Before I drove to Tehachapi I looked online for directions for Mabel's daughter's address. Foolish me! I have found in the past the MapQuest directions are not always the best way to go. They sent me far beyond where I needed to get off the highway and then they backtracked to the address. So, by the time I arrived I was an hour later than I expected. If I hadn't been so late I would have stopped to photograph the fields of California poppies in full bloom. They are such a glorious gold color. In the 19th Century they clothed California in gold, but civilization has pushed them out. There is a California Poppy Preserve in the Palmdale/Lancaster area and this year was a good poppy year. Unfortunately, by the time I started home the sun was going down and the poppy flowers closed their blossoms. It was also extremely windy - good for the wind turbines, but not for the poppies.
The flowers are furled in their nest of dusty green foliage.
The soil looks so inhospitable, but the poppies seem to love it!
Somewhere near Mojave I stopped to take pictures of this hawkweed which formed patches of color on the barren desert.
Doesn't look like much here, but when everything around is grey/beige/brown, the light yellow flowers really stand out.
1 comment:
I don't trust MapQuest anymore. They removed our street from the map. Our street has been here since the mid-1940s. I've been in touch with them, filled out their forms, and even sent them a photo showing the street (Lane).
I have not seen many poppies this year, but I don't think MapQuest had anything to do with that.
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