habitat ~ 03/09/14 ~ Pinnacles National Park - west

Pinnacles National Park - west entrance

March 09, 2014

I had in mind, again, to find a couple butterflies at Pinnacles.  Plus, I was curious to see this year's seasonal progression after a bit of rain.  Hey, at the very least, there is a small amount of running water on each side of the west entrance.  It feels like it's been forever since Andy and I hiked together, even though it's only been 3 weeks since our visit to Los Padres Dam.  He's been busy, stressed, and sick.  And I ended up talking his ear off.  I've never known a more patient man.  He's my rock.  Heavy sigh... I am weary.  I feel as if I am running out of borrowed time.  I have been searching hard, maybe too hard, for some of life's answers.  I wish it were as simple as finding butterflies.

ps 03/14/14 - I am reminded of a vivid dream I had shortly after my mentor Sonja died.  In it, I was running up hill and down dale, chasing after butterflies, loosing my breath, wildly swinging my net, with no success.  Then I heard her voice, "Slow down.  Be patient.  Pick a nice spot to sit.  One that you enjoy.  Wait.  The butterflies will come to you."  In the dream, I did as she told me, and sure enough before too long, butterflies were swarming all around me.  It's taken me a while, but I now recognize I may have had the answer all along.

sunset ~ 10/06/13 ~ at home

sunset from home

October 6, 2013

It's been all about sunsets for me lately.  This day we went to the memorial of a friend who lived a good long time.  With her failing health, it was time for her to go.  The last I saw her I had stopped by to give her the news that another friend of ours had died.  I have fond memories of her ambling over to our place early in the morning, hair sticking out everywhere and wrapped in a shawl that always slid off one shoulder.  He would make coffee in his Pavoni, and I would make buttered toast.  The three of us would sit at the small breakfast table in the morning sun and gossip about everyone we knew.  Goodbye, Yo.  Now, I'm starting to feel superstitious.  I think I got that my from my grandmother.  Things happen in threes?

tarantula hawk ~ 07/16/13 ~ Cayucos

tarantula hawk

Pepsis pallidolimbata

posted 07/24/13 - This sucker was HUGE!  Capturing a real sense of size seems so tricky in photography.  Using my finger as a makeshift measuring guide, I estimate this tarantula hawk at 30mm from head to abdomen tip.  Interestingly, according to Powell and Hogue, this is not the largest spider wasp found in CA;  that title goes to the closely related Pepsis thisbe coming in at a whopping 32-44mm.  Secondary to its size, I noticed it was rotating around in a clockwise fashion and continued even after I poked it a couple times.  Very odd behavior.  It's beautiful and magnificent in a bold way.

Later I found out that a dear friend unexpectedly died this day.  I'm dedicating this blog post to Steve Gally.  He was truly one-of-a-kind with a booming voice, a heart of gold, and endless stories.  A mason by craft, and an artist by heart.  He loved insects and would have found this tarantula hawk absolutely amazing.  He helped shaped my life today in ways few people ever do.  I am incredibly thankful and honored to have been included in his fold of many friends.  To quote Bob Dylan, "But to live outside the law, you must be honest."  Goodnight, sweet man.

ps 08/17/13 - Additional links for Steve:  Legacy.com, BigSurKate, Bread on the Water, SeaRock.

the Spirit of Service ~ 05/19/12 ~ Fort Ord National Monument

Charles "Chuck" Haugen

Mudhen Lake

Fort Ord National Monument
May 19, 2012

I took the opportunity right after this year's Fort Ord Army Lands tour (posts yet to come) to drive down Eucalyptus Road to Jacks Road, which were open to the public due to the dedication ceremony for the Fort Ord National Monument that was being held at the same time. I was too late for the ceremony, but it was nice to drive to a location that I have never hiked from the BLM Creekside entrance to Fort Ord. I talk about Chuck's significance for Dr. David Styer in another post from May 28, 2012.

Easter 2011 in the Highlands

our eggs

brightest flowers (geraniums) that caught my eye

Bird Island of Point Lobos

hidden egg

my favorite spring garden view

Per my standard Easter entry, I have a specific set of pictures that I post here on Nature ID. To see all my Easter posts from 2011, 2010, and 2009, click here.

What was not standard this year was Cynthia Williams, the matriarch of "The Carmel Institute", died at the end of January after more than a year of failing health with the need of round-the-clock care. I added a postscript of her obituary and a link to Design Faith's blog entry about Cynthia in my 2010 post. A heartfelt and intimate memorial with lots of laughter was included at the end of the traditional Easter soiree.

The family's annual Easter celebration has been held for almost 70 years! Anyone who wanted to participate was invited and welcomed with open arms. It always included sequestering the children in the living room while the adults hid hard-boiled eggs in the expansive garden. Cynthia, dressed in her colorful Easter attire, blew her horn to start the hunt. After most of the eggs were found, the older children then hid decorated cans of beer for the adults, often vigorously shaking them as a prank on their dads. It wasn't unusual for the dogs or the gardeners to find old eggs or cans of beer up to a year later in the bushes. After the hunting for eggs and beer ended, a scrumptious potluck of massive proportions ensued with libations of punch, wine, and gin fizzes. Plastic swords, big wheels, tire swings, trampoline, acoustic music, and a poison oak lined path to the south Point Lobos beach were post-brunch activities for the young and old alike. I have every confidence that the family will continue this Easter ritual.

