Daydream Believer

 

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"A flower will always grow in the direction of the sun, because beauty recognizes beauty."

~Matshona Dhilwayo

Just short post today, and a little late too I am afraid. Shrug. I am a little tired, so I am going at a slower pace. I want to visit the bat bridge tonight. Because of the Anemia I am tired all the time, so I have to plan for my visit. But happily I have found a bug repellent against mosquitos, Gnats and No-see-ums, which I am also highly allergic to. So it's a sun shiny day, and a warm night so all is right with the world!

Sky Ballet

 

"The baby bat screamed out in fright, turn on the dark, I'm afraid of the light."

~Shel Silverstein

Yep, they're home! The Mexican Free-tailed bats have returned to the Franklin boulevard Bridge! It's early in their arrival, so there weren't many, yet there were enough for me to believe it's going to be an amazing bat season, fingers crossed! I was very pleased with the results of the camera on my new phone. It is every bit as good as the reviews said it was! I need a lot more practice, but these photos are the clearest I believe to date! I practiced a bit with the video feature, but haven't had a chance to edit what I got. I hope to go out again tonight, but frankly I am still rubbing Hydrocortisone on my many bites, and man is it painful, but I have been waiting a long time for the return of my friends, so bugs or no bugs, I am going to be on the Franklin Bridge a lot this summer! Jeepers, can you believe it, I was on the bridge last Thursday, and here it is, Monday, and I am still finding new bites. My doctor said bites like this can take up to 2 weeks to fully show up!

UGH!

Mexican Free-tailed bat and Red-tailed Hawk

Song Of Nature

 

“In their previous lives, poets were bats, and thinkers were owls.”

 
~Michael Bassey Johnson,

  Song of a Nature Lover

 

  

The bats of 2025 were beautiful, but that's not a new revelation. If you know me at all, you know I fell hopelessly in love with every single Mexican Free-tailed bat the visits each year. But this year I cherished them even more, as their numbers at the Franklin boulevard Bridge were noticeably fewer. As were the mosquitos. The two go together. It was disappointing and a little scary to witness such a change. In years past, the bridge would be lined with my fellow bat enthusiasts, the kids love it! But between the strangely cool summer we had, and the lack of our bat friends, it was an unusual year for nature in the San Joaquin Valley. I have also noticed less birds here as well! I am obviously not sure whether it is the decline of the ecosystem due to Climate Change, caused by greed and ignorance, or just one of those off years that happens sometimes! I have my suspicions. California has done better than most states in our fight for environmental causes, but we are far from perfect. There is discarded trash everywhere in the valley. Folks throw their old furniture and tires anywhere they think no one will notice. The folks around me just don't care! Stocktonians are dead inside.

 

Speaking of which, while I was working on this post,

 this happened, right outside my bedroom window... 

 

CBS 13 Sacramento

BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG

SIREN, SIREN,SIREN, SIREN, SIREN

FIRETRUCK

 

(Silence)

 

Stockton Police helicopter circling, in a beautiful sky, above my home.

(Falcon One)

 

It's been 2 hours and the police still have the streets closed off.

 

DRAMA. Useless drama.

 

( Sad, Scared, Depressed, Silence) 

 

Man, this post went sideways fast! 

 

Okay, so lets just focus of the beauty, shall we?

 

 

Stay Safe My Friends,

 And Be Grateful For The Beautiful Things In Life.

Franklin Boulevard At Desmond Road

 

"There's a sunrise and sunset in every single day. Don't miss so many of them."

 

~Jo Walton

 

I was happy with this photograph. It turned out just the way I imagined it would. Photos don't always do that. It was my intention to show off the gorgeous sunsets we get out here, and the slight eeriness of the scene in front of me. Standing at the corner of two dark roads, with the light nearly gone, and the bridge on Franklin blvd, caused by a storm from 3 years ago, is still closed, it made me realize how beautiful, and so wicked life can be.

