hey, it's Old Home Week for Berkeley! I know we walked there some - i recognize that particular live oak -- have a photo of me there, camera yours! I just wish I'd have been the "naturalist"/birder then ('61-'67) that I've evolved into now!!!
I came to grad school at UCB and lived in a few of those student apartments before buying half a duplex in the flats in 1988 at what seemed an exorbitant price then. As you say, current prices are unaffordable. However, Strawberry Canyon, Tilden Park, the Berkeley-Oakland hills remain much the same thanks to the East Bay Regional Park District which has acquired, preserved and protected these and other significant parcels in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. One can still walk the trails, sometimes rarely encounter others, see and/or hear an occasional coyote and other wildlife. Now is the time for spring flowerings. The hills are green and wet.
The public institutions can't be credited with the hills being green and wet, but they sure deserve the credit for preserving the gems of Strawberry Canyon, Tilden Park, and the other parks in the Hills. I have always been grateful for that.
A small world. I also was at UCB, but in the sixties pursuing a physics major. I remember Strawberry Canyon and the trail up past Livermore lab. Seemed dark and spooky. Always makes me think of Van Morrison singing "Brown Eyed Girl." Go figure. Later, my PhD niece lived in one of those places you mentioned perched up on the West Hills.. and got married nearby!
What's all this got to go with your really fine essay? Well, maybe because that delightful flower was there in all those decades as we migrated through. Somehow it has survived us and continues it's quiet life, inspiring us at times.
It seems we could have met on one of those trails. Small world, as you say. I suppose physics majors didn't stroll Strawberry Canyon with a copy of Jepson under their arms, right? In any case, bush monkey flowers are still there, ready to delight anyone who pays attention. And/or appreciates their beauty.
hey, it's Old Home Week for Berkeley! I know we walked there some - i recognize that particular live oak -- have a photo of me there, camera yours! I just wish I'd have been the "naturalist"/birder then ('61-'67) that I've evolved into now!!!
I came to grad school at UCB and lived in a few of those student apartments before buying half a duplex in the flats in 1988 at what seemed an exorbitant price then. As you say, current prices are unaffordable. However, Strawberry Canyon, Tilden Park, the Berkeley-Oakland hills remain much the same thanks to the East Bay Regional Park District which has acquired, preserved and protected these and other significant parcels in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. One can still walk the trails, sometimes rarely encounter others, see and/or hear an occasional coyote and other wildlife. Now is the time for spring flowerings. The hills are green and wet.
The public institutions can't be credited with the hills being green and wet, but they sure deserve the credit for preserving the gems of Strawberry Canyon, Tilden Park, and the other parks in the Hills. I have always been grateful for that.
This is such a neat vignette. A special respite from man's destruction. Nature, red in lips and claw.
Did I miss something? The lips are white, and I didn't notice any claws. But I'm happy you liked the vignette, nevertheless....
A small world. I also was at UCB, but in the sixties pursuing a physics major. I remember Strawberry Canyon and the trail up past Livermore lab. Seemed dark and spooky. Always makes me think of Van Morrison singing "Brown Eyed Girl." Go figure. Later, my PhD niece lived in one of those places you mentioned perched up on the West Hills.. and got married nearby!
What's all this got to go with your really fine essay? Well, maybe because that delightful flower was there in all those decades as we migrated through. Somehow it has survived us and continues it's quiet life, inspiring us at times.
It seems we could have met on one of those trails. Small world, as you say. I suppose physics majors didn't stroll Strawberry Canyon with a copy of Jepson under their arms, right? In any case, bush monkey flowers are still there, ready to delight anyone who pays attention. And/or appreciates their beauty.