Another thing that was not standard this year was I was extremely sick from what I thought was a severe cold that even ruptured my only good eardrum. Normally, I would have stayed home to keep from spreading my germs, but I needed in my heart to attend and share in Cynthia's memorial. While I stayed away from most people and didn't socialize like I would have liked, partly because I couldn't hear too well, I am very glad I went. A few days later I ended up in the hospital with pneumonia and other complications. I'm still recuperating... but I can't help but believe this was Cynthia's way of instructing me that I need to take better care of myself.

Thank you, Cynthia, for your joie de vivre, generosity, and inspiration!

H2O - the bad and the healing

Blog Action Day 2010 Water

My sister died from bad water. Acute gastroenteritis. We were supposed to be adopted together. I had 3 sets of legal parents and guardians across two continents. I lived with more families than I can recall. I would have loved to have my sister along for this journey. I miss who she could have become. I am now living by the ocean. I hear salt water is healing... the sea, the sweat, and the tears.

This is my story.
Katie

monarch ~ 06/27/10 ~ Rec Trail

monarch butterfly
Danaus plexippus

My hometown of Pacific Grove is somewhat known for its overwintering sites of the monarch butterfly. In fact, there's a registered something somewhere that says PG is "Butterfly Town, U.S.A.", in addition to "America's Last Hometown" and "America's Most Romantic Town".  I think our local chamber of commerce went into overdrive with these "known as" slogans.  And get this, there's a city ordinance on the books that'll fine you $1000 if you're caught molesting a monarch.  I'm not joking.  As I've stated before there are at least 300 known monarch overwintering sites all along the Central Coast of CA, so PG is hardly unique.

As evidenced with my picture above, monarchs are here during the summer months, too. An older friend Pat Antonio (doing well in her 90's) says she remembers there being more monarchs here year-round when the Southern Pacific Railroad still operated and milkweed grew wild along the tracks.  She lives within view of the old railroad station.  The former track path has since been converted into the Monterey Bay Recreation Trail.  She claims that since the City started maintaining the trail and removing milkweed, she noticed a dramatic decrease in summer populations of monarchs.

ps 09/18/14 - Pat passed away last year March.  I was sad to hear of it, but she lived an amazingly adventurous life.  She gave me Powell and Hogue's California Insects when I first moved back to CA.  I had Jerry sign it, and I treasure it.  Thank you, Pat, for your stories and encouragement.

From the time I initially wrote this post in 2010, I asked another friend Bee about Pat's report of milkweed along the railroad tracks here in town.  While Bee was a student up at Stanford studying plants, she would often ride the train home.  However, she didn't live here in town and would be picked up for the short ride down to the Highlands.  She claims there never was any milkweed.  She's also 15 years younger than Pat, so it could be a timing thing if the City had already started weeding.  Then, Vern Yadon, our local botanist of piperia-naming fame, told me he doesn't believe milkweed can even grow on the Peninsula because of the climate.  It's often loudly proclaimed that Pacific Grove does not have monarchs here year-round (I'm not sure why, maybe to boost the specialness of the overwintering tourism?), but this post is evidence to refute popular knowledge.  With all my butterfly activities this year, I specifically noted seeing monarchs flying past my living room window in July, August and just yesterday.  So, I'm telling you, there's gotta be milkweed somewhere near.  It just hasn't been found, yet.

pss 10/25/14 - I originally, and quite ignorantly, included a bit about tagging by the Ventana Wildlife Society, mainly because of my tagging experience in Ohio.  They don't tag!  They do an annual Thanksgiving Count.  Ha!  That was a gross error on my part.  Also, I discovered a friend of ours has non-native milkweed growing in her yard.  She said she got the seeds at the local natural history museum, and she had plenty of monarch caterpillars this year.  According to the package, the seeds should not be planted within a mile of the Sanctuary.  There you go.

Easter 2010 in the Highlands

our eggs

brightest flowers (tulips) that caught my eye

Bird Island of Point Lobos

hidden egg

my favorite spring garden view

Realized I took similar pics last year, so am testing out how I want to post and label these...

We were fortunate that it didn't rain until late afternoon. There was a proliferation of calla lilies this year that isn't evident in any of the pics I've posted. Additionally, the hummingbirds were quite active, diving and chasing each other - as much as I'd love to post pics of them, I'm not fast enough with the camera.

