Leaves of three

I do home inspections throughout the ten counties in Southern California:

If my home inspection is than 30 miles from downtown San Diego, it’s highly likely that I will find something interesting to do, visit, or photograph.

Such was the case a few days ago when I had a home inspection in Vista, which happens to be where my mother-in-law and her boyfriend live.

I arrived in Vista early so that I could make a leisurely drive to the property I was to inspect. That’s when I found The Vista Conservancy Nature Preserve and Trails:

I know many of you are thinking, “I bet Russel parked the car, took a hike on the trails, and took lots of pictures.” If you were thinking that, well, you would be right. Here are the pictures:

There were many spectacular homes overlooking the trails. These two were my favorites:

Apparently the trails were created in 2002 as part of Kevin Krewer’s Eagle Scout project.

You want to make sure that you stay on the trails, and if you have dogs, be sure to keep them leashed and on the trails with you, because….

….off the trails, sometimes by a matter of inches, you’ll find lots of this:

For those who might not be familiar with leaves of three, there is a saying that is well-known among hikers in the wilderness: Leaves of three, let them be. In other words, keep an eye out for poison ivy and poison oak, both of which have leaves of three leaflets. The picture above is of poison oak.

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CA BRE #01458572

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If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!

I like to multitask

PICTURE OF THE MOMENT

 

It never fails that when I go out with people to do anything, they make fun of me because I do something else, too.

For example, I went birding with the San Diego Beginning Birders. Sure, I saw birds, but I also saw lots of other interesting things, and since I like to multitask….

I thought the paths we were walking on were quite beautiful, so I took pictures:

 

 

I saw a bench for the weary, so I took a picture:

 

I saw a Los Angelesized stream, so I took a picture:

 

A “Los Angelesized stream” is a stream that has been rebuilt with concrete. When I moved to San Diego in April 1993, San Diego had started doing that to its streams. The citizenry had a fit and put an end to it. I think Los Angeles has put an end to it, too, letting many streams revert to what Mother and Father Nature meant them to be. You can see that the stream above is reverting to nature. For a great look at Los Angeles streams and rivers, watch “The Terminator” when they are driving vehicles in the river. That’s a Los Angeles river.

I saw a plank bridge over the stream, so I took a picture:

 

Reminded me of my childhood when I built plank bridges over streams.

At one stop near some Western Sycamores (Platanus racemosa), I couldn’t see the tiny birds that everyone else was watching, so I took some pictures of this:

 

 

 

That’s Western Poison Oak or Pacific Poison Oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum) in its “green phase.” During the fall it has a “red phase” (and they say we don’t have fall colors here — ha!), and the beautiful flowers you see will eventually result in berries that the wildlife like.

As I was taking pictures, a couple walked up and asked me what I was taking pictures of. I said, “Poison oak.” They asked, “Why?” I had no good answer. For blogging? 🙂

Taken at the Tecolote Canyon Nature Park on March 24, 2012.

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Looking for real estate services in San Diego County? I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor with Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572

If you’re just looking for a home inspector,
I can highly recommend Russel Ray; that’s me!

Fourteen flora pictures from the Blue Sky Ecological Reserve

 

I’m still trying to find a good slide show program that works within WordPress. I’d like one that allows me to choose which photos are in the slide show — let’s say that I want one photo to use as a main image but not in the slide show — and a choice of transitions, speed, and, possibly, special effects. If anyone has any ideas….

Meanwhile, here is a selection of fourteen pictures (which I would have liked to put in a slide show) of the flora at the Blue Sky Ecological Reserve. I hope everyone is familiar with pictures 1, 2, and 3….. leaves of three, let ’em be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you don’t know about leaves of three, it applies to Poison Oak (Picture 1) and Poison Ivy (Pictures 2 & 3). The leaf has three leaflets on it and can cause severe dermatitis in most people, like me!

 

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