Acmon Blue Butterfly

Acmon Blue butterfly on Spanish Lotus

I observed this butterfly on a hilltop near Albertson Fire Road. The plant it is foraging on is Spanish Clover or Spanish Lotus aka American bird’s foot trefoil, Acmispon americanus, one of several caterpillar host plants for this species. According to Calscape, there are 533 likely host plants for the Acmon Blue, making it a… Continue reading Acmon Blue Butterfly

Cipher

A scorched Coast Live Oak that survived the Woolsey Fire, Conejo Open Space - November 2019

The mother the daughter and the What is that empty space? We need to fill it. Fill it up with explanations that amaze our self-regard. Here are compound eyes flecked with the dust of stars made by… Matter is a pickle, or is this pickle omnipotent, like energy, like the predestined, the chosen by What… Continue reading Cipher

Winter – 2020 Trail Observations

Bobcat, Los Robles West, Conejo Open Space, Thousand Oaks, CA

Things derive their being and nature by mutual dependence and are nothing in themselves. —Nāgārjuna, second-century Buddhist philosopher The Meditation (My Trip into Crazy Town) Truth is a provisional construct, the integrity of which is only as good as the reliability of the source. We all know this on some level. Without some basic agreement… Continue reading Winter – 2020 Trail Observations

Pacific Pea and California Hedge Nettle

Photo of Pacific Pea, blue-hued flowers on the Backbone trail in the Santa Monica Mountains (January 2020)

Etz Meloy is one of my favorite trails, but I decided to hike Backbone in the opposite direction yesterday. I followed the trail until it came to an intersection with the Zuma Ridge trail, then continued on Zuma Ridge up to Buzzard’s Roost, then turned back and retraced my steps. Just after I started walking,… Continue reading Pacific Pea and California Hedge Nettle