Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "nature"

Its still warm enough to enjoy Folsom lake

2012-01-31T00:01:49Z

I had a picnic at Folsom Lake on Sunday. Who would believe we’re still having sunny days to enjoy our beautiful lake. We walked in at the levee entrance at Sophia Parkway and GreenValley Road in El Dorado Hills and found we weren’t the only ones with the same idea.

Boaters, families, individuals with dogs, Whipperwils, Seagulls, Geese and a lone Loon populated the lake. Hikers, Cyclists, Equestrians, and nature enthusiasts alike enjoy the many trails.

One of the popular trails leads to Brown’s Ravine in Folsom Lake State Recreation Area that is home to the Folsom Lake Yacht Club and Folsom lake Marina, also located on Green Valley Road in El Dorado Hills.

Although only the brave would go swimming Sunday, the peacefulness of the day drew so many. The water level s low and provided wonderful opportunities to explore what
may typically be hidden such as foundations of old Gold Rush buildings. There is also the hope of catching a hungry fish or just laying back to enjoy the warmth of the sun.

Whatever appeals to you, El Dorado Hills and Folsom Lake can offer Recreation,relaxation and qualify of life. Come to our area and check it out.

courtesy of local Real Estate Broker, Jill Berni, El Dorado Hills, CA

Disclosure: I bought my home in 1981 in El Dorado Hills within walking distance to Folsom Lake. I started selling Real Estate here shortly thereafter because I believe and love this community.

A love for dirt

2010-12-06T00:19:04Z

Maybe it comes from having folks that lived off the land, but I have always had affection for dirt. I remember making mud pies in the backyard of my L.A. home. I was three and there was just something about getting my hands dirty that felt good. In case you were wondering, yes, I did try a bite or two. Even the taste didn’t turn me off to playing in the dirt. It makes me now ponder how children seem to know that dirt is associated with food.

My connection to dirt didn’t stop with that good L.A. mud. I found another connection to dirt in the backwoods of Oklahoma. It was where my daddy grew up. The air smells different in Oklahoma. There’s a sweetness to it along with a humidity you cannot find in California. I remember riding my daddy’s old mare after the funeral for my granddaddy. Even at the age of five, I knew what home felt like. As I tightened my knees against Goldie and hung on to a piece of her mane, I remember looking over the field where the windmill stood and the barn stood empty. I just knew it must be the most perfect place in the whole world.

Seeing the red earth exposed by the sides of the Oklahoma roads, still gives me a thrill. It makes me recall the stories my daddy has told about choppin’ cotton and cleaning up the rows of corn hit down by the tractor. That dirt fed my daddy and his family even during the Great Depression. Even though my granny sold the 160 acres decades ago, I still visit it on trips “back home.” The last time I was able to get my hands dirty in good ole’ red dirt, I dug up crepe myrtles from the home place. My granny had planted them for her husband next to the corners of the farmhouse. They were his favorite plant. Two of them grow tall along his gravesite. They thrive in that Oklahoma dirt. I know he must be quite content in the dirt that fed him and with the flowers of summer that he loved.

Growing up in the Sacramento Valley, you can’t help but find a connection to dirt. I know some call it “soil” but that name does not make it sound sweeter to me. I learned in school that the Sacramento/San Joaquin Valley provides the whole world with every fifth bite of food eaten each day. A trip down to Sloughhouse for sweet corn has an added bonus of a view of cornfields that roll right up to the Sierra Foothills. Literally millions of dollars were pulled from the Sierra dirt, but that can’t compare to the blessings of food, homes and beauty derived from the same old dirt.

When I was blessed with children, I found a great need to dig in dirt. It takes a lot of food to feed three growing young ‘uns. I started out in early spring and “double-dug” beds to keep the Bermuda at bay. That digging had the added benefits of slimming me down. But really, the best reward was being outside where the birds were singing and the smell of that cow-endowed earth fragranced the air with each turn of my shovel.

I grew red potatoes and red onions in fall. Each March, we were blessed with a treasure hunt for sweet red potatoes that I’d fry with those fat Stockton Red onions. My kids would eat as many as I would cook.

I now grow pumpkins for my eight grandkids. My wonderful dirt will produce Cinderella’s, Sugar Pies and even apple green pumpkins with an amazing shiny skin. I love seeing the grandkids inspect each and every one before choosing their favorite. My oldest grandson also takes time to dig for worms. It seems he too is fascinated by dirt and its inhabitants.

When I stick my hand in the dirt of my Sacramento Valley garden, I can just feel its rich power to bring forth great things. It makes me feel connected to our Creator and to my people. I know my grannies and granddads all worked the dirt and were connected to it in so many ways. I taught my children to respect it. They are now teaching their own. I hope each and every generation inherits the love I have for dirt and they remember who they are.

Karen Everett Watson is a freelance journalist and a certified gerontologist who works from her Sacramento Valley home.

www.legacywriter.me

watson@softcom.net

Sacramento cleans riverfront

2010-09-27T02:10:28Z

Sacramento rolled up its sleeves and filled trash bags Saturday for the 16th annual Great American River Clean Up led by the American River Parkway Foundation. More than 2,000 people volunteered their time to clear 11,361 pounds of trash and 7,002 pounds of recyclables from 22 waterfront sites. About 47 miles of waterfront were cleaned, including high-traffic sites such as River Bend Park and Discovery Park.

The cleanup coincided with California Coastal Cleanup Day, an annual statewide effort led by the California Coastal Commission that has about 80,000 volunteers annually. Sacramento’s participation has nearly doubled since last year.

At William B. Pond Park in Carmichael, about 180 volunteers wandered around the riverside looking for trash to fill their bags.

Site captain Natasha Deegan said the cleanup is a family event and brings together people who are personally invested in local environmental efforts.

By the riverside, people threw sticks for their dogs and volunteers searched for trash.

“This one of the most beautiful stretches of the river,” volunteer Sylvia Stork said.

