Wasteland Wakened~

On May 7, 2023May 27, 2023 By cindy knokeIn Conservation, Flowers, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, TRAVEL REVIEWS190 Comments

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.

Off The Beaten Path: Kotor

On May 5, 2023May 6, 2023 By cindy knokeIn Conservation, EXTERIOR & INTERIOR DESIGN, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, TRAVEL REVIEWS179 Comments

Church of St. Nicholas,

Kotor, Montenegro.

My favorite places,

are less traveled and uncrowded.

Kotor is exactly such a place. It is charming, unspoiled and an explorers paradise.

Kotor is one of the best preserved medieval old towns in the Adriatic.

It is a desiginated as two separate Unesco World Heritage Sites. First, for it’s buildings of medieval significance, and secondly for it’s Venetian defensive structures built at the height of Venetian power in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Cheers to you from the first in a series of ‘Off the Beaten Path Places’ in our small world~

Do These Potheads~

On April 30, 2023April 30, 2023 By cindy knokeIn Conservation, Flowers, GARDENING AT THE HOLLER, HOLLER HAPPENINGS, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES181 Comments

Seem high to you?

The Holler is a bloomin’ glory!

The fruits are flowering,

the narcissus are self centering,

the daisies are dancing,

the iris are iridescent,

and the coco locos are yet to turn lavender!

Cheers to you from The Bloomin’ Holler~

Note: Those potheads are not in my garden! 🤣

Bloomin’ David’s~

On April 30, 2023April 30, 2023 By cindy knokeIn Flowers, GARDENING AT THE HOLLER, HOLLER HAPPENINGS, MY PHOTOGRAPHS125 Comments

David Austin Roses,

at The Holler,

are blooming beauties.

The scent indoors,

is intoxicating.

Cheers to you from The Bloomin’ Holler~

Reys of Feathered Sun~

On April 24, 2023April 25, 2023 By cindy knokeIn Birds, Conservation, GARDENING AT THE HOLLER, HOLLER HAPPENINGS, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, Wild Life158 Comments

In black tuxedos (click/tap to enlarge)

are sunbursts,

in the garden.

Hooded Oriole males,

are always dressed,

to impress.

Cheers to you from the flying sunbursts~

Holler Creatures~

On April 21, 2023April 23, 2023 By cindy knokeIn Conservation, Coyotes, HOLLER HAPPENINGS, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, Wild Life221 Comments

Look at those ears! This watcher caught me unaware through the window at dawn. I shot him through double paned glass in the rain. Holler coyotes are quite bold now, coming through our fences before dawn and hanging out. This is a sub-adult, so I suspect he dug under the fences.

You can see he is bold, made and held eye contact, even while I grabbed my camera case, pulled out my camera, removed the lens cap, and got a few shots.

Since he didn’t back off, I opened the door, and walked after him. He sashayed off after I yelled.

This guy in Death Valley also stood his ground, but he was not challenging, more interested.

He sashayed off too.

These are more Holler sub-adult coyote siblings. The one who stared at me also has a sibling. All four are about the same age, sub-adult.

This is an adult. Coyotes and Grey Wolves may be the only ‘pure’ wild canine species still surviving in North America. Most other wolf species have at least some coyote DNA.

Red Wolves, for example, share 75% of their DNA with coyotes. For more on this read: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/distinctions-blur-between-wolf-species#:~:text=Red%20wolves%20contain%20about%2075,to%2050%20percent%20coyote%20ancestry.

There are also a lot of Ceonothus Silk Moths at The Holler right now. Ceonothus is lilac. We live in Lilac California, named after the wild lilacs that grow profusely here. Ceonothus Moths lay their eggs on wild lilac. They have a wing span of up to five inches, have no mouth, live only a matter of days and only live to reproduce.

They are calm and beautiful creatures who are not afraid of humans.

Cheers to you from The Holler Creatures~