a moment of my day

I got back not long ago from our mid-day walk. It's overcast and breezy here today: brisk. The beach was mostly deserted as it often is this time of day. No eagles. I didn't hear the goldfinches calling out in the sea of wild roses. The aroma of the Oregon grape flowers was lost in the wind.

Yet it was a mostly pleasant walk until we met up with another dog and her person, at a narrow point on the trail. Zach is always on lead these days. Inti is only leashed up when I'm unsure about another dog we're about to encounter. The bottom line is that they're both jackasses while on leash. Today was no exception.

I hooked up Inti and we stepped aside to let the other walker pass. Both my dogs went postal, enough that I was yanked off balance and ended up on my keister - soft landing.

For the next two or three minutes I sat there, trying to decide if I should laugh or cry or beat the dogs. Zach lay down in the grass beside me. Inti looked nervous. But I was out of the wind and it wasn't entirely unpleasant to be sitting there, looking out over the lagoon. I could smell the grape blossoms, and see the Indian paintbrush up-close. The blue-eyed Marys and armeria make a lovely haze of blue and pink. Mosses right now are golden or bronze. When I looked closely I could see the nodding buds of the chocolate lilies, and the beach-carrots are about to flower. One of the false Solomon's seals at the edge of the copse is already more than 20" tall, with the tiny beginning of its plume flower.

All of this is much easier to see now, after the past few days of frequent hail storms, which flattened last year's sedges and grasses. At first glance, it might even look a little barren until the subtle colors come into focus.

Earlier today I read in the paper that local farm fields and orchards are about 5 weeks behind due to the unseasonable weather. There is concern about what might be available when the farmers market opens in 10 days.

Maybe it's because the scene I found myself sitting in is at sea level, where the micro climate is more temperate still, or maybe it's an older intelligence in these plants, but there's nothing late or behind schedule about the flora there. Fat bees are buzzing the many tiny blossoms. In a few short weeks we'll have a riot of blues and pinks giving way to purples and yellows and then, almost as quickly as it began, it will be over. The rains will stop for the summer. Seeds have to be set by mid-June and these plants know it.

No point in getting riled about the dogs' behavior. Leashes accentuate the prey drive and boy have I learned that lesson time and again! I guess I'm glad they dumped my impatient and stressed-out butt into that sandy spot. There's little else that can say get busy living as well as the beach wildflowers in spring.