Stork and her husband were trying to find a spot with lots of trash so they could contribute to the community effort. People are more aware of environmental issues than they used to be, Stork said.

“People leave stuff behind, but mostly now I think it’s not a conscious decision,” she said. “It’s not as bad as it used to be.”

Volunteer Edgar Herrera from South Sacramento said he works nearby and sometimes uses the park during his lunch breaks. Cleaning up the park seemed logical to him, he said.

“If nobody does nothing, nothing happens,” Herrera said. “Cigarette butts are popular,” he noted as he searched the ground.

“It’s going to take a lot of cigarette butts to fill up this bag,” Denis White, a nearby volunteer, said.

White, who attended the cleanup with his wife and two daughters, said he thought the cleanup was a good idea, but because that section of the river was virtually his backyard, he felt responsible for cleaning it up.

“I’m pleased to see all these other people helping clean up my backyard,” he said.

After volunteers finished gathering their trash, the trash was sorted to be taken to the correct facilities.

One man digging through the collected trash was a representative from Dart, a company that makes food packaging products, including products made from foam.

It was Michael Westerfield’s third year at the event, and he said that foam gets a bad rap.

“We’re looking for ways to increase awareness that our products are recyclable,” he said.

As a company that manufactures products designed to be disposed, Westerfield said it is very important to educate the public about happens to waste and recyclables after they're thrown away.

Dianna Poggetto, executive director of the American River Parkway Foundation, said this year’s cleanup was a huge success. Environmental awareness has increased and with recent budget cuts, many people are concerned about what will happen to the parks and rivers, Poggetto said.

“The number of people who turned out, it proves how important the river and parkway are to the community,” she said.

August Rainbow Over Sacramento

2010-08-30T18:15:27Z

On Sunday, August 29th, 2010 at 6:20 p.m., the western sky held an unusual sight. A sheet of cloud was illuminated, with a dazzling refraction on either side of the setting sun.

High up in the sky above this display, there was an upside-down rainbow.

These photos show the brilliant refraction of the sections of "ring" around the sun, made visible on the cloud sheet.

The rainbow was opposite the sun ring, far above the sun and cloud sheet, with the full spectrum of colors visible.

And upside down.

Exhibit Reveals Sacramento's Arboreal Love Affair

2010-08-13T04:34:19Z

Sacramento has been called “The City of Trees,” a city with more trees per capita than Paris, a place known for its romantic, tree-lined walkways and thoroughfares.

Each tree in Sacramento has a story to tell. This is the theme of “Living With Trees,” a new art exhibit that opened in City Hall Aug. 4 featuring 17 historical photographs selected from the Center for Sacramento History’s archives, each telling a small piece of the decades-old romance Sacramento has had with its trees.

There are images of automobiles smashed by broad tree trunks flung down in the windstorm of 1950, costumed children playacting in a shaded grove and an ordinary Sacramento man sweeping a front yard enveloped by countless leaves.

But, it’s about more than just the trees, said Coloma artist Cheri Ibes. “It’s about our relationship with nature.”

Ibes’ installation is in the center of the exhibit – a tangled arrangement of pruned brambles from a manzanita shrub enclosed in a glass case.

“The spectrum of the human relationship with nature runs between fear of an unbridled, uncontrollable force of nature – things like hurricanes and earthquakes – to wanting to control and own nature ourselves in the form of something like a potted bonsai plant in your backyard,” Ibes said.

Her installation, she said, embodies that spectrum of human interaction with nature, as do all the photographs in the exhibit.

Since 1849, the people of Sacramento have cherished the benefits of having lots of trees around. But with the city’s budget cuts reducing the workforce of Urban Forestry services from the equivalent of 57 full-time employees to about 36, there is concern about what the future holds for Sacramento’s urban canopy.

Despite having fewer employees, a recent upgrade to a Google Earth-style tree mapping system that tracks data for about 100,000 public trees in Sacramento has made preservation efforts easier for the city, Sacramento Urban Forestry Manager Joe Benassini said.

“There’s a real protective tendency people have toward trees, ” said Lisa Prince, curator of this exhibit and curator for the Center for Sacramento History, which is presenting the exhibit in conjunction with The Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission.

Trees give us shade from the scorching summer sun, clean air to breathe, and promote mental and emotional well-being, Prince said.

Prince said she wants people to walk away from the exhibit having found some way to connect with the history of Sacramento and develop an appreciation for the urban forest.

Some have. The exhibit includes a cork board where visitors can tack up an index card with their tree stories. The cards are full of stories: about weddings, sad memories of trees now gone, happy childhood memories of climbing trees and building tree houses.

The exhibit can be viewed at 915 I Street in the Robert T. Matsui Gallery on the first floor of the new City Hall building until Jan. 15. The viewing hours are from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Photos 1 and 2 courtesy of the Center for Sacramento History. Photos 3 and 4 by Colin Wood.

Photo 4 is of Joe Benassini, Sacramento Urban Forestry Manager.

Get batty Saturday

2010-06-26T01:08:36Z

Things will get a little batty in Old Sacramento Saturday when Trail Mix and a wildlife rescue group team up to educate people about bats.

Corky Quirk, founder of Northern California Bats, will bring live, wild bats to help dispel some of the myths about these nocturnal creatures. She will also teach people about the benefits and habits of the mysterious winged mammals in a presentation from 1-3 p.m. at Trail Mix, a store selling outdoor merchandise for kids and parents at 116B I St., across from the California State Railroad Museum.

Thousands of bats roost in the nooks and crannies of the city. In summer, a colony of 150,000 to 200,000 bats live under the Yolo Causeway and may be seen flying into the night sky.

California is home to 24 species of bats. Many winter in other countries. Quirk rehabilitates injured and orphaned bats. She will bring two of those most commonly found in the Sacramento Valley: the Brazilian or "Mexican" Free-Tailed bat, which has a 12-inch to 14-inch wingspan, and a Big Brown bat, which has a 13- to 16-inch wingspan and is often seen flying around city lights.

