#WordlessWednesday
Moon on electrical power lines at Agua Hedionda Lagoon.
Goodnight, moon.
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Super Healthy Vegan Protein Smoothie
Happy Sunday!
The color of this smoothie was such a gorgeous jade green, I just had to pour it in a pretty cocktail glass and take a pic.
Ingredients:
+Vegan Pea Protein
+Moringa powder (Organic)
+Wheat grass powder (Organic)
+Spirulina powder (Organic)
+Kale
+Banana
+Mango Peach Juice
So easy; toss it all in a blender and enjoy!
To a Butterfly
STAY near me–do not take thy flight!
A little longer stay in sight!
Much converse do I find in thee,
Historian of my infancy!
Float near me; do not yet depart! – Wordsworth
This female Papilio glaucus, the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, hung around for about half an hour, leisurely fluttering from one flower to another. I almost felt like paparazzi as I snapped photo after photo of this Lepidopteran celebrity. A little research revealed that the first known drawing of a North America butterfly was in 1587 of an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail by John White.
It happened in the front yard this time along the dry river bed.
I was enchanted while she took a rest break on the ground, basically right at my feet, long enough for me to take about fifty more pics.
To a Butterfly
STAY near me–do not take thy flight!
A little longer stay in sight!
Much converse do I find in thee,
Historian of my infancy!
Float near me; do not yet depart!
Dead times revive in thee:
Thou bring’st, gay creature as thou art!
A solemn image to my heart,
My father’s family!
Oh! pleasant, pleasant were the days,
The time, when, in our childish plays,
My sister Emmeline and I
Together chased the butterfly!
A very hunter did I rush
Upon the prey:–with leaps and springs
I followed on from brake to bush;
But she, God love her, feared to brush
The dust from off its wings.
By William Wordsworth (1770-1850)
9/11/2001
No photos of burning buildings, no video of towers collapsing; simply think about where you were on September 11, 2001.
The lost are remembered on the 19th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
Who could forget that day?
I had just turned on the morning news and was drinking my first cup of cup when all hell broke loose.
In real time, I watched the World Trade Center’s South Tower burn at 9:03 a.m., (6am my time) moments after being struck by United Airlines Flight 175.
I put down my coffee and ran upstairs to wake up my then twenty-year-old son.
I didn’t know what was happening–if similar attacks were planned for the west coast–but we watched the unfolding of tragedy after tragedy.
Never forget the loss of life at the Towers or the Pentagon or Flight 93, which crashed into a field in Pennsylvania during an attempt by the passengers and crew to regain control.
Someone just sent me this graphic that says it all:
Water. Fall.
A pic from a camping trip to Yellowstone in 2013.
I wish I was there right now; It looks so refreshing, doesn’t it?
#wordlesswednesday
Fog + real ducks in a fake pond.
I had to get up at the crack of dawn to walk before the devil heat returns.
Lucky for me there’s a deep marine layer and so much fog that it’s impossible to see across the street from my house. The fence around the school is barely visible; that’s how moisture-laden the skies are right now. Normally, it’s possible to see all the way to the lagoon from here, but not today.
It’s an hour-long walk around the lagoon and up the hill, and I hurried to beat the emergence of the fiery ball. All-time heat records were broken yesterday; it’s easier to comprehend nuclear fusion creating a core temperature of 270 million degrees on days like that.
These are real ducks in a fake pond on the street where all the paddleboarders park. They built this water feature and have since tried in every way to deter ducks from using it–but here they are. It’s literally feet away from the lagoon which is a natural body of water; how could they expect wildlife NOT to enjoy it??? Duh.
Hello, ducks! Have a wonderful swim. Welcome to Carlsbad!
…and so it begins
Here in SoCal, there are unusual excessive heat warnings for the coast; it could reach 105 degrees today. It was 87 degrees at 8:00 a.m. and now it’s 101 at 11:00 a.m. HOT!
The National Weather Service announced red flag warnings for high fire probability with humidity less than ten percent. The forecast also calls for areas of smoke. High heat records are being broken this weekend. Our desert temperatures could exceed 126 degrees. Crazy!