 

 I wasn't able to photograph it, but there were 4 barn owls just down the road to the left. We had gone to see the Mexican Free-tailed bat, and after the show they put on, we drove down to Desmond road, to check for birds that tend to arrive in late Summer. While we didn't find any new ones, we were treated to the sound of Canadian geese flying over, a reminder that autumn isn't very far away, and the gorgeous owls, who I had thought might be an urban legend.

 

The bats have seemed less this year, as have the birds, but in batting and birding, these things are all about equal parts timing and luck. I suppose amazing summer sunsets kinda fall into that formula as well. Shrug. All I know is I will be exploring more sunsets this year, because, well, who has time left in life to take them for granted? Don't just love ones right after a rainstorm? The possibilities are endless!

 

 

The Seasons Of Love

 

 

“Dusk is just an illusion because the sun is either above the horizon or below it. And that means that day and night are linked in a way that few things are there cannot be one without the other yet they cannot exist at the same time. How would it feel I remember wondering to be always together yet forever apart?”

 
~Nicholas Sparks

  The Notebook

 

Sunset on Desmond road. It was one of the last hot summer nights of summer, and yet the air, the light, the colors all whispered autumn. We were on the way to see one of the last flights of the Mexican Free-tailed bats. Nights like this are bittersweet. The bats are my only summer friend, and I miss them very much when they leave, but look at that sunset, it's got a little autumn influence to it, and I love it, but unfortunately, the bats won't be a part of it soon. I wish we humans could customize our living adventure. Put everything together. Oh well, second thought, every season has amazing gifts, and the longing of love can be a good thing. 

To The Bat Bridge, Robin

 

 

"Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb."

 

~Batman 

1960's TV Show

 

So, the Mexican Free-tailed bat is finally back! I think of them as a summertime adventure, but technically they are definitely a springtime visitor as well. We came across them, for the first time, late last summer. It was all quite by accident, which is the best way to experience any adventure for the first time, and it was delightful but unfortunately they were only a few weeks from returning on their migratory path. I only got to see them a handful of times. It was disappointing, but I resolved to be ready for their return. So, I spent my free time this past year, learning about them and prepping for their return. Things like what to look for, listen for, and oh, hey, what's that smell? If don't hear anything in particular, but you know for sure that bats are located in a certain area, the smell of ammonia is a big clue that they are nearby. Most folks probably wouldn't like the smell, but to be honest, I love it! It's certainly distinctive. It's a little like bat pee mixed with bat sweat. That sounds terrible, I know, but to me all it means is, Honey, I'm home.

 

98% of my experience with the bats is amazing. I get to learn about lighting with my camera. I get to learn facts about bats that I never knew before, for instance did you know they are amazing pollinators? They are as beneficial as the honeybees are. The sunsets I get to see are truly awesome, and the people you meet who share that passion with you have always been really fun to talk to. No politics. No suspicious heaviness in the air, just a couple people enjoying a part of nature that is, by erroneous popular belief, misunderstood. All in all it's very rewarding, except for the fact that I am ultra allergic to one of my bat friends favorite meals, mosquitos. I am sitting here right now with my feet swollen twice their normal size, large welts, and deep painful red "burn" rash from the bites. I left home without spraying my clothes with deet, or putting my boots on. What a mistake. Had I learned nothing from the summer of 2023?

 

I am going to let my feet heal, then I am going back to the bridge, probably sometime later this week, or early next week. I love my bats, and no one is going to keep me from studying them. They clean up the mosquitos and other pests, and pollinate beautiful night flowering plants, HELL, I wish I could own a bat of my very own! Or a colony of bats, yes, I would definitely own a whole colony of them if I could!

 

 

 

Thank You, President Biden!

 

Desmond Road

Galt, California

March 2024

 

 

“The sure way of sustainable management of the ecosystem

 is to make human kind environmental stewards.” 