"The one people in Sacramento are most likely to come in contact with are Mexican Free-Tailed bats," Quirk said. "They live all over Old Sacramento in all those old buildings."

The Free-Tailed bat has an obvious tail, an erratic flight and appears precisely at sunset. Their colonies easily number in the thousands. Big Brown bats are harder to spot because their maternal colonies are so much smaller — usually numbering about 20, she added.

Others just as common to the valley include Pallid bats, Western Red bats, Hoary bats, and California and Yuma Myotis bats, which often roost behind signs or under bridges.

The largest bat in California is the Mastiff, which has an 18-inch wingspan. Bats living in the Sacramento Valley have wingspans ranging from 9 to 16 inches. But the bodies are only about 3 to 5 inches long.

"Usually, the thing that people comment the most about is they have no idea how small they are," Quirk said. "They're tiny little animals, and in the United States, all they eat are bugs."

For more information, contact Sara and Mike Barlow at Trail Mix at 498-9090 or Northern California Bats at 530-902-1918. Photos provided by Northern California Bats.

The Important Things

2010-06-03T03:12:15Z

[A note on the text: This is a little essay I submitted to another publication at the beginning of spring. It was never published, but I stubbornly persist on liking it and wanting others to read it. As gray skies have robbed of us this year of our little window of SoCal weather, I suppose reflections on the nature of spring are not very much in demand, but since this essay was written in the mood of Stravinsky much more than Vivaldi maybe it is fitting after all.]

The coming of spring always reminds me of the things that make the Sacramento region important. There are many things that do, but somehow they get overlooked in favor of sports teams, parking lots and human beings -- in other words, pretentious and trifling things. Of all the important things, I have three favorites.

Ground squirrels top my list. Heading East on the Elvas Freeway, a little ways past the 30th Street on-ramp, there is a wedge of undeveloped land on the right. A chain-link fence stands between it and the freeway. Presumably, the fence is there to keep anyone coming across the field from walking into traffic -- a pretty pointless precaution, if you ask me. However, the ground squirrels have found a use for it. On a sunny day, you will see them perched along the top of the fence, often in pairs.

The first time I saw the squirrels on the fence, I had to get off the freeway at Cal Expo and circle back around to make sure I hadn't hallucinated them. I look for them every time I drive that stretch of freeway, and I still can't quite believe my eyes. The sight of them is too miraculous not to be the result of some kind of perceptual anomaly.

Bee trees come second. Last week, I was sitting in the grass with my dogs. We were somewhere in Carmichael, listening to the relaxing and hopeful sound of bees buzzing. A couple of times a year, I check up on two feral bee colonies that have taken up residence in oak trees. Feral honey bees are bees who have parted ways with humans to try to make it on their own in the wild. I've read that they tend to have weaker colonies than those which people manage. Mite infestation can easily decimate them as well. So I'm always worried that the hives will be gone when I go looking for them. Thankfully, both hives remain intact.

Finally, I must mention copulating snakes. If you hope to see copulating snakes, you'll have to do a lot of walking around. In the decade I've spent walking around the Sacramento region, I've seen just one pair of gopher Snakes entwined in the sexual embrace.

According to Greek myth, the prophet Tiresias saw a pair of copulating snakes. Like me, he was utterly entranced by them. He squatted down and watched them for a long time. But the snakes sensed his presence and attacked him. In the struggle, he killed the female, and as a result he was turned into a woman.

I've never killed a snake or had a sex change, but the myth makes a lot of sense to me. My pair of copulating snakes eventually separated and slithered away. I felt vaguely guilty about invading their privacy, as if doing so might have interrupted something vitally important.

Photo by Jeff McCrory. Why no photos of the creatures? Sometimes you get what you pay for, I'm afraid. But if you want to see a YouTube video of a Bee tree, here.

Tree Vandalism

2010-05-25T22:46:09Z

Starting last year and continuing into this year, tree vandalism in Midtown has been rampant. The vandalism most often occurs on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights/early mornings. This fiscal year we have had 29 tree vandalized (26 in the central city).

Victim trees are located outside, near to or within a block of bars and nightclubs. The damage consists of twisting, cutting them in half or breaking off at any point newly planted trees of all species, ripping out the stakes and battering the trees and trying to break a tree by bending it over so far that it damaged the root system so much it could not stand straight without city arborists’ attention and help.

Imagine a vandal’s courage and feeling of power, drunk or sober, to attack and destroy a defenseless living thing such as newly planted tree, which gives us such environmental benefits.

Many were so badly damaged that the city Urban Forest Services had to remove the “remains” because there was no evidence of life to re-grow. Even those that can be saved will only be half the size of its neighbor which was not vandalized, delaying shade and leaf oxygen benefits for at least 10 years. Planting is only done in the rainy season, so all those damaged recently cannot be replaced until this fall, losing an entire summer of growth!

Urban Forest Services (UFS) states that the cost to the taxpayer is $251 per vandalized tree, which includes cost of the original tree, labor for planting, removal costs of the destroyed tree and the repeat cost of buying a new tree and labor for planting it.

This does not include city labor costs for watering the trees before they were vandalized if the trees were located in non-irrigated planter locations, which most are. Nor does it include the environmental costs to during the summer when there is no new tree and its belated growth for the next several years.

Trees vandalized on 19th Street were older established trees that were growing well. Most of those on 19th St were large diameter trees (1 1/2 inches). They would have a higher value than a newly planted tree. Between the 21st and J Street location and the others on 19th St, seven trees were vandalized UFS reports.

Whoever vandalized them had to really work at it says UFS staff, taking considerable time and effort. Vandalizing a tree is a crime. When someone sees that a tree has been vandalized, UFS asks them to call 311 and report the address and the kind of vandalism.

Graffiti vandals are also tagging tree trunks with spray paint, showing serious disrespect for nature. The city when notified of such tagging will photo and add to their inventory of various tagging elsewhere, enabling them to prosecute when monikers are identified. These are not gang tags but the usual graffiti vandals disrespecting nature.