There’s ash on my car and deck from the fire in Alpine, fifty miles away in the east county. I tried to go for a walk at 7:15 and not only was it already too hot, but my breathing was compromised from the smoke so I had to turn back. As of right now, the (named) Valley fire is estimated to have burned 4,000 acres and is 0% contained. Ten structures have been destroyed.
And then I found this, the first one of the season. The first leaf fallen from the mulberry tree. Autumn in SoCal.
I see a few more yellow leaves up there; soon I’ll be raking them up and the branches will be barren.
Sometimes I hear the voice of my poetry professor and search for a poem to illustrate the bittersweet feelings of the changing season. This is a good one by Rossetti.
Autumn Song
Know’st thou not at the fall of the leaf
How the heart feels a languid grief
Laid on it for a covering,
And how sleep seems a goodly thing
In Autumn at the fall of the leaf?
And how the swift beat of the brain
Falters because it is in vain,
In Autumn at the fall of the leaf
Knowest thou not? and how the chief
Of joys seems—not to suffer pain?
Know’st thou not at the fall of the leaf
How the soul feels like a dried sheaf
Bound up at length for harvesting,
And how death seems a comely thing
In Autumn at the fall of the leaf?
By DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI
3-Ingredient VEGAN Banana Oat Cookies
YES! It’s so simple and so healthy, a wonderful baking activity to do with children.
It’s your decision whether to stick with three basic ingredients or add extras. They can be as elaborate as you want.
The best part of this recipe is that it uses ZERO sweetener, however if you add granola, remember that it’s most likely made with sugar or honey. I don’t have gluten issues, but I guess you could call this technically a gluten-free recipe.
The secret to success is VERY ripe bananas, the kind that you’d only use for banana bread or think about tossing into the compost. That’s the level of ripeness we’re looking for here.
3 Ingredient Vegan Banana Oat Cookies
-1-2 very ripe bananas
-1 cup rolled oats (not quick oats) OR 1/2 cup oats and 1/2 cup granola, mine contained raisins.
-1/2 cup chopped nuts, I used raw almonds.
Directions: Mash bananas, stir in oats and nuts. (I sprinkled in 1 teaspoon cinnamon.)
Other additions could be raisins, flax/chia/hemp seeds, other dried fruit, coconut.
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, chill for 30 minutes or so; then drop by a full teaspoon on parchment covered baking sheet. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 11-15 minutes, depending on your oven’s thermostat. Let cool on baking sheet before storing.
One Tree: Two Hawks
From 2017 for #throwbackthursday
It was a great day to spend time in my garden with these two hawks. Do you know what they were looking at? Me, taking photos of them.
Magical September Moon
It’s been a crazy year so far with Covid-19, isolating quarantines and Zoom schooling, masks and social distancing, our country in lock down, fighting over toilet paper and hand sanitizer, and that’s just the weird stuff. The ugly shadow side to all of this is the senseless killing of black Americans and the unleashing of hatred by disgusting white supremacists, brought to the surface by an orange-faced agitator. In my opinion, he really is the most vile and evil creature, the real disease of 2020.
Anyway…2020 is almost over and we have a bewitching full moon tonight.
For the first time in three years, the September full moon is in a unique situation: it’s happening so early in the month — a timing that gives it an entirely different name, the Corn Moon– instead of the harvest moon — and sets the stage for October to have two full moons, meaning a rare blue moon will shine this Halloween.
Full moons happen when the sun, Earth, and moon form a line, allowing the side of the moon facing Earth to be fully illuminated by the sun. Another name for this full moon is the Hungry Ghost Moon, which references the Chinese Hungry Ghost Festival that happens on the 15th day of the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar. On this day, ghosts and spirits, including those of ancestors, are believed to visit the living. (From Live Science)
Wherever you are on the planet, I hope you’re able to enjoy the healing energy of this full moon.
Enchanted Seashells | Princess Rosebud 