Tag Archives: Mendonoma coast

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The late rains have coaxed The Prince to bloom. Agaricus augustus is a delicious, meaty wild mushroom with a wonderful almond odor. I found one lone Prince on our road this past week but Jacquelynn Baas of The Sea Ranch hit the big time and sent me a photo to prove it. In fact she has found so many Prince mushrooms that - get this - she is tired of eating them fresh and is going to dry this batch. I can only shake my head in admiration.

Jacquelynn is an accomplished writer and you can find out more about her books at this link: http://www.amazon.com/Jacquelynn-Baas/e/B001IU0Q28/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

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The sun has finally decided to make an appearance and a welcome one it is. Our rain total at our Anchor Bay home has topped 70 inches for the season with this last storm. It's time for some good weather! A Swainson's Thrush is singing his beautiful song and the fragrant smell of wisteria and from our incredible banana bush are wafting in through the open sliding glass door. This is more like it! But to remind us that winter was just a few days ago, Carolyn André recently photographed storm waves off The Sea Ranch and is kindly allowing me to share it here. The Pacific Ocean - I never get tired of looking at it.

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The Wild Rhododendrons - and the Wild Azaleas too - are just magnificent this spring on the Mendonoma Coast. Rick and I have never seen so many blossoms as we have been seeing this year. They are obviously loving all the late rains we been having. Their loveliness is our reward for having such a damp spring. Splashes of pink adorn the edges of the forest. Life is good.

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On calm days the Sea Lions on the colony at Fish Rocks just off of the hamlet of Anchor Bay can be heard noisely barking. They are giving birth to pups now on the rocky islands off the coast. Craig Tooley captured a photo of a mom and her newborn pup and has kindly allowed me to share it here. Another of Craig's photos shows a group of Sea Lions on Fish Rocks. They are known for their intelligence and playfulness - this mammal is often the trained "seal" found in zoos. I prefer to view - and listen - to them in the wild!

To see more of Craig's photos, go to: http://web.me.com/theruffians1

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You'd think it was winter on the Mendonoma Coast today. Wind and rain lashed the coast bringing some minor flooding. Seasonal creeks have come back to life, an amazing sight in June. But before this big storm hit, there was an unusual cloud formation. I thought it looked like a rocket ship in the sky.

One of the joys of living on the edge is we get to see weather systems approach. And the ocean will tell us in advance that a storm is on the way. The surface water will "change direction." The winds  cause the ocean to appear as if it is flowing from south to north, rather than the normal north to south.