When anyone observes someone either destroying a new tree or painting graffiti on a grown tree, they should take a photo of the criminal if the observer has a digital camera, or get a description and call 311. In the case of tree destruction if it takes the vandal considerable time to destroy the tree, individuals may also call the non-emergency police number.

I admit to a bias of a great fondness and respect for trees. As a fifth grader, I remember our English teacher giving us an assignment to read, Joyce Kilmer’s now nearly one hundred year-old poem “Trees.” We were asked to memorize it and then discuss it in class.

For those who may not have read the poem an abbreviated version goes like this:
“I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree that may in summer wear
a nest of robins in her hair.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

We then sang it in music class, which followed. I’m sure we must have murdered the song but for a real treat to hear it in its entirety google “song Joyce Kilmer Trees.” While the choral that comes up is beautiful, click on the Paul Robeson (of Showboat’s Ole Man River fame) arrangement. It is a scratchy old Victor recording but none of the richness of his bass voice or the strings accompaniment has been lost.

You will now see trees from a more appreciative perspective. Enjoy.

Walk the USS Dragonfly Gangplank (Adventure Sleuth series, #2)

2010-05-10T00:47:59Z

While on a scouting mission for an adventure race I was planning, I discovered a lovely Sacramento gem. Just north of downtown, I found myself walking the gangplank of what I’ve named the “USS Sacramento Dragonfly”.

The “ship”, better known by its very ordinary name, the “Sacramento River Water Intake Facility” offers some of the area’s best river views, nature-inspired art and architecture all in one place and all for free.

Longtime area resident, Merry Walle, said she knew there was an intake facility, but “had no idea that was so beautiful!” She also noted being “amazed at the wide and impressive causeway connecting it to the land”.

Completed in 2004, the facility is moored by 300 steel piles set deep in the riverbed. Its dragonfly wing-shaped structure and glass and metal sails seem poised to catch the wind while its hulking concrete hull keeps it firmly anchored to the earth. It’s a marvel of beauty and functionality.

Replacing an older 1924 structure to collect and convey river water, the facility’s deck offers 360-degree views of the river, the I Street Bridge and all manner of natural and human-made sights.

Artists Nagase, Runstadler and Evans created artworks in stone, glass and metal that evoke the river setting and lend grace to the facility. It wasn’t until I was editing my photos that I delightfully realized that the glass bubble art had captured a reflection of the shoreline trees.

Although the building windows offer glimpses of the big pipes and machinery necessary for water intake work, I was more drawn more to the bronze embossed seal in the rotunda . Encircling the seal is a quote by John Muir, “Tracing rivers to their fountains makes the most charming of travels. As the lifeblood of the landscapes, the best of the wilderness comes to their banks and not one dull passage is found...”

Located off Jibboom Street, at the Robert T. Matsui Waterfront Park, the USS Dragonfly sits ready for you to walk its long and sturdy gangplank.

10,000 to Give Helping Hands to Distressed Sacramento-area Parks on Saturday

2010-05-05T20:11:47Z

SACRAMENTO – More than 10,000 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and their friends will descend on parks throughout the Sacramento region Saturday, May 8, to perform necessary work from clean-up and general maintenance to painting, planting trees and even construction jobs.

Under the banner of Mormon Helping Hands, an international program of the Church that has provided manpower in distressed communities and organized relief efforts after natural disasters, the volunteers have chosen parks in their own communities to perform work in state, regional and city parks that have been hit hard by the recent downturn in the economy. The Sacramento effort is part of a statewide Mormon Helping Hands undertaking whose theme is “Preserving California’s Parks.”

“Members of the Church since the 1840s were instrumental in the establishment and building up of the state, including Sacramento and many other local cities and towns,” said Dennis Holland, Director of Public Affairs for the Sacramento Region. “We feel it is our duty to continue in following Jesus Christ’s example of service to others by helping to improve the communities in which we live, especially during these tough economic times for our local and state governments.”

One of the projects will be at Effie Yeaw Nature Center, which will be losing its funding from Sacramento County on July 1. Located inside Ancil Hoffman Park in Carmichael, the nature center has a list of projects to be accomplished, but no funds to pay for the labor to accomplish them. Among the projects that the Helping Hands volunteers will tackle is the construction of a natural playground out of fallen trees, the weeding of non-native plants from the nature area, the restoration of a pond, and the building of a display stand for a section of a 150-year-old Valley Oak tree.

“There is no way with our current low staffing levels we have now or expect to have in the future that we could remove the invasive and very tall-growing, non-native weeds,” said Marilee Flannery, Park Interpretive Supervisor of Effie Yeaw Nature Center. “This and the other projects would never get done without the helping hands of these volunteers.”

About 800 volunteers – including Hmong and Samoan groups – will donate more than 2,000 man-hours at the City of Sacramento’s William Land Park, which has seen its finding cut by 60 percent in recent years and its maintenance staff trimmed from 22 to seven employees. Volunteers will focus on numerous work projects, including historic trail restoration, power-washing of park amenities, landscape maintenance, specialized gardening, and the cleaning out of the park’s three ponds. The volunteer service in Land Park has an estimated value of more than $70,000.

To thank the Helping Hands volunteers, both the City and County of Sacramento have officially declared May 8, 2010, as Mormon Helping Hands Day.

The numerous other local projects include:

In Natomas: Partnering with the Sacramento Tree Foundation and the Sacramento City Council, volunteers will plant 86 trees at Rosebud Park in North Natomas and build a community garden in a Natomas neighborhood that doesn’t currently have such amenities.

In Sacramento: One of the oldest cemeteries will receive a sprucing-up, as 400 volunteers will do some light painting, trimming around headstones and cleaning them up at East Lawn Memorial Park at Folsom Boulevard and 43rd Street.

In Orangevale: Volunteers will be refurbishing one of the town’s biggest draws: the Frisbee Golf Course at Orangevale Park.

