February 26

A week ago Sunday, my wife, Caroline, my daughter, Allison and I hiked in Griffith Park in downtown Los Angeles. With 4,300 acres of natural chaparral-covered terrain, landscaped parkland and picnic areas, Griffith Park is the largest urban park in the United States. The mid-morning weather was sunny with a temperature of 62 degrees and no wind. From the parking lot, we started a gradual ascent on the Observatory Trail where I spotted the pink blossoms of a Dog Rosebush. The name is attributed to a belief many years ago that its roots could be used to cure the bite of a mad (rabid) dog. As we continued our climb, I paused to look at and listen to a perching California Thrasher. Still climbing toward the Griffith Observatory, I noticed the colorful blossoms of Velvet Leaf and Fuchsia-Flowered Gooseberry. Nearby, I could barely make out a tiny bird called American Bushtit, well camouflaged in the dense underbrush. During a brief pause on our ascent, I gazed far off to the west at the iconic Hollywood sign and far off to the east at the Los Angeles megalopolis, shrouded in hazy smog. We finally made it up to the Observatory where I observed a patch of Spanish Lavender blossoms being pollinated by several honeybees. Starting our descent, I spotted an Acorn Woodpecker pecking away on a conifer tree. These birds form intergenerational groups that spend large amounts of time gathering acorns that typically are stored in holes drilled into a single tree, called a granary tree. One granary tree may have up to 50,000 holes in it, each of which is filled with a single acorn. Further down, I noticed a patch of Western Jimsonweed and a vine called Coast Manroot. Near the bottom, I came upon a Castor Bean plant. The toxin in castor seeds called ricin is estimated to be 12X more poisonous than rattlesnake venom. Finally, we found Allison’s car and headed back to Redondo Beach.

To appreciate forest solitude

You must mingle in a crowd

To treasure nature’s silence

You must hear traffic loud

To value a verdant meadow

You must walk a parking lot

To enjoy a rolling prairie

You must view a garden plot

To feel a freshening breeze

You must sit in a stuffy room

To admire a brilliant sunset

You must face a sky of gloom

D. DeGraaf