The other day a balloon (they go up regularly early in the morning) ran into some trouble, landed temporarily in the Preserve and narrowly escaped our townhomes. I was out with the dog at the time so ran upstairs and got the first shot through the screen in our spare bedroom.
Next, before I cook these I have to show the chanterelles to you because they’re so gorgeous. The vendor also had lobster mushrooms and told me to make them into a kind of succotash. I stuck with the chanterelles this week. Can’t wait to taste them!
The last shot is of the mountains in this strange evening sunlight. I couldn’t even see what I was shooting because of the sun, but it turned out OK, yet it doesn’t adequately describe the beauty of the mountains as they change every hour in the sunlight. One thing I can’t bring you is the stars at night, yes, they’re big and bright, like in the heart of Texas, but on clear nights they awaken me to their splendor.
As the grasses go to seed and dissipate we hope to see more birds on the preserve. We hear the Greater Sandhill Cranes from time to time and Jim saw them just the other day before they went into the tall grass. It is a magnificent sound at 5-6 a.m. Prehistoric (Eocene era) birds calling out to one another. Look the sounds up online and you’ll only get the sound of thousands. I need to figure out how and when to record just three. One of the adults flew 30 feet or so, at least a 6′ wingspan. It’s an amazing feat to behold.
And now I’m sounding like Dad at the Grand Canyon 40 years ago at 6:00 a.m. when we’d been up all night in 112 degree heat and just wanted to get the heck out of the Grand Canyon! Sorry, Dad. You didn’t use up all the “awesomes” and “majestic’s” and we still love you. btw, we had an “air cooling system” on July 4th, three kids so far and our first night out west and no-one slept a wink. So we drove to Flagstaff to a hotel with air conditioning. The A/C in our rental car was broken as well. Luckily the trip picked up upon arrival in San Diego and the drive to SF. Cheers! Dee
Cooking with Dee 
Sorry Lisa, in my mind (I don’t have photos) you are there. So let’s say four children dying of heat prostration. Dee
No, you weren’t there as I was eight. I was eleven when you were born. You were there in spirit. Dee