Place: Cabins in Santa Anita Canyon park...

I have written many times about my love for woods exploration...and California with its abundant chaparral, oak woodland and elfin forest, never disappoints me...

Here, I am in Santa Anita Canyon of Angeles National park........'Cabins in the woods' are one of the fascinating things for me...spotting huts and lodges in deep forests by the streams, with mule deer, woodpeckers and squirrels foraging nearby makes me happy...and this park is renowned for its about eighty historical cottages in the midst of maples, oaks and laurels.....

some of them are rented for recreation purpose...

A stream runs by the cabins...It was early August and the creek had dried...

But I could imagine, it must have been very relaxing to sit by the edge with a cup of tea and a book, while listening to the gurgling water during spring, inhaling the fresh air-infused with scent of wildflowers, sighting a mule deer or a squirrel every now and then...

Food: Edible flowers to enhance food...

Currently, I am working on an article regarding potential f ornamental edible flowers to valourize our food platter...with emphasis on North American flowers...
Though the list is going to be exhaustive, here, I present some of them which appear at the top...

Daylily.........

Rose..

Daisy... 

Pineapple guava...

Dandelion....

Lavender....

Apple....

Allium....

Yucca.............

Mustard...

Mum...

Begonia....

Nasturtium...

Sweet pea...

Marigold....

Ornamental plum....

Place: Splendid sunset at Ocean beach.....

For a crisp ocean air, beach stroll, and above all stunning sunsets we often go to Ocean beach ...some from my archives...

The long pier accentuates the view with its beautiful silhouette...

Spectacular...is not it?

Tangerine sky casts golden rays on the Pacific...

Plant: When mustard blooms in chaparrals......

Being an amateur painter and an avid nature lover, I absolutely love this quote by Stanley Horowitz

"Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all". What an apt analogy! When I saw  the South California chaparrals abloom with wild mustard, I could not help mutter those well-chosen words and bask in the ethereal landscape...

Spring and early summer comes and chaparrals of South California get splashed with golden blooms of wild mustard...That's when I love it the most...
It was my very first experience of the heavenly, yet brief blooming season...in Crystal cove state park...

My spouse, enjoying the beauty...

Its Whiting ranch wilderness park...same season, roughly same geographical area....but it was the year, it did not rain..and see, how dull it looks...

I wish, the South California drought ends and we get copious rain..such that the mustards bloom in zillions, painting the canyons yellow..

Joy: Excitement of first spotting....

We all have our own wish-lists...and they are not granted easily...that's why its so special when they are fulfilled...
I am a nature-lover and enjoy exploring the wilderness....and during the rambles, hope to see things new to me..pictures below are some of such longings that materialized...
A hummingbird nest on a scrub oak branch...

A mule deer in the oak woodland...

A marmot near the foothills of snow-capped mountains of Glacier National park....

A coyote in Yellowstone national park...

An eucalyptus tree with myriad acorn-stuffed holes...yeah, sculpted by woodpeckers...

A sea lion in the Pacific ocean!..

A mola mola or Ocean sunfish ...giant bony fish, in fact the heaviest....saw in the Pacific...

One dream is realized...another sprouts...perhaps, this zeal should never die...that makes life interesting...

Joy: Sunrise walk...

Everything is so serene, unpolluted during sunrise..and one should enjoy this moment for a good start of the day..unfortunately, I am far from a early bird..
So, that day when got to wake up quite sooner than my daily routine, I decided to take a walk and view the ambience around our neighborhood..

As I stroll down the sidewalks, sun was casting its young rays on the beech and plums, creating long shadows..

The streets were still empty..it was nice to see it free of speeding vehicles, for a while...

Soon, they started trickling in...

The sycamores were sunbathing ..

Spotted this honeybee hive on a sweetgum...

Dusty miller buds gets ready to unfurl..love the bokeh background...

Garden snails who predated on the euryops all-night will soon take retreat...

In no time the clouds characteristic of a coastal town will vanish and sun will shin bright...

I must shake off my lethargy and witness this beautiful hour more often..