I'm still not sure if these Easter pics are appropriate for this blog. Use the Easter label below to see last year's pics.

ps 02/19/11 - I don't know where else to express this. So, I'm including a copy of the local Monterey Herald's obit here before it disappears online:

Cynthia Criley Williams
1915 ~ 2011

CARMEL HIGHLANDS - Cynthia Criley Williams, "the Mother of all Mothers," died peacefully at home on January 29, 2011 at the age of 95. Her memorial celebration will be held on Easter Sunday, April 24, 2011, following the traditional egg hunt in her garden.

Cynthia was born in Monterey, in 1915. Her parents, painter Theodore Morrow Criley and Myrtle "Tootie" Criley, were members of the early Carmel artists' colony. They built a house in Carmel Highlands, on the southern boundary of Point Lobos, and the family moved there when Cynthia was two. They traveled widely in Europe, spending a year in France when she was six and again when she was thirteen, which fostered in her an old-world sensibility. Back home, Cynthia attended Sunset School, Monterey Union High School, and Scripps College, Claremont.

In 1935 Cynthia married physician Russell Williams. They moved to New York, where she attended Barnard College, and started a family. In 1940, back in the Highlands, they built a house on the family property, designed by Cynthia's architect brother, Theodore. Although Russell's medical training and military service took the growing family at various times to Baltimore, Las Vegas, and Topeka, Carmel Highlands was always home, and where they finished raising their five children.

Cynthia's father was from a hotel-keeping family, and perhaps following this tradition Cynthia opened her home, welcoming neighborhood children, family friends and friends of friends, temperamental artists, struggling writers, serious scholars, lively fishermen, blossoming singer/song-writers, crazy carpenters, earnest scientists, left-wing politicians, student activists, weary world travelers, and wayward teenagers; people might come for the weekend and stay for months. She established an ever-evolving eclectic community, rich with traditions and rituals that she devised. Generations of children learned the joys of camping from her, and lounged on her couch reading comic books; no television allowed. Her menagerie over time included dogs, cats, horses, goats, chickens, ducks, geese, parrots, and injured wildlife (including a seal). The family was devastated by the loss of son Richard ("Red") Williams, who suffered from depression and took his own life in 1961. The marriage ended in 1963.

In 1956, Cynthia had begun purchasing small rental houses in Pacific Grove, and developed a career as a landlady. Her reputation for fairness and generosity spread, and her little houses were much in demand; many of her tenants became part of her extended family community.

Like her Civil Libertarian brother, Richard Criley, Cynthia was a committed advocate for civil rights. She was a true egalitarian who treated everyone alike (except for pregnant women and parents of small children, who got special dispensations). Even in her 90s she attended peace demonstrations on Highway One near her home.

Cynthia had a deep love of language and literature. Her love of learning was life-long; she began studying ancient Greek in her 80s. Her open-mindedness, her generosity of spirit, and her passion for thriftiness were legend. Her mottos were "Waste not, want not" and "It's a great life if you don't weaken." She loved her garden, her view of Point Lobos, summer fog, and a good cup of tea.

Marian "Bee" Chaffey, John Williams, Margaret "Honey" Williams, and Molly Williams are her living children. She leaves four grandchildren: John Chaffey, Margaret Chaffey, Richard Russell Williams, and Sarah Williams; four great-grandchildren; the vast extended family; and her devoted dogs.

In her last year Cynthia's health declined. Her family and friends gratefully acknowledge her superb team of caregivers: Henrietta "Cha Cha" Nuno, Eustacia Pedraza, and Anna Casteneda; and the wonderful services of Hospice of the Central Coast. Cynthia herself requested that her friends honor her memory with donations to the Bookmobile (The Monterey County Free Library System).

Nothing we can say here can adequately express our gratitude for her life.

-----

Here's a link to another blog I found in Cynthia's memory: http://designfaith.blogspot.com/2011/01/watching-over-point-lobos-watching-over.html

in memoriam to Sonja

monarch butterfly

Danaus plexippus

Pacific Grove has two main sites where monarchs overwinter (out of an estimated 300 identified sites along California's Coast): the Monarch Grove Sanctuary and George Washington Park. The monarch count in the area is down again this year. I find it interesting that the Ventana Wildlife Society found the butterflies move between sites as much as 40 miles away throughout the winter.

By Valentine's Day (easy enough to remember), most of the monarchs will have mated and begin heading out of the area to lay eggs in the Central Valley. I like this map of monarch migrations in CA.

At some point, I'll have to post my Polaroid pics from 10 years ago when I raised almost 1000 monarch butterflies in my OH apartment. The trick was to prevent my 3 cats from playing with the adults. I hadn't meant to raise so many, but I didn't have the heart to throw away all the eggs... especially when many of the local nature centers had infection issues that killed off all their stock. I liked to call my bedroom the "butterfly love shack" - that was a fun summer!

ps 3/10/10 - I want to acknowledge my mentor Dr. Sonja Teraguchi. She shared with me the thrill of raising life, the importance of natural fluctuations, and the value of documenting my observations. Thanks to recent communications with Art and Renee, I've been reminded of her influence in my life and have especially missed her spirit and inspiration lately. Click on my lepidoptera label in memory of Sonja.