Great News about Benefits of Quitting

It doesn't take long for a smoker's health to reap the benefits of quitting. The U.S. Surgeon Gerneral offers the following timeline.

20 MINUTES AFTER QUITTING: Blood pressure drops to a level close to that before the last cigarette. the temperature of your hands and feet increases to normal.

8 HOURS AFTER QUITTING: The carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal.

24 HOURS AFTER QUITTING: Your chance of a heart attack decreases.

2 WEEKS TO 3 MONTHS AFTER QUITTING: Your circulation improves and your lung function increases up to 30 percent.

1 TO 9 MONTHS AFTER QUITTING: Coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue, and shortness of breath decrease; cilia (tiny hair-like structures that move mucus out of the lungs) regain normal function in the lungs, increasing the ability to handle mucus, clean the lungs and reduce infection.

1 YEAR AFTER QUITTING: The risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker.

5 YEARS AFTER QUITTING: Your stroke risk is reduced to less than half that of a smoker.

10 YEARS AFTER QUITTING: The lung cancer death rate is about half that of a continuing smoker's. The risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus. bladder, kidney and pancreas decrease.

15 YEARS AFTER QUITTING:The risk of coronary heart disease is that of a non-smoker's.

Surfline Day Train Excursion

Thursday morning I got up early, and I drove from Mendocino County to the Airporter in Santa Rosa. I caught a bus to the Oakland Airport and flew to San Diego. My sister, Rita, picked me up from the airport and took me to our mother's house.

Saturday, my mother and I took a train to visit my brother-in-law, Scott, and his family in Aneheim. It was quite a visual feast at the train station in San Diego. We got there an hour early, and I had time to take some pretty cool shots. My mother, Lucy, hadn't been on a train since World War II.

The San Diego Train Station

Surprise! 

Time Warp 

Frontwards or Backwards? 

My Mother Waiting to Ride the Train 

Another Prince mushroom 

Prince (Agaricus augustus) popping up next to my driveway. 

Another incredible sunset from our front yard! This one was taken last night. It was cold and clouds were moving briskly across the sky. If you look closely, you can see the orange light reflecting on the ocean (above the silhouette of the hills). 

Expansive Views 

Fixer Upper--Only Serious Inquiries Please 

This is the greenest June we have had in over thirty years! 

White Buck Didn't Let Me Get Too Close

Unseasonal rains may damage this years grape harvest in Northern California. In my thiry plus years in Mendocino County, I have never seen over a half of an inch of rain this late in June until now.

Slick Slinky 

Blissful Buckeye Blossoms 

I've been eyeing this California Buckeye tree that is in full bloom. 

Beauty is Exploding! 

Nathanial and Andrea Love Dancing!

Vetch or Sweet Pea by Any Other Names Would Still be Pretty Pretty

Driving along Orr Springs Road, there is a luminous purple cast to many of the hills. I have never seen more of the tiny purple and pink flowers growing profusely in dense, unruly patches. This is no doubt due to the plentiful and lingering spring rain. We just had another two and a half inches in the last 24 hours. They are either vetch or wild pea. Spring vetch, which is a purple- or pink-flowered climber native to Europe, is cultivated for food and forage. It is a valued fixer of nitrogen for the soil. Some gardeners grow it solely to turn it back into the soil.

According to my friend and neighbor, Linda Gray, there are 18 varieties of vetch in California only four of which are native. There are 30 varieties of wild pea, about 20 of those native. She also says that to find out what species it is it we would need to dissect and inspect the flowers with a hand lens.

Maybe we will take the time to find out together what species they are, or perhaps I’ll just watch them fade as summer comes along and their flowers turn to seed. Whatever the particular species, their beauty is truly astounding.

Is it Vetch or Wild Pea? 

View through my window tonight during the Dream Catcher's Highest Potential Teleclass

Treasures in with the "Weeds"

There are treasures everywhere. All we have to do is open our eyes and see the beauty in the most unsuspecting places. The area next to my mailbox and driveway has some “weeds” growing there. At first glance, it looks pretty desolate. On closer examination, there are little dabs of color here and there. Among the grasses, one of my favorites is Rattlesnake Grass. I also love Mariposa Lilies. which are a member of the lily family. The Liliacaeae family contains other edibles such garlic, onion, and asparagus, but also the poisonous death camas and hellebore. The bulbs of this and other members of the genus were boiled, or roasted and pounded into flour for porridge, by many tribes of Native Americans. The markings inside the cup of the flower resemble a butterfly, and Mariposa means butterfly in Spanish. Rattlesnake Grass was indigenous to Spain. It is amazing how Spain has left its mark so close to where I live.

Rattlesnake Grass growing next to my driveway

Mariposa Lily--mariposa is butterfly in Spanish 

Magenta tinged Mariposa Lily gracing my driveway 

Western view from my driveway