Y3 – Day 197 – Wild Birds

Posted on July 18, 2015 by Cecilia Steger

From my comfortable perch in my electric lounge chair, I have taken pictures through the slider window and screen, bringing the birds up close with my zoom lens.Black headed Grosbeak – hailing from Mexico, these vacationers arrive in the spring and stay all summer. They are in the cardinal family and have thick parrot like beaks that help them crack acorns and pinecones.Steller’s Jay – Lake Arrowhead is brimming with ‘blue’ jays, hence the town Blue Jay near our cabin. Unlike the East coast Blue Jay, these fellows have mohawks or crests on the top of their heads. They are in the squawking crow family and are intelligent as well as agile. They are like tight rope walkers and can hold an acorn with their feet, peck at it and using their bottom bill, which has a protruding edge, their beaks withstand the pounding and their balance is intact. Baby Jays have no feathers which is strange for a mountain bird and are completely helpless to the elements up here. The old saying, “naked as a jay bird” is a result of this fact.

Y3 – Day 195 – Thistle

Posted on July 16, 2015 by Cecilia Steger

When I was a youngster, I lived on a street called Thistle Lane. It was off 8th Avenue and jutted into a horseshoe shaped residential street full of families with tons of kids. It was a quaint neighborhood with people of all ilk. By Lake Gregory, I found some Bull Thistle or Cirsium vulgare. and it reminded me of that time when I lived on a road named Thistle.

Y3 – Day 194 – Matter

Posted on July 15, 2015 by Cecilia Steger

I matter. You matter. We matter.

Lake Gregory – July 14, 2015

My days here have been solitary and yet full. Contact with the outside world has been kept via telephone, internet and TV. All of my time is spent being in the moment; no rushing, no hurrying, no immediacy and every minute is consumed by my awareness and attention, no distraction unless I let it in.

Yesterday, Cindi and I ventured out. We walked by the sunny side of the shore and I captured this peaceful scene. The wispy clouds have life and movement, the rock seems rigid and anchored heavily into the foreground. Next to the boulder is a new leafed wild bush, freely growing with no expectations and no care. The top of the water on the lake ripples as the wind swoops in, early in the morning. One lone rowboat hails two fishermen in the expanse of the vast basin as the pine filled land sweeps up to the sky behind them and all around them, encircled and densely populated by conifers of every height and density.

Everything matters in this shot of Lake Gregory; the power and beauty of different natural elements, the grace to observe, feel and smell this moment, the company of my dog and her joy as she sniffed the narrow trails by the shoreline, and the experience of gratitude I felt and feel now, as I share it with you.

Pass on the feeling…if you can sense it and taste it…if you know of which I write.

Y3 – Day 193 – Wild

Posted on July 14, 2015 by Cecilia Steger

Firecracker Penstemon.

I cannot tell you how wrong I am finding some of the identifications for certain wild plants here. I am using several resources and some flowers are no where to be found or like this photo above was clearly erroneously marked as a different variety. The mistake was on a local reference site. The leaves are thin and jut outwards in this specimen but they identify it as one that with a little cross referencing and vision, it is plain as day that the leaves are flat, heart shaped and wide. Finally, I found the correct plant. And may I add that the US Dept. of Wildflowers doesn’t even mention this backyard treasure I am finding everywhere.

I wonder if my research on wild birds will prove so frustrating and difficult? Because I think with a little patience I can get a few pictures in here, if I just stay still long enough and have my camera ready.

This explanation for Penstemon Eatoni or Firecracker Penstemon from Mountain Wholesale Site:

“This perennial grows along sandy washes and slopes in the southwestern U.S., from 2000 to 7000 feet in elevation. It blooms in late winter to early spring with spikes of rich red flowers. Hummingbirds love it. Glossy dark green leaves form a ground-hugging rosette. Plant in full sun and well-drained soils. Avoid overwatering as this leads to premature plant loss. As with many Penstemons it will reseed readily.”

This wildflower is from the Figwort or Scrophulariaceae family.

Y3 – Day 192 – Wildflowers of Arrowhead

Posted on July 13, 2015 by Cecilia Steger

My husband just recently discovered, within the last six months or so, an area of abandoned, preserved land where we like to take the dog on walks. This is the same area where abandoned and unused, cement drainage cylinders have been decoratively painted and I posted about before (see Y3-Day44-Open Eyes).

After extensive research which I love to do, I found out what the wildflowers I took pictures of are and want to share what I found out with you.

Above is a close up of Achillea Millefolium or common yarrow and sometimes called milfoil which means ‘one thousand leafed’ in Latin. Below was one of many unexpected fields of yarrow we encountered on our short but uphill hike.

Yarrow has edible leaves, raw in a salad or cooked. Both its fern like leaves and flowers make a nutritious tea. The flower heads are clusters of five petaled teeny white blossoms with pale yellow centered pompoms. They may be weedy but they attract bees.

Some of the first herbalists are native or ancient people. The Pawnee tribes used the stalks for pain relief, The Chippewa steamed the leaves as an inhalant to alleviate headaches and the Cherokee drank the tea to reduce fever and to help them have a good night’s rest at bedtime.