In El Dorado County: At the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park, where early members of the Church were instrumental in discovering gold and sparking the Gold Rush, hundreds of workers will paint and restore several buildings. Last year, the state park was threatened with closure.

In Placer County: More than 800 volunteers will be working in the Hidden Falls Regional Park, installing several miles of fence posts and non-barbed wire, clearing existing trails, building new trails and clearing brush.

In Yolo County: About 400 volunteers will be performing necessary work in six Woodland parks as well as the Woodland Opera House. In addition to weeding, raking and spreading bark chips, the volunteers will paint and stain buildings, gazebos, benches and picnic tables, replace roof shingles and pressure-wash buildings.

To cover one of the projects, please call Gary Zavoral at (916) 367-9537 or e-mail him at bigzav@hotmail.com.

For more on the churchwide Helping Hands program, go the Church’s Newsroom at http://www.newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/-mormon-helping-hands-program-a-decade-of-service.

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Welcome Back Springtime on the Farm

2010-02-17T22:13:41Z

Springtime will soon be in the air and you and your family are invited to get take a break from the 9 to 5 and city life to experience the awakening of life. The Center For Land-Based Learning at the Farm on Putah Creek is hosting Welcome Back Springtime at the Farm on Putah Creek Sunday March 28, 2010 from 10:00am – 4:00pm.

The Center For Land-Based Learning is a non-profit whose stated mission is to “engage youth in learning experiences on the land that foster respect for the critical interplay of agriculture, nature and society.”

Under the leadership of Mary Kimball, Executive Director, the Center uses a network of farms, ranches, and natural ecosystems as educational laboratories for inner city, suburban and rural high school students. The staff of educators, Land-Based Learning Graduates, and working farmers imparts an appreciation for where food comes from and knowledge about environmental stewardship. Connecting students to their own communities while developing leadership skills and the ability to work cooperatively in diverse groups are just a few benefits students experience while in the program. In the end, the development of future farmers, environmentalists, and caretakers of our earth and its resources is the true goal of this important organization.

Springtime is a wonderful time to experience everything the Farm on Putah Creek has to offer you and your family. There are miles of walking trails along Putah Creek, a bountiful organic market garden, hedgerows in full bloom, ponds of teaming tadpoles and birds and wildlife all around.

A few of the many hands-on activities offered the day of the event will include hayrides, a guided educational walk along Putah Creek and the cultivation of spring vegetables in our garden. You can take part in the feeding and gathering of eggs from the chickens and hold a cute baby chick. Adults and children of all ages will be invited to take part in the study of soil in our soil pit and learn about the many species of birds and other wildlife we see around the farm. There will be many activities available for you to do or you can simply relax and take in the beauty of the blossoming hedgerows. Don’t forget your camera, as there will be plenty of photo ops.

This fun family daylong event is free of charge. You can purchase food and beverages or feel free to bring your own picnic lunch. The Farm on Putah Creek is an easy driving distance from Sacramento and very close to Davis. For more information and driving directions call or visit the Center For Land-Based Learning’s web site at: (530) 795-1520, http://www.landbasedlearning.org. The address of the Farm on Putah Creek is 5265 Putah Creek Road, Winters, CA 95694. Don’t miss this once-a-year event.

Valentine's Day Love Stories

2010-02-14T21:04:50Z

The following true stories suggest that we do not give our animal friends sufficient credit as to their intelligence, loyalty and devotion. Some scoff at animals having or showing emotion. I believe that they do have feelings and often very deep, including love for each other and humans that are special to them.

Apparently they can connect with us in ways that are yet unknown. I felt these true stories were particularly appropriate for Valentine’s Day. A long time friend emailed the first story to me; the second is a personal story.

Freedom and Jeff
Freedom, a Bald Eagle and a man named Jeff have been together 11 years this past summer. Freedom came into the animal rescue center as a baby in 1998 with two broken wings. Her left wing didn’t open all the way even after surgery. It was broken in four places. She soon became his baby to care for.

When Freedom came in, she could not stand and both wings were broken. She was emaciated and covered in lice. Staff made the decision to give her a chance at life, so Jeff took her to the vet’s office. From then on, he was always around her. The center kept her in a huge dog carrier with the top off, and it was loaded up with shredded newspaper for her to lie in. Jeff used to sit and talk to her, urging her to live, to fight; and she would just lay there looking at him with those big brown eyes. They also had to tube-feed her for weeks.

This went on for four to six weeks. Still she couldn't stand. It progressed to the point where staff made the decision to euthanize her if she couldn't stand in a week. They didn’t want to cross that line between torture and rehab, and it looked like death was winning. She was going to be put down that Friday, and Jeff was supposed to come in that Thursday afternoon.

He didn't want to go to the center that fateful day, because he couldn't bear the thought of her being euthanized; but he went anyway. When he walked in, everyone was grinning from ear to ear. He immediately walked back to her cage; and there she was, standing on her own, a big beautiful eagle. She was ready to live! Seeing her standing, he “teared up.”

Staff knew she could never fly, so the director asked Jeff to glove train her. He got her used to the glove, and then to the jess, and they started doing educational programs for schools in Western Washington. The story wound up in the newspapers, radio (believe it or not) and some TV.

In the spring of 2000, Jeff was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He had Stage Three, which is not good (one major organ plus everywhere), so he wound up doing eight months of chemo. He lost his hair—the whole bit. He missed a lot of work. When he felt good enough, he would go to the center and take Freedom out for walks. He said that Freedom would also come to him in his dreams and help him fight the cancer. This happened time and time again.

Fast forward to November 2000, the day after Thanksgiving. Jeff went in for his last checkup. He was told that if the cancer was not all gone after eight rounds of chemo, then his last option was a stem cell transplant. Anyway, they did the tests; and he had to come back Monday for the results. When he went in that day, the doctors told him that all the cancer was gone.

The first thing he did was go up to the center and take the big girl out for a walk. It was misty and cold. He went to her flight and jessed her up, and they went out front to the top of the hill. He hadn't said a word to Freedom about his great news, but somehow she knew.

