
of a flower (click/tap to enlarge)

lifts our spirits everyday.

Cheers to you & stay safe and well~
Century Plants look like giant asparagus and are members of the aspargus family.
Their name is derived because they are said to bloom,
once a century,
and then die.
We have at least a hundred or more at The Holler.
When they bloom,
the stalks are well over 20 feet tall.
They are magnets for pollinators,
especially bees and hummingbirds.
The hummingbirds fight relentlessly for control over the massive stalks.
Our century plants bloom about every ten years and reproduce prodigiously via underground root systems.
Cheers to you from The Holler Centurions~
Endless, pristine beaches with no one on them (click/tap to enlarge).
My son chooses a favored spot,
and prepares to take a very long nap.
Santa Rosa Island,
in Channel Islands National Park in Southern California,
is like a distant, undiscovered paradise. It is only a three hour bumpy small boat ride from mainland California, but it feels worlds away.
It is the only place in the world, besides my hometown in La Jolla, where Torrey Pine Tree forests grow naturally.
This is our boat leaving Santa Rosa Island with Santa Cruz Island in the background. The islands are suprisingly large, unpopulated and completely undeveloped. The waters around them team with wildlife, including blue whales and the largest population of multiple species of dolpins in the world. Super pods are often encountered here and I have been in the midst of them several times, including yesterday, which is a thrilling experience. I will show you some dolphin and whale photos soon.
Wild flowers are still growing profusely in mid-June!
The islands are home to lots of fauna too, including Channel Islands Foxes, which live no where else in the world, are tiny, adorable, and unafraid of humans. Photos of them soon.
What the islands may lack in modern conveniences,
they make up for in spades with unspoiled splendor.
Cheers to you from Santa Rosa Island~
The Sonoran Desert in Southern California,
is bursting in bloom!
Rains continue into May in the desert which is unheard of.
Note the people midway up the mountain to give you perspective on the scope of of the superbloom which cover many mountains.
Blooming Brittlebush carpet the foothills in vibrant yellow blankets.
This bloom in Whitewater Wildlands Conservancy is ‘Off the Beaten Path.’ Most superbloom areas in Southern California are mobbed with crowds, but even on the weekend, there are very few people here. You hike by yourself in the wilderness.
The river for which the conservancy is named is full of snow melt cascading into the desert from the surrounding mountains,
filling natural resevoirs to capacity with overflow.
Southern California mountains and deserts are happy!
Cheers to you from the desert in May.
Note: I am traveling now and continuing my ‘Off the Beaten Path’ travel destination series as I go.