Year: 2025

Happy Easter Wishes~

On By cindy knokeIn Birds, Conservation, HOLLER HAPPENINGS, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, Wild Life243 Comments

Flying,

to you,

from The Holler,

and,

your feathered friends! (note the hummingbird’s tongue)

Cheers to you & Happy Easter~

(_/)
( • .•)
/ >🥕

Hollerites~

On By cindy knokeIn Birds, Conservation, HOLLER HAPPENINGS, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, Wild Life273 Comments

Our tiny,

mighty,

sleepy,

Holler hummers,

are flying jewels,

in the garden.

They make every Holler day,

a happy day.

Cheers to you from The Hollerites~

The Scot’s Cali III~

On By cindy knokeIn Conservation, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, TRAVEL REVIEWS246 Comments

(click/tap to enlarge)

I am reading John Muir’s, “My First Summer in the Sierras,” published in 1911.

Note the horse hoof tracks in the sand, these are the wild mustangs of Mono Lake:

https://cindyknoke.com/tag/mono-lake-wild-horse-photography

Muir’s diary is replete with his illustrations.

As I walked where he walked, I was struck,

by how he views nature as a sacrament.

He finds not just solace here,

but spiritual joy.

Of Mono Lake, he wrote, “I never beheld a place where beauty was written in plainer characters or where the tender fostering hand of the Great Gardener was more directly visible.”

He went all over the world,

but his name and imprint are all over California forests and trails, and the university I attended.

He called Mono Lake “a marvel,” and knew the brine shrimp were the only permanent residents of “the ancient lake.”

He wrote this in 1869 and he couldn’t be more correct today. He traveled on foot in The Sierras with pencil and paper. I wonder how he knew all this?

Thousands of migrating birds rely on the lake’s brine shrimp for sustenance as they migrate every year.

Los Angeles continues to siphon water from the lake and the lake continues to dry and shrink.

My Scottish immigrant grandmother who arrived in the US in the early 1900’s never read John Muir, but she loved Scotland, and so did he.

Cheers to you from The Scotsman of The Sierras~

See: https://vault.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/writings/my_first_summer_in_the_sierra/

The Other Cali II~

On By cindy knokeIn Conservation, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, TRAVEL REVIEWS248 Comments

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Mono Lake in California,

is a pristine,

paradise,

in winter.

There is no one here,

but the lake,

the tufas,

and you!

Tufas are delicate limestone structures formed over thousands of years,

by the interaction of fresh and alkaline water.

Cheers to you from Mono Lake in the winter~

The Other Cali: Part I~

On By cindy knokeIn Conservation, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, Psychological Self Care, REVERIES, TRAVEL REVIEWS178 Comments

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California isn’t all ocean,

sun and surf.

It is also mountains,

snow and ski.

Mammoth Mountain in Mammoth Lakes California averages 400 inches of snow each year.

We have been coming here to ski annually for almost 55 years.

Another storm is arriving this weekend!

Gearing up.

You can see Mono Lake in the distance where we are going tomorrow.

Cheers to you from Mammoth Lakes in February~

Birds of The Sea of Cortez~

On By cindy knokeIn Birds, Conservation, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, TRAVEL REVIEWS259 Comments

(click/tap to enlarge)

Jacques Cousteau referred to The Sea of Cortez as the world’s aquarium,

which it clearly is,

empty, stunning, and full of wildlife.

The region is also,

home to a huge variety of birds,

including the formidable Harris Hawk,

comical,

peli- cans,

curious grackles,

and stunning,

frigate birds.

Cheers to you from all the birdies in The Sea of Cortez~