She looked at him and wrapped both her wings around him to where he could feel them pressing in on his back. He was engulfed in eagle wings, and she touched his nose with her beak and stared into his eyes. They stood there like that for he couldn’t remember how long. It was a magic moment. He felt that they had become soul mates ever since she came into the center. He had to feel that this was one incredibly special bird.

On a side note Jeff wanted to add something else. He said that people who were sick came up to them while they were out walking, and Freedom seemed to have some kind of hold on them. Once a guy who was terminal come up to them, and Jeff let him hold Freedom. His knees just about buckled, and he swore he could feel her power rush through his body. He was told many stories like that.

Jeff ended his story with the realization that he would never forget the honor of being so close to such a magnificent spirit as Freedom.

Jim and “Patches”
This story is about my late nephew who years ago found an abandoned female kitten along a rural highway. Jim knew that she was too young to survive without his rescuing her, so took her home (much to his wife's disapproval). She did not like cats and told him he would have to feed the kitten—she would have no part of it!

He named his little adopted calico bundle of fur, Patches and from the first evening, she welcomed Jim home every night when he came through the front door. First he fed her. When she had finished eating, she would follow him most of the evening, purring and occasionally rubbing against his leg.

A few months later, he and his wife divorced, and she left the house. Jim and the fast-growing kitten were with each other more then. After feeding her, Jim would fix his own dinner followed by sitting in his recliner to watch TV. She jumped up in his lap to be closer to him. But Patches did not have her six-foot brown-eyed curly black-haired friend to herself for long. He remarried and soon the family grew to include two daughters.

Patches now gained a new status in the house, respected and loved by his second wife and young daughters. Jim was promoted to manager of his large employer’s computer department, and the new job entailed considerable travel. Feeding the cat each evening now became the task of the two girls until he returned home. But Patches moped when he was gone, picked at her food and seemed only content when snoozing in his chair, her favorite resting place.

Her keen sense of hearing enabled her to know ahead of the others that it was his car pulling into the drive and she instantly came alive from where ever she happened to be. She ran to the door to be first in line to greet him. Jim never failed to pick her up and ask, “How’s my Patches?” He would then hug her and brush her body of soft fur against his face and she would “talk” as if to tell him that she had missed him and glad he was back. For the next several years, she continued to welcome Jim home each night and watch TV with him, curled up on his lap.

One late cold November evening she jumped upon his lap but instead of laying down and curling up, she began to lick his left temple. He didn't have the heart to pull her away even though it was a bit annoying. Every night she gently licked the same spot. Her behavior soon became a joke to the extended family, neighbors and visitors with remarks like, “Look at that crazy cat—licking Jim’s face.” But the cat seemed to know what she was doing.

In January Jim began to have excruciating pain in the area of his left temple. After a few days he went to the doctor who diagnosed the pain as a brain tumor. Tests were taken and biopsies showed it was malignant. He declined chemotherapy and radiation. He had always been a healthy young man. He accepted the fact his condition was terminal and he wanted to be as comfortable as he could until the end.

Too soon he became bedridden, and Patches stayed with him in bed all day and night, never failing to lick his temple off and on. She left his sickbed only to eat half-heartedly and go outside briefly—she had been house-trained to go outdoors. Upon reentering, she would trot quickly—tail waving proudly-- to her self-appointed post.

The tumor progressed very fast, and Jim’s strength began to fade. But his friend remained with him, lying at his side day after day, night after night still licking his temple. His wife and visitors asked him if he would be more comfortable if the cat were removed from his bed. He emphatically declined the offers stating, “No, I want her there. I believe she is trying to heal the tumor.”

One night about eleven, the cat let out a very loud scream, jumped off the bed and ran to the front door meowing even louder, insisting on going outside. She was acting in a way that Jim’s wife and daughters had never heard or seen Patches do before. Jim’s wife responded to her urgent cries and opened the door to let her out into the dark night but sensing something was seriously wrong, rushed to his bedroom. There she found Jim had passed away.

Patches never returned to the house. No one ever saw her again.

Wild & Scenic Film Fest Screened Thursday

2010-02-02T04:55:11Z

Local environmental and conservation organizations are bringing the Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival On Tour to Sacramento for the first time Thursday.

Save Our Sandhill Cranes and the Environmental Council of Sacramento have chosen 11 films for the three-hour festival being held at the Crest Theatre — a sampling of the annual film fest held last month in Nevada City.

Moviegoers will watch adventure films about a team kayaking in Papua New Guinea, Oregon tree climbers in search of the biggest Sitka spruces and surfing in Wyoming. Other films document life in the Anza Borrego desert, the rising acidity of the ocean and Kenya's environmental and social justice movement.

With more than 125 films and documentaries to consider, the Sacramento film committee tried to choose flicks that would resonate locally, said Matthew Baker, habitat director for ECOS and a committee member.

"I think we have a really good lineup of films," he said. "A lot of them are kind of inspiring calls to action for people to get involved locally."

The South Yuba River Citizens League launched its environmental film festival in 2003 as a fundraising project to protect the Yuba Watershed. The festival got its name in recognition of the group's success getting 39 miles of the river designated as "wild & scenic." That festival has grown to three days with dozens of films and 80 speakers. The league now offers a smaller film tour package to groups around the country.

The Sacramento event will raise funds for ECOS' regional conservation plan, the California Heartlands Project. The project is working to build a network of protected open space on working farms and ranches in order to protect biological diversity and the region's agricultural heritage and to give local residents more places to go for recreation and to learn about nature.

The project would help protect habitat for sandhill cranes, Swainson's hawks and the inhabitants of seasonal wetlands known as vernal pools, among other creatures, Baker said.

Sandhill cranes are elegant, long-necked gray birds with red feather caps and wingspans of six to eight feet. They are found in North America, Siberia and Cuba. The birds are popular among birders and nature photographers, including those who travel to locate prized species. The birds' appearance here for winter migration has been gaining more widespread attention in recent years.

