Trails are creeks at Del Mar Mesa Preserve

Gnarly Scrub Oak, Del Mar Mesa Preserve, San Diego, California, February 2017.

In many places in San Diego, there’s water running right now where there isn’t any water at all usually – and the Del Mar Mesa Preserve is no exception, of course. Rivulets run across the trails – or the entire trail is a rivulet. The combination of lichen-covered twigs and the litter of small leaves from all the Scrub Oaks keeps the water from draining more quickly (I should’ve brought a gardening hoe!). Water is pooling on the trails. It’s quite lovely actually to hear the murmuring streams everywhere. :-)

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Silence of Water

Escondido Creek flowing between boulders at Elfin Forest Recreational Reserve, Escondido, California; May 2015.

I’m taking a class on Saturdays at the moment, held by the California Chaparral Institute. The classes are at the Elfin Forest visitor center, near Escondido. Last week we spent some contemplative time at the creek and I noticed how quiet it is along the creek – even though the water is constantly bubbling, rushing, murmuring… by contrast, I immediately classified the sound of a distant passing car or airplane as an intrusion, noise.

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