Ramble

[finnchuill]

I took a walk up the Lobos Creek valley this afternoon; the mosaic of different shades of muted greens and the lavender of the lupine blossoms was lovely. There are lots of wild strawberries flowering and the azure blossoms of the ceanothus bushes attracted lots of native bees. At the top I walked though the old Marines Hospital complex and was amazed at the restoration (part of the Presidio National Park). I didn't even recognize the main building at first. The last time I was up there the hospital, which had been abandoned since 1982, looked like a good set for shooting a horror film. The 1932 building has had the ugly modern additions removed and is now an apartment building; it has a sort of French manor house look to it. I continued on all the way to Mountain Lake--lots of coots and the willows are blooming. While I was walking back it rained lightly, but mostly the afternoon was a break from the week of rain. As I neared the parking lot, passing through the last grove of cypress, I hear a nneeh, nnee--and looking for its source saw a horned owl sitting on a cypress branch in the dusk. I suppose s/he was just waking up.

I feel lucky to live in a city that has so many wild places and denizens.