My suspicion that summer’s progression of natural events was
happening well ahead of schedule was confirmed last week by someone
whose background makes them an expert observer of the seasons; a
farmer. Well, not exactly a farmer, at least not any more.
My suspicion that summer’s progression of natural events was happening well ahead of schedule was confirmed last week by someone whose background makes them an expert observer of the seasons; a farmer. Well, not exactly a farmer, at least not any more.
When I go on a run, I like to observe summer’s succession of weeds that thrive in the compacted soil on the shoulder of the road. Several alien species of filaree (also called storksbill) and mustards appear in spring. As things dry out, blue chickory and the invasive yellow star thistle take over. But last week, I was surprised to see turkey mullein growing by the side of the road. Turkey mullein, with its fuzzy gray-green leaves that grow in an inconspicuous flat rosette, usually appears in late summer, not now.
My father-in-law grew up on a farm. He didn’t like farming and worked hard to find another way to provide for his family. But there is still a little of the farm left in him which he nurtures with a two-acre garden of fruits and vegetables. When my mother-in-law brought by a supply of apricots the other day, she remarked that apricots are ”done” and everything is ripening early this year.
I’m usually guessing, but a farmer knows these things.
Now, everywhere I look, I see autumn here in the first month of summer, and I suppose, looking back, that makes sense. In March, we received a scant half-inch of rain and two weeks of weather in the 70’s and 80’s. That sounds more like May or June to me, and apparently it sounded like that to the plants as well. Despite what the calendar said, it felt like summer to mother nature so she got summer’s business started early. Once again, the calendar and the weather pattern are out of synch.
Whether it is late summer or early summer, it’s still summer and time to be outside. If you seek peace with a daypack and hiking shoes, take a look at a Website called Bay Area Hiker (www.bahiker.com). This comprehensive site lists virtually every hiking location from our south county area up to Marin, Napa and Sonoma counties. Each description includes directions to the trailhead, a description of the hike, map choices, pictures and any other information you need to choose a suitable hike. There are even suggestions for those who hike with children or dogs.
One interesting spot to visit is Almaden Quicksilver County Park in New Almaden. Beginning in the 1840’s mercury was mined here for more than 80 years. At its peak, there were 700 buildings and 1,800 people living near what would become the most productive mine in California history.
The New Almaden Mines have an interesting place in literary history. Wallace Stegner, who lived in Los Altos, is on everyone’s short list of great writers about the American west. He won a Pulitzer prize for his novel ”Angle of Repose” about the life of a 19th century woman married to a mining engineer. Her husband travels to several large North American mines, among them New Almaden.
While the book is a work of fiction, it is loosely based on the life of Mary Hallock Foote. There is even some controversy in the literary world casting aspersions on Stegner who apparently pulled some of Foote’s letters verbatim from her diaries and inserted them into his novel. Her reminiscences, ”A Victorian Gentlewoman in the Far West,” are in print and can be purchased at the Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum on Almaden Road near the park.
That’s what I’ll do next weekend. I’ll go to New Almaden, buy a copy of Mary Hallock Foote’s book, hike to a cool shady spot suitable for reading, and unravel this controversy
Someone’s got to do it.
