Tag: Wildwood Park

Indian Creek

About a mile or so from where I live is some truly beautiful country, set aside by the city where I live as open land.  Deer, raptors, bunnies, snakes, raccoon, plants, oaks, thistle, cactus, sage all hang out together.  So do the suburbanites.  Other open spaces are found throughout, and the vary in size from small local parks, such as mine, which has a creek running through it, to areas of several hundred acres.

This morning I just had to get out, so off I went, and took a trail I had not taken before.  Moving along at a snail’s pace, there was a lot to see.  And be passed up by!  Cross-country runners, dog walkers, and just people out for a stroll.  Having a camera slung over one’s shoulder gives one a bit of grace – I’m not just another geriatric plodding along, but I have an excuse to dodder, as I have my camera.

Ok, given that, the fact is I don’t trust my ankles not to give way, and in areas where one is wandering alone, caution prevails.  This, though, doesn’t mean I don’t challenge myself, but it does mean I am careful, and in being careful, take the time to simply look.  And think . . . about composition, about exposure, about depth of field.  I also heard the birds, the rushing of the stream, and the plash of water over rocks.  Lizards scurried away, and butterflies flitted about.

A dreamy way to pass a morning on the first day of October.

Weathering the Season

These past weeks here in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties have seen odd weather – not seasonally odd – but overall odd.  Thunder and lightning seldom occur here – but they did, in abundance.  Cold weather, and a week of rain.  Now, up into the 70s and 80s, the east winds are blowing dust and pollen everywhere.  Everyone is congested and feeling as if hayfever has descended like a plague.  The winds are drying up people and plants.  Tomorrow, we can expect more rain.

Despite my whining, it has been really lovely to get a week or so of rain.  The problem is the sudden shift from high humidity to low, and the winds just add to the mix by drying everything up more so than just higher temperatures might.  The skies have been beautifully clear and blue, and the clouds are more than usual – the usual is no clouds around here!

After work, a friend and I took our cameras and headed out to a local park in Thousand Oaks, Wildwood Park, which is part of the land dedicated to open space around the city.  This park has meadows and scrub, rocky paths, vistas.  In the early evening, with a week of rain behind us, the winter vegetation is beginning to green up.  Underfoot, the earth gives a little, which feels strange when one is used to a dry, dusty crunch.

The cacti are rather fat and full of water.  The prickly pear have ripening fruit.

Sagebrush flowers are dried, hollow shells, but the leaves erupt in an acrid spiciness when crushed.  While the hills still look burnt from the dryness of the summer, a hint of green may be seen.

The sunset was bright and clear, with a majestic descent of the sun into the western mountains, turning clouds pink and the valley gold, orange, purple, and gone.