thought for a friday morning

Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.
Carl Sagan 


Photo by Melissa Mathieson

geeking out at the wildflower show

This weekend's "9th Annual Cambria Wildflower Show" features hundreds of local celebrities— aka clippings of fresh wildflowers collected from the Monterey County line to the Morro Bay Estuary, and the Coastal bluffs to the ridge of the Santa Lucia Mountains. I tried to capture some of my favorites here, but, as in all nature, these beauties are best seen in real life.

Plant family name in all caps followed by genus and species, citation (shorthand for name of person who named plant), and common name of plant.

FABACEAE, Pickeringia montana Nut. var. montana — Chaparral Pea

FABACEAE, Lupinus succulentus Koch — Succulent Annual Lupine

ASTERACEAE, Carduus pycnocephalus — Italian Thistle

BORAGINACEAE, Borago officinalis L. — Common Borage

ASTERACEAE, Uropappus lindleyi (D.C.) Nutt — Silver Puffs

ASTERACEAE, Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertner — Milk Thistle

ASTERACEAE, Layia platyglossa (Fisch. & May.) — Tidy-Tips

ASTERACEAE, Helenium puberulum D.C. — Sneezeweed

ASTERACEAE, Gazania longiscapa DC. — Treasure Flower

SCROPHULARIACEAE, Castilleja affinis H. & A. ssp. affinis — Indian Paint Brush

ROSACEAE, Rosa gymnocarpa Nutt. — Wood Rose

ROSACEAE, Fragaria vesca L. — Wood Strawberry

RANUNCULACEAE, Ranunculus californicus Benth — California Buttercups

RANUNCULACEAE, Aquilegia formosa Fisch. — Crimson Columbine

PORTULACACEAE, Calandrinia ciliata (Ruiz, Lopez & Pavon) DC. — Red Maids

POLYGONACEAE, Rumex acetosella L. — Sheep Sorrel

PLUMBAGINACEAE, Limonium sinuatum (L.) Miller — Statice/Thrift

PAPAVERACEAE, Eschscholzia californica — Dune Poppy

ONAGRACEAE, Epilobium ciliatum ssp. watsonii (Barb.) Hoch & Raven — San Francisco Willow Herb

MYRTACEAE, Eucalyptus globulus Labill — Blue Gum

MALVACEAE, Lavatera cretica L. — Cretan Mallow
Introduced: Europe ...

GERANIACEAE, Pelargonium grossularioides (L.) Ait. — Smelly Geranium

GENTIANACEAE, Centaunum davyi (Jeps.) Abrams — Davy's Centaury

GARRYACEAE, Garrya flavescens Wats — Ashy Silk-Tassel

IRIDACEAE, IRis douglasiana Herb. — Douglas Iris

TROPAEOLACEAE, Tropaeolum majus L. — Nasturtium

TAMARICACEAE, Tamarix parviflora DC. — Small Flowered Tamasisk

STERCULIACEAE, Fremontondendron californicum (Torrey) Cov. ssp. obispoense (Eastw.) Munz — Flannel Bush

ASTERACEAE, Cirsium occidentale var. compacta Hoover — Compact Cobweb Thistle

ASTERACEAE, Centaurea cyanus L — Bachelor's Button/Cornflower

DRYOPTERIDACEAE, Polystichum minitum (Kaulf.) Presl — Giant Sword Fern

EQUISETACEAE, Equisetum telmateia Ehrh. ssp braunii (Milde) R. L. Hauke — Giant Horsetail

smartly happy

A walk in the woods on a fresh spring morning, waking my daughter with a tight squeeze, a really cool song on the i-pod, and the high school drama production packed full of emotion-triggering performances — just a few random samplings of joys I've experienced of late. How is it that I often race through life failing to notice the magnificence of moments like these?

Newtown. Boston. So horrible — and vivid reminders that my time on earth is all too fragile and temporary. Who cares if I don't make deadline at the office? I'm currently blessed with a beautiful, magnificent (am I overusing that word?) daughter with whom I have the pleasure of watching American Idol two nights a week! How cool is that? Says God.

Some people seem quite adept at ruining our God-given paradise, but they are troubled and largely outnumbered by those who honestly seek good over evil. Truth is, life is most awesome— including the hard times, because they most efficiently put life lessons into our thick skulls! I have emerged my little trip to hell and back with the invaluable blessings of 1) being able to say "I've been there" to someone in a similar circumstance, and 2) recognizing the simple joys in life when they come my way. Nature walks are most important in affirming No. 2.

Wisdom and beauty are wonderful things.

love and marriage

I have a rule not to post anything political or controversial here, but in this case I will not only make an exception, I’ll get downright preachy about it. Today and tomorrow the Superior Court will discuss California’s ban on same-sex marriage and the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which denies federal benefits to same-sex couples married in the nine states where such unions are legal. I pray that our country’s judicial representatives will, quite simply, do the right thing in their subsequent rulings on these cases.

When my brother Tim, who passed away over nine years ago, told me he was gay, I remember thinking: “Thank God.” He was so private, never had a girlfriend, and I feared he would never experience true love in his life. Turned out his hopes in this area were pretty much the same as mine: To have one committed partner to spend the rest of his life with and also, someday, to have children. During his final days, he shared with me his lifelong desire to be a father. He wondered what kind of dad he would've been. I have the answer to that one: A kind, decent, and loving one who would have read a lot of parenting books and taken his kids on many camping trips! If anyone out there thinks I’m a halfway decent mom, I can tell you he would have run circles around me in the parenting department!

I am a Christian. And for a time I was a member of a fundamentalist church that believed being gay was wrong according to the teachings of the bible. My brother was also a believer and sought his answers in that very bible (flawed as it is) — yet my church would not have accepted him as a member or allowed him to serve the congregation in any capacity. I have a problem with that.

The same narrow-minded thinking has reigned supreme in large segments of our society as well as our judicial system for centuries. I attended my sister’s wedding last year. The current powers that be tell me that she and I are entitled to the benefits of the institution of marriage but my brother is not — simply because of the gender of whom he loves. It’s analogous to putting black people at the back of the bus! We do not "choose" being gay or straight any more than we choose the color of our own skin. It is high time we, as a society, right this wrong and I am praying that the Superior Court will take the first step in doing just that this week.