The California Heartlands Project is getting involved in upcoming discussions on Elk Grove's proposed expansion of its city limits. The city, whose limits contain 8,000 acres "lying fallow," are trying to add another roughly 10,000 additional acres within city limits and thus expand into the southeast corner of Sacramento County, Baker said.

That area is overflow winter habitat for sandhill cranes, especially when Cosumnes River Preserve floods. Sandhill cranes that don't find suitable habitat will fly off and most likely never return after nesting in other areas, he said.

The California Heartlands Project is also seeking to preserve the last high-density vernal pool areas in east Sacramento county.

"Vernal pools are seasonal wetlands that are unique to California's Central Valley," he said. "Because of geologic conditions of having a hardpan soil, over the winter during rainy seasons, the pools collect. Throughout spring, you get the real blooming of life that happens there."

Two areas of ranch land — one along Jackson Highway and the other east of Rancho Cordova — support vernal pools with many endemic species, including fairy and tadpole shrimp. These areas are also under speculation for more urban growth, Baker said.

Organizers hope the film fest attracts enough people to fill one of the Crest's small theaters, which seats about 200. Tickets are being sold in advance for $10. ECOS is also offering a special one-year membership and film fest ticket special of $25. ECOS membership usually costs $35.

"I think we're going to fill the place," Baker said. "We're hoping if we can fill a small theater, we'll go for the big theater next time."

The Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival On Tour will run from 6-9p.m. Thursday at the Crest, 1013 K St. For more information, call 442-5189.

Sun birds

2009-11-30T04:37:06Z

Flocks of snow geese are seen as they winter over in rice paddies south of Yuba City.

They probably flew here from Alaska. Snow geese breeding populations reside in

California’s central valleys, the lower Colorado River, south/central New Mexico’s

Rio Grande wetlands, Mexico’s northern Chihuahuan desert river basins and playa

wetlands, and Mexico’s Gulf of California shorelines. In early spring they'll head

back to their nesting areas. The 11th Annual Snow Goose Festival of the Pacific

Flyway happens January 28-31, 2010. For information, (530) 345-1865.

SacPress Photo | Kati Garner

A non-arborist's adventure through "The City of Trees"

2009-10-18T19:14:27Z

Even though autumn had its official start three weeks ago, I had my first foray into fall on Saturday's tree tour through my own neighborhood Arden Park, hosted by the Sacramento Tree Foundation.

The tree tours were started over five years ago by longtime Sacramento Tree Foundation member Fran Clarke. It was Clarke's goal to make the community aware of the many spectacular trees found in Sacramento.

Eighteen resident citizens, from 2 years age to retired, gathered at La Sierra Park for an informational walk-about with Sacramento Tree Foundation stewardship coordinator Luanne Leineke.

"The trees are not only beautiful, they play important roles in our community," Leineke said. "They help clean up pollution. The leaves attract particles of pollution so people don't breathe them in. They also provide shade which helps lower the ambient air temperature which is especially important in a hot location like Sacramento."

Before the mile-and-a-half walk began, each participant was handed a detailed brochure and map entitled "The Magnificent Trees of Arden Park." The handout illustrated the location of 51 mostly deciduous, "leaf-losing" trees spread out over a many-mile radius.

"This particular tour is best done on a bike," Leineke said as the tour started. But there were plenty of trees to see on an abbreviated walking tour.

Starting out in La Sierra Park, we admired the blue atlas cedar with its dominant pyramidal shape, viewed two sickly looking Black locusts and learned to differentiate between a variety of oaks, including the Southern Live oak, the valley oak and the pin oak.

"Oaks have very lobed leaves," Leineke informed us. "But the pin oak's leaves are very lobed and it has crunchy, vertical bark."

This educational adventure continued into the neighborhoods as we ventured down Los Molinos Way, up El Sur Way and over on Castec Drive. Lieneke has an extensive knowledge of hardwood trees and worked hard to inform our group about proper care for a tree, average tree maintenance costs (approximately $9 a month per tree), pruning techniques and basic plant biology. We made special note of the planting differences of east-west streets that strive for shade and the more open north-south streets.

Leineke emphasized planning ahead when choosing a shade tree for your yard. She stressed that consideration must be given to the eventual size of the tree and the importance of a healthy root system.

"Wet soil is not healthy for most trees," Leineke warned. "With wet soil, there is not enough oxygen in the soil for the tree to stay healthy."

During our walk, we stopped to appreciate many trees, including ginkgo, elm, tulip tree (yellow poplar), tupelo — which was starting to get some of its intense red fall color — Southern magnolia, liquidamber and the redwood. Perhaps the most stunning tree on the tour was the wide-branching blue oak that caused many participants to exclaim, "Just beautiful!"

We also learned about the "shade history" of the Arden Park neighborhood. Historically, many streets were lined with the graceful Modesto ash; however, because of its susceptibility to mistletoe and anthracnose (a hardwood tree disease), many of these trees have been removed and replaced with more stable shade providers such as the London plane.

"How do you tell a London plane from a sycamore?" questioned one participant.

"By its balls," answered Lieneke, jokingly referring to the soft brown seed balls that hang from the branches in two-pair clusters. Lieneke indicated that sycamore's seed balls form in clusters of three to five.

Four additional tree tours will be held throughout the fall season and will highlight a variety of community settings. All tours are free and open to the public. The tours begin at 10 a.m. and conclude by noon. Further information can be found on the Sacramento Tree Foundation's website.

The Tree Tours schedule:

Oct. 24: American River College, meet at the administration building, 4700 College Oak Dr.

Oct 30: River Park Community tour, meet at the shopping center, 5493 Carlson Dr.

Nov. 7: Capitol Park tour, meet on the east steps of the Capitol

Nov. 14: Sacramento State campus, meet near the bus stop at the J Street entrance

Mother Nature's Light Show Photos

2009-06-04T06:28:39Z

I was driving west on Baseline Rd, almost to Hwy 99, when I noticed lighting brightening the sky around 8:45pm.

