A Silent Spring
After staying dormant all winter and, so it appears, most of spring, I’m returning to Run DMZ.
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| Poppies along the Dixon Lake shoreline |
Wild winter = wildflowers extraordinaire
This winter was wild here in California, with waves of wet weather known as atmospheric rivers pelting hillsides, forging new tributaries, drowning wildlife, knocking out bridges, closing roads, flooding beach boardwalks, and providing one of the most beautiful springs on record.
All that rain might have canceled weeks, then months, of outdoor plans, but once the weather pattern changed from cloudy with a chance of rain to just cloudy, nature turned up with quite the floral arrangement.
With more free time most weekdays, I resumed weekly hikes with friends in the foothills and mountains surrounding San Diego County while temps were cool and crowds were light. So far we’ve gone here, here, here, here and here. Every trail we’ve chosen has yielded spectacularly green vistas and fragrant plumes of purple, branches dripping with blossoms, and a rainbow of flora you had to stop and admire. I also found a large tarantula on last week’s walk, so startled that I couldn’t get words out to call back others ahead.
These weren’t easy courses at our age, but we took our time. Stopped to snap a super bloom or admire a full lake. As a longtime Californian, my gratitude grows for witnessing such small wonders among great friends.
The river that raged for weeks near my home has since calmed down as once-green grassy knolls are just days away from making the full turn to summer gold. Bridges are still out, so creek crossings remain nonnegotiable for another few rainless weeks. On the plus side, we can again go for long walks on the beach now that crews dredged an offshore canyon to replenish depleted shorelines.
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| Burst of unexpected color along an Iron Mountain trail |
Summer plans
All this hiking will be helpful when we head to the Sierras this month on our first real family vacation in years. This trip to Kings Canyon & Sequoia national parks was first canceled by Covid, then a wildfire. It looked like it might be canceled again due to snowmelt and flooding, but yesterday we got the email that visitors are again welcomed where we’re going (not so for some other parts).
I’m hoping it kicks off a summer of activity, the kind you enjoy rather than endure. My husband and I are now keenly aware of time’s relentless forward motion, its inability to stop just because you want it to. We know if we don’t do some trips soon, we never will. Such revelations are frequent when you ease out of the middle ages and enter a new era of life several years ahead of schedule. For us, we’ll travel the Southwest over the next few years with a 15-year-old now with a shortened lifespan. Then settle down far from here.
There’s much to document in the coming seasons. And on the first social platform I adopted, one which I just can’t seem to quit.
Opening photo: Crossroads at Santa Ysabel Preserve
