I apologize for the delay in this post. It appears that spilling a glass of wine on the keyboard renders the keyboard unintelligible to Google. Thank goodness for another machine in the household.
This month’s blog is living proof of how circumscribed our lives have become since the onset of the Covid-19 lockdown. Frankly, it has been very hard to find items of any interest whatsoever to share with you, but I will endeavour to at least highlight some of Mother Nature’s accomplishments in our realm.
Our spring has continued to be cool, but that hasn’t slowed our wildflowers much. New ones have been coming out all month. Many of the blooms are small to tiny, as fitting our dry climate. For example, Sagebrush Buttercup plants are barely a couple of inches high, but their bright yellow blossoms are the size of a quarter.
The very smallest flower has the biggest name, which is unique in itself. Maiden Blue-eyed Mary blossoms are only about 1/8” in size but include marvelous colours of blue, white and yellow.
Some plants have the weirdest names, like Wayside Gromwell, but since Lemon Weed is an alternative moniker for this guy, I prefer to use that. Honestly, botanists can be as bad as lepidopterists!
Bluebell is a common name for over 80 different plants; this one is a Mountain Bluebell.
To give lie to my previous statement about small flowers in a dry climate, our Arrowleaf Balsamroot plants stand over a foot high, and the blooms are the size of small saucers. This one is merrily blooming in front of a blooming Wax Current bush while Lupen leaves are sprouting in front of the Balsamroot. In a few weeks we will have a profusion of blue flowers everywhere.
I made an interesting geological find on the property next door, where the owners have started building a house. The area has been dug in preparation for foundation work, and the well has been dug. This is where I made the discovery. Some of the soil in a layer was very chalky looking. When I grabbed a piece of “rock” it turned out to be very light and full of holes. After some research, I realized I had found a piece of volcanic tuff, formed by an explosion of magma. We have extensive evidence of glaciation here, and the mountain is known for its granite, but there are numerous examples of volcanic activity in the past. What a busy geological site!
Like everyone else, we have had little occasion to go out to do anything. Brian, who despises shopping with a passion, is now eager to drive me for my weekly trip for groceries. He won’t come into the store, but the thrill of driving somewhere is impossible to resist. We have cleaned almost anything cleanable, have fixed anything fixable, and are living a life of boring virtue. Our neighbour, who works in a building supply store, says that paint has been flying off the shelves, so other people are obviously as desperate as we are to occupy our time profitably. We are still luckier than most because our location brings us into contact with few people. I hope all of you are safe and healthy as well.
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