Flora of the Angeles National Forrest

Yesterday, whilst driving a different route home, I found these beautiful local wildflowers and got some great shots with my new Cannon SX110IS digital camera. The Angeles National Forrest surrounds the tiny communities of Elizabeth Lake, Lake Hughes, Green Valley, Leona Valley and Three Point.


Clarkia unguiculata or Woodland Clarkia on Bouquet Canyon Road in the Angeles National Forrest near Saugus.


Diplacus aurantiacus or Sticky Monkey Flower on Bouquet Canyon Road in the Angeles National Forrest near Saugus.


Campanula Medium or Canterbury Bells on Spunky Canyon Road in the Angeles National Forrest near Green Valley.


Cirsium neomexicanum or New Mexico Thistle on Spunky Canyon Road in the Angeles National Forrest near Green Valley.

Local flora of Elizabeth Lake

On the way home from an assignment, I decided to stop and smell the roses, so to speak. Here is what I encountered...

Blue Elderberry or Sambucus mexicana
Sandrock Drive, Elizabeth Lake, CA


California Poppy or Eschscholzia californica
Sandrock Drive, Elizabeth Lake, CA


Scarlet Larkspur or Delphinium cardinale
Lake Elizabeth Road, Green Valley, CA


Desert Candle or Yucca whipplei
San Francisquito Road, Green Valley, CA














Purple Nightshade or Solanum xanti
Sandrock Drive, Elizabeth Lake, CA

Do I really have to work?

I just finished working the Spring semester at CSU Northridge and I have a few more weeks to go teaching at Antelope Valley College. I just started training at Sorenson Communications and will be working there in no time, but I have vacation on the brain. I am having one of those, wouldn't-life-be-grand-if-I-was-independently-wealthy moments. I really wouldn't mind not working for a while and not having to be someplace, somewhere at sometime. I'm sure this is what everyone must be feeling and I am thankful to have a career that is still in high demand, but today I'm just not feeling it. So I'll stomp my feet on the ground, act like a big baby and be on my way to work. I need to learn how to say no for a change.

The story of Elizabeth Lake

It dawned on me that most people don't know where Elizabeth Lake is, nor doing they know anything about it. So I decided to create a new category called "The story of..." A photo-journalistic approach in introducing Elizabeth Lake to the world, if you will.

This next, brief historical account is taken from Wikipedia...so read with a discerning eye.

"Elizabeth Lake is in the Antelope Valley, surrounded by rolling golden hills. It once straddled the boundary of the Tataviam and Kittanemuk tribes. The Tataviam may have called the lake Kivarum.

In 1780, Father Junipero Serra named the lake La Laguna de Diablo. The lake earned the name La Laguna de Diablo because all those who lived by it believed it to contain the devil's pet, also known as the Elizabeth Lake Monster. Sometime after 1834, the lake was named Rabbitt for a very short time. Then it became La Laguna de Chico Lopez.

In 1849, Elizabeth Wingfield was camping with her family beside the lake. She walked down a log which extended into the water to fill buckets for cooking and drinking. Elizabeth slipped off the log and fell into the lake. Although she wasn't injured, several other families also vacationing, witnessed her stumble. In fun they began calling the lake Elizabeth's Lake. The name caught on and locals started calling it Elizabeth Lake. The name didn't become official until much later. It is now sometimes incorrectly referred to as Lake Elizabeth since the local golf course and the community sign project have mislabeled their welcome signs causing much confusion.

In 1924, Judge Hughes separated the western part of Elizabeth Lake to create a recreation resort area. This part of Elizabeth Lake was renamed Lake Hughes."

Pictured above is the sign, newly erected last year, welcoming visitors to Lake Hughes and Elizabeth Lake. I will have more for you later.

I need a vacation

It is way too early to be talking about vacations, but I need one none-the-less. I think Jack Nicholson said it best..."All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." I work too much, I try to do too much and it's beginning to wear thin on me.

I would love to go on an Alaskan cruise and go kayaking in the crisp cool waters. Or maybe walking down the Avenue des Champs-Élysées drinking incredibly rich hot chocolate. Yet again, how about exploring somewhere new and exciting: Sub-Saharan Africa, Glacial Greenland or traipsing through the rain forests of Madagascar?

Ah well so much for dreaming, back to the grind...

Other signs of spring

Poppies! The poppies are coming!







Now that's nesting shesh!

My little garden

I was inspired by the recent poppy explosion to get some gardening in this weekend.

On a recent trip to Costco, Kim and I purchased a new tumbling composter. With a lot of elbow grease and some ingenuity, we finally got that pain in the butt assembled. This will make composting a snap. When that was all said and done, I decided to plant scallions, cucumbers, carrots and romaine lettuce from seed. I threw in one more sweet basil plant for good measure. I'll have to wait to see what grows, so to speak, but I'm sure something will pop up. I'm officially sore and tired, but I definitely feel a sense of accomplishment after digging in the dirt.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]