnatifid leaves reminiscent of a fern frond. These leaves are generally 15-30 cm long with greyish white or rusty undersides. Its flowers are golden-orange bottlebrush-like blooms, between 8-15 cm long, in the spring, on a 2-3 cm long stem. The seeds mature in late winter to early spring, fruiting on dark brown leathery dehiscent follicles, about 2 cm long, with one or two flat, winged seeds.

You will find this tree in bloom at this time of year all around Los Angeles. It is very distinct with it's yellow flowers, and it's tall stature. It definitely looks like it is in the proteaceae family with the distinct flowers, and the leaves are very pretty! It is one of the myriad of native Australian plants/trees that thrive in the Southern California climate. I had never seen this before I moved to LA, and was glad to finally get a positive ID on this spectacular specimen of a tree. It reminds me of the tall Elm trees in the Midwest for its stature and majesty!

Pride Run 2007

On Saturday May 19th, 2007, I participated in the Shoreline Frontrunner's annual 10K pride run! It was an event that I had registered and was training for several weeks in anticipation. It was a lot of fun! It was also a lot of hard work, no matter how much you train, it seems the "real thing" is never as easy. I run most every day on track and treadmill at the gym, however when competing with people and running on the open beach path, it was a a different story. It was all good though. I had some good pacing after a great start where I pushed myself ahead of the pack. It was all great after that! My finish time was 40:58 and I was very happy with that, as I beat my pace time last fall in the 5k turkey trot.

I also came in 2nd for my age division, and was 5th overall for the 10K. I was very happy with that, and was glad that I completed the training to participate. What is next? We will see, another 10K or perhaps a half marathon?

Into Thin Air

By Jon Krakauer

A book that was hard to put down. I love that about it. I never ever thought I would be interested in Mountain climbing. As a matter of fact I thought that people who did it were crazy and why would they even want to do something so dangerous. After reading this book, my mind was entirely changed. I realized they are much more like athletes than they are like crazy people. I began so see them as a Lance Armstrong, instead of a person who should be committed to a state institution forever. I also love how Jon Krakauer writes. He draws you in, and keeps your interest for the entire book, so you cannot put it down. I have read another of his books, "Under the Banner of Heaven" that was just as good with some very informative writing. I liked that one just as much as "Into Thin Air".

The book is basically all the events that led to, during, and after the author's tragic trip climbing Mount Everest in 1996 where 5 people perished as a blizzard struck in the early afternoon, as people were at the summit.

I learned a lot in this book about mountain climbing and high altitude effects on the body, and the numerous dangers involved in climbing such a mountain as Everest. This was one of the great things about the book that I love the most. It answered and let me understand all the questions I had had about mountain climbing, and yes, yes, it made me want to climb a mountain, but definitively not climb a mountain like Everest, but, something more manageable, and safe, say like Mount Hood in Washington. This book inspired me to find out about it, as I have already, and make it a goal to actually go up and CLIMB mount hood in the next few years. Do I have any volunteers to accompany me? I guess all in all that is what good writing is all about, something that makes you think and changes you, and this indeed changed me, and my outlook on mountain combing.

Tehachapi Mountain Park

Dale and I drove to Tehachapi, for the weekend camping up in the mountains that separate the San Joaquin Valley from the Los Angeles Basin. It was about a 3 hour drive from Long Beach to get up to the campground. It was well worth it, a pristine and well hidden feature in the mountains surrounding the city of Techachapi. It was a Kern County campground that we originally heard about last summer from one of the locals in the grocery store when we stopped in Tehachapi when camping last summer. (Always listen to locals advice when traveling) We did some research and found that it is a "jewel" known mostly by people in the area. It is not easy to find, but with a bit of mapquest and research on the Internet we found how to get there. It was a beautiful weekend for camping, and although it got nice and chilly at night, it was great and sunny and warm during the day for a beautiful trip.

We did some hiking on the nature trails, and were treated to some beautiful birds & calls, and very clear skies at night for superb sky watching. Even though the campground is heavily wooded with a lot of Jeffrey Pines, Douglas Fir, Canyon Live Oaks, Black oaks, (that were just getting their leaves) and a myriad of lovely blooming Sierra Currant and Sierra Gooseberry that were in bloom. It was a great weekend get away, that made me feel like I was in the Northwoods of Minnesota, and Dale felt like he was camping back in Washington State.

Hollywood Fire II

Just like all good things in Hollywood, there is a sequel. So it is the same with the Hollywood Fire. This one struck in the early afternoon, and by 3pm we could see a lot of smoke over the hills. This one was bigger and better, just like a movie sequel. The smoke covered most of Hollywood, and drifted downtown. It burned all night long, with winds fueling it. We have had dry and 90 degreee plus weather to make everything super dry explosive. In the morning when I got back to work, Hollywood smelled like a BBQ pit amd the fire was still burning. It was amazing, the estimate is that 1/3 of the park, (Griffith Park) where the fire was raging was burned. No homes were burned, and only one person suffered minor burns from the fire. (a golfer at the golf course) Many people were evacuated from homes nearby, and the LA Zoo was closed, but not burned. None of the other buildings near the park were burned either. Needless to say, this was one of the closest fires. This categorizes as the worst fire in LA since 1961 when one of the canyons in Beverly Hills burned. It is pretty much like a park smack in the middle of the city being burned. Imagine Central Park in NY City burning, and you will have some Idea of what is/was going on.