I pulled off the road at the intersection of Elverta and 99, as did other travelers and captured the show for about an hour.

Photos | Kati Garner

Vernal Equinox 2009

2009-03-21T22:13:25Z

The equinox happens twice a year: once in the spring and once in the fall. Due to the tilt of the earth as it orbits the sun, the relative length of daylight expands and contracts throughout the year. At the equinox, the length of the day is exactly equal to the length of the night. Actually, according to National Geographic News, "The true days of day-night equality always fall before the vernal equinox and after the autumnal, or fall, equinox." Traditionally, the equinoxes mark the beginning of spring and fall, whereas the solstices mark summer and winter.

Photos taken on the American River Parkway, near Sunrise Blvd.

Bird pond

2009-03-11T04:57:35Z

These photos were taken at a pond near the American River at Sunrise Blvd. Birds, who have spent all day feeding in the river, flock to the pond at sun down to spend the night. There are turtles, too. But turtles are much more camera shy than birds.

Wildflower season has begun

2009-03-09T21:06:10Z

Besides hayfever, what do weeks of rain followed by blue skies and balmy weather bring to Sacramento?

Wildflowers, of course.

There are preserves in the area where you can see rare, native wildflowers. But for people who are taking a walk along the American River Parkway or just poking around in the backyard, here are four wildflowers you are almost sure to enoucounter.

(The common name of the flowers are linked to hi-res photos)

1. Shepherd's purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris) This pretty weed is a great wildflower to point out to children. It's unmistakable seedpod appearently looks like a shepherd's purse, but to our modern eyes it looks like a valentine's heart. The child will probably be able to idenify this wildflower easily after the first time it is pointed out to him. If look at the base of the stem, you will see a a rosette of lobed leaves. The flowers are small and white.

2. California manroot (Marah fabaceus) is in the Cucurbitaceae family, which includes melons, gourds, squashes and cucumbers. M. fabaceus produces a small, spiny cucumber in the summer. You will find this clinging vine in shady areas. It likes to climb small trees or insinuate itself among brambles. Look for its white, star-like flowers and its coiled tendrils. M. fabaceus has both male and female flowers. The male flowers grow in clusters, while the female flowers grow singly.

3. Wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum) You can see this wildflower along any stretch of Sacramento's freeways. You will know this invasive weed by its cruciform flower pedals. The pedals vary in color from white to purple to yellow. Towards summer, it bears a fruit called a silique that smells and tastes, not suprisingly, like a radish.

4. Henbit or dead nettle (Lamium amplexicaule) to appreciate this flower, you've got to get down on your belly and examine it up close. Standing over it, you will think it is an ugly thing. You'll notice its leaves first. They cling to the stem at three to several levels. When you get your eye up close to the purple flowers, you'll notice that they begin as a long, delicate tube that expands into a two-lipped corrolla. The pedals are spotted and hairy.

Mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful

2009-02-14T04:12:18Z

"The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful." — E.E. Cummings

Photos taken ARP/Sunrise Bridge.

Sacramento Museum Day Returns February 7

2009-02-03T22:29:19Z

Twenty-six greater Sacramento area museums will be offering free admission, all day long, during the 11th Annual Sacramento Museum Day. This event is presented by the Sacramento Association of Museums, and proudly supported by Umpqua Bank. Sacramento Museum Day takes place Saturday, February 7 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. All participating museums close at 5 p.m., with the last guests admitted at 4 p.m.

Museum Day, a Sacramento cultural tradition, invites all members of the community to experience the Capital City’s incredible wealth of art, history, science and wildlife at numerous participating museums at no cost. Twenty-six museums in all will be participating in Museum Day for 2009, the largest number ever! Several participating museums also offer special programming during Sacramento Museum Day, in addition to regular exhibitions.

“The Sacramento region boasts dozens of museums, many of them relatively unknown to local residents,” said Sacramento Association of Museums Chairman Paul Hammond. “Sacramento Museum Day is a great opportunity to sample these institutions and, in the process, to learn about our region, our state, and our world.” Nearly 55,000 people enjoyed the Capital City’s museums during Sacramento Museum Day 2008; since the event’s inception, well over one-half million people have enjoyed Sacramento Museum Day.

Event coordinators suggest that guests plan to see no more than two or three different museums this day, to allow adequate time to enjoy the experience and to travel between individual sites. Also, since some museums must limit the number of admissions this day for safety reasons, guests are asked to check out detailed Museum Day information online at sacmuseums.org, prior to February 7. “And whatever you do,” says Museum Day Coordinator Delta Pick Mello, “consider visiting museums that you’ve never been to—or perhaps have never even heard of. That’s what this event is all about: discovering the many different museums that are right here in our own backyard!”

Sacramento Museum Day 2009 is proudly supported by Umpqua Bank. Media sponsors include KVIE Public Television, Capital Public Radio, Outword magazine, and News10’s Sacramento & Co. Free shuttle buses will operate throughout the day with stopping points located adjacent to most—but not all—participating museums. The California Museum, at 10th and ‘O’ Streets, serves as the central transfer point for the five different shuttle routes in operation during Sacramento Museum Day. Volunteer “step-on” tour guides will be on-board to assist riders and narrate the route, courtesy of the Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau and California State University, Sacramento. Riders with special needs will be accommodated courtesy of Cerebral Palsy Transport.

Detailed information about participating museums, suggested parking, public transit options, and free event shuttle routes is available at sacmuseums.org (click on “Museum Day”), or by calling the Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau at (916) 808-7777.

PARTICIPATING MUSEUMS FOR SACRAMENTO MUSEUM DAY 2009:
Aerospace Museum of California – California Foundry History Museum – California State Military Museum – California State Capitol Museum – The California Museum – California State Indian Museum – California State Railroad Museum – Crocker Art Museum* – Discovery Museum Science and Space Center – Don and June Salvatori California Pharmacy Museum – Explorit Science Center (Davis) – Fairytale Town – Folsom History Museum – Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park – Heidrick Ag History Center (Woodland