~Lailah Gifty Akita 

 

 

The beauty of Desmond road will become even more beautiful because of the money being put into the Cosumnes River Preserve and it's ecosystem, by Joe Biden and his administration. Maybe next year there will be more birds. Maybe a fish will not end up on the endangered species list. It is critical to save this precious part of the wetlands, as it is so important for the birds who return year after year on the Pacific Flyway. Among them, my beloved Greater White-fronted Geese, and the Sandhill crane. Last year I witnessed so much damage that had been done by the storms of early 2023 and an especially dry summer, so I have so much hope for life along the river. Even the Mexican Free-tailed bat has an interest! They have been eating on the mosquitoes and living under that nifty bridge for years, and soon they will be back and ready to feed. Sometimes the ecosystem makes me sad, it is what it is, but knowing life is working as it should helps me sleep better at night. This is the only wetlands we have, on the only planet we have! Thank you, President Biden, for working for America, and for the small souls that save us!

“May it fill your heart with joy to extend your family to include every insect, native plant or animal and fluffy bird

 that finds sanctuary there with you.” 

~Mary Reynolds

 

 

Greater White-fronted Geese

American Avocet

Black-necked Stilt

The Art Of Turning Over New Leaves

 

“There is October in every November and there is November in every December! All seasons melted in each other’s life!”

 
~Mehmet Murat ildan

 

In late spring, we begin to see pheasant, quail and turkeys, all over the valley but they are at their loveliest when I see them running through the vineyards and orchards.Their feathers remind me of the rows autumn leaves they're are moving in and out of. I don't even know how many times we have just stopped and watched them! This particular group stays near the vineyards off Franklin blvd, in Galt. It sits about 500 feet from the bridge where I went to observe the Mexican Free-tailed bat, late last summer. The two more than likely have nothing to do with each other, but it's a fun coincidence that there is so much life right there. It's also the area where I spotted a large group of swallows last spring, and the Bullocks orioles in early summer. There is something for everyone right there, and just a few hundred yards up the road from there is the visitors center at the Cosumnes River. And if that isn't enough beauty my new friend, Boris the Spider, built a really nice mansion for himself, just about 3 miles northeast of this spot, although I am afraid he has moved on.

 

As I said a few posts back, I haven't seen him in weeks, all that's left is a few heavy silver strands of spider silk. The cold was probably getting to him, same as it's getting to me. Or maybe a bird swooped him up and had a snack of him. I don't want to ponder the situation too much. I am happy to believe he is merely at his winter home, lazing by the pool, and I will see him again next April, when the earth turns once again to the warmth of spring and summer. Yes, Autumn has sent him off to simply live in the moment among different leaves. Autumn is teaching me to live in the moment as well. I guess I'm turning over a new leaf, and as turning over new leaves go... living in the moment feels a lot healthier than setting rigid expectations and goals for myself. I mean who thought a year ago that not only would I make a spider friend, but would be waiting for summer to come back around so we could visit one another again? Thank you, Autumn!

 

On The Last Full Day Of Summer... Reflections

 

Mockingbird

Bruceville, Road

September 2023

 

“I think the sun is a flower.
That blooms for just one hour.” 

~Ray Bradbury

  All Summer in a Day

 

Today is the last full day of summer, and strangely, I am not as happy about it leaving as I have been in past lifetimes. I am not sure how I feel about it all. It was a dreadful summer in ever usual sense, and in the sense that I my niece and nephew passed away, way too young. The temperature outside didn't seem as hot as in past years, or perhaps it was just me, floating in a sea of cold thoughts that gave me the chills every night. After we got the news, I wanted more out of the summer, something to make me forget the pain and to help me avoid the sudden bursts of grief that would not only haunt my daydreams, but my sleep as well. But there was very little to fill that need. Although, happily, and quite by misadventure, I went looking for birds on Desmond road one day, only to not find a single one! On the way home, I did find a bridge, with several thousand Mexican Free-tailed bat emerging from beneath!