Below an unidentified wild plant/flower and even after two hours of searching cannot find it anywhere so maybe it is a new strain and I discovered it. Crazier things have happened.

Y3 – Day 191 – Sunday Stay Vacay

Posted on July 12, 2015 by Cecilia Steger

Well, seeing that I have enough food for Cindi and I for over a week, all my writing jobs and activities and notebooks with me, books galore, plenty to do and not too much to cancel down the hill – I decided to stay up in Arrowhead for another few days – making it the longest I have ever stayed in our treehouse since we purchased it in 2011.

The birds finally got the memo that I am here putting out seeds and after 2 days started realizing and telling all their friends to come and stop by our balcony for a snack. They are flying in and landing in sets of twos and even threes.

The decks and stairs are all clean of pine cones and needles, the outdoor areas are set up for dining and lounging, the wind chimes are hung and it is just so gorgeous up here, I could not resist.

I have a busy schedule after this so I am grateful for this time.

Y3 – Day 188 – Mountain Time

Posted on July 9, 2015 by Cecilia Steger

Once again, after a long hiatus, I am happily typing up in my treehouse.

You know you are a writer when even sorrow brings you to the page. When you can make sense of your emotions and untangle the wires scrambled up in your head with words in a straight line.

You know you are a writer when libraries, bookstores and stationery shops turn you into a complete nerd. When you can’t make it past a written sign, flyer, magazine or computer screen without reading it. When you watch people and mentally imagine their story. When you wish you had written it. When you DO write it down.

You know you are a writer when scenery and landscapes escape your verbal grasp and you try to make sense of it by detaching and describing it in detail. When you sense every movement, touch, smell, sound and taste to the nth degree. When you try to find just the right word to depict the profound effect everything has on you.

You know you are a writer when solitude is an opportunity to write. When hours go by, you look up from your work and realize the time, hungry and groggy because you missed lunch. When you commit to honoring your appointment to self because it feeds you best.

It is good and right to be here where fingers tap, ideas soar and I am covered in serenity.

Y3 – Day 128 – As I Sit

Posted on May 9, 2015 by Cecilia Steger

As I sit and meditate, I find joy in the smallest of events around me.

The drops of melted snow off the roof splashing loudly on the ground, the dog next to me on the couch, the sound of chirping birds around and at the feeder, the delicious organic Reese’s PB sliver of a candy bar I just popped into my mouth, the sound of car tires on wet roads, the ambiance of our treehouse, the fire in the hearth, the ticking of our clock, the breeze swaying pine needles, the air – fresh and clean and the feeling of contentedness that radiates from me as I contemplate this moment and take it in.

Ahhhhhh….to be in the mountains, high atop the hill, just being.

Pure bliss or as they say in Sanskrit “Ananda”.

Y3 – Day 127 – Snow?

Posted on May 8, 2015 by Cecilia Steger

It rained all night. When I looked on my phone to see if it was still raining in Arrowhead I found instead, to my utter amazement, shots of a snow covered mountain – in MAY!!!

Cannot wait to go up tomorrow and have Mother’s Day brunch on Sunday at the resort!

Mother’s Day Brunch at Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa – 2015

Sunday May 10, 2015 11am

Omelet Station

Bell Peppers, Onion, Green Chiles, Mushrooms, Shrimp, Bacon, Ham, Sausage, Spinach, Tomato, Cheddar Cheese, Swiss Cheese, Brie Cheese

Pasta Station

Penne, Farfalle and Orchiette
Shrimp. Grilled Chicken, Italian Sausage, Mushrooms, Peppers and Onions Marinara, Alfredo and Pesto Sauces

Cold Foods

Green Salad w/ assorted dressings, Spinach Walnut Salad w/ Raspberry Vinaigrette, Pasta Salad, Caprese Salad, Shrimp Cocktail

Hot Food

Scrambled Eggs, Bacon, Sausage Links, Chicken Apple Sausage, Breakfast Potatoes, Biscuits and Gravy, Eggs Benedict, French Toast, Breakfast Pastries, Assorted Breads for Toast

Herb Roasted Chicken, Braised Short Ribs, Apricot Glazed Pork Loin, Snapper Vera Cruzana, and Butternut Squash Lasagna, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Wild Rice Pilaf, Fresh Seasonal Vegetables, Rolls and Sweet Butter

Desserts Station

Brownies, Cheesecake, Assorted Petit Fors and Fresh Fruit

I am sure to gain a little weight but I will resume regular activity and eating patterns thereafter (hopefully).

Y3 – Day 113 – Nature/Nurture

Posted on April 24, 2015 by Cecilia Steger

Aware this morning that our planet and climate will do as it may, I gazed in awe at the wind; the breath of the planet, the fog rolling in like rapid ghosts fleeing the light, the wet air clinging to other molecules and the dense space, brimming with evergreen, earthy essence and ground vibrations trembling with gratitude for the rain; tears of joy cleansing our mountain top sanctuary.

Albert Einstein said, “Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”

As I meditated, breathing into my chakras, expelling stale and useless thoughts, I inhaled the life force I sensed around me, using my human experience to touch, smell, hear, taste and see it enter inside me, envelop me, surround and protect me.

I walk in gratitude and connected.

Cecilia B. Steger

Category Archives: Lake Arrowhead