 

The Mexican Free-tailed bat is NOT a bird, it's a bat, but it was a winged creature and I was intrigued! I came home, did my research, thought about it, and the next night hubby and I went back to see and stand among them as they ventured out for the night. And venture out they did! You know. I posted about it a few posts back, I met the challenge of being around a scary bat, without fear! I got to feel proud of myself, have a lot of fun, and even forget, for just a moment, about the pain I was in. It was a summer gift! Imagine that! Summer has a glorious redeeming gift that I can now revisit every night in July and August next year, if I want, but really, I think a few nights next summer will do! Why not every night? Well, as it turns out I am allergic to mosquito bites. It's called Skeeter syndrome. The bite reactions are itchier and more painful then most folks feel. They also blister. ITS NOT FUN! But Benedryl Gel is excellent for healing them should they blister, so it was all ultimately worth it!

 

So that was my summer adventure. We now kiss summer on the cheek, and send it off to it's well earned sleep. Goodnight summer.

 

 

BATS! It's The End Of Summer!

 

“The basis of all human fears, he thought.

 A closed door, slightly ajar.” 

~Stephen King,

 Salem's Lot

 

I always thought I would be afraid, if I ever encountered a bat, but as it turns out, nope, I wasn't scared at all, and I found that out, just the other night. You see, hubby and I were driving home, along Franklin blvd, on the bridge that goes over the Mokelumne River, when suddenly thousands of the Mexican Free-tailed bats, flew really low over the road! It was an astounding sight, and equally astounding was the fact that there were folks on both sides of the road taking photos, and videos, and enjoying the experience completely!

 

Well, we circled back, and hubby decided to check what was happening. I stayed in the car. There was NO WAY I was going to get out of my lovely and very safe, Mini Cooper, just to stand in the midst of a million or so vampires. Nope. Not on this earth.Well, Alan was gone for about 30 minutes, so I was kinda sure he would be wearing a cape and fangs when he finally got in the car, but again, nope! All he was wearing when he got in the car, other than his clothes, of course, was a really big giddy smile. He went on to explain that standing on the bridge, as the bats flew off into the Twilight, in search of their meals,  was a really cool experience and he believed we should comeback the next night, so I could give it a try!  

 

I wasn't completely sure that was something I wanted to try, but after some thought, and a little reading on the Internet, I found out the specific species of bat that called that bridge home, was not something I had to worry about! It's called the, Mexican Free-tailed bat. It migrates from deep in South America, and it only spends a little time in this area, mostly the summer months, then it will continue on it's way north as Autumn comes. We might be able to see them at the Yolo Bypass early in October, but for the most part they will be on their way possibly this week, so we found out about them just in time.

 

I did something new. I got to be brave one more time. That is a good thing. Alan, and a medium sized bat, helped me gain a little more bravery in life, funny that! I am still conquering fear at 61 years old! It's not over for me! I can still move past the things that hurt me, and hold me back, which is a good lesson, because this has been one cruel summer. I lost my niece. She died. I also lost my nephew. He died too, but it was by his own hand. He committed suicide. I wish I knew why. I wish I understood my niece's car accident.

 

In addition, I wish I understood the death of my favorite actor, Treat Williams. He died on June 12th. According to the police report, he never had a chance. I think when all is said and done, and I know everything about their deaths, I will have grown a little more, because it all still hurts me, scares me, and in fact, devastates my whole being.

 

So, in the meantime, life goes on. There will be victories, and probably more pain along the way to closure, but there will also be great joys too! Like finding out that bats are sort of cool, and not at all interested in hurting me, as they go about their life. I love all the nature in the Central Valley, and as much as I hate to admit it, this place is starting to feel like the best home I had ever lived in! So I am a little sad that my new friends will soon be on it's way, just when I got to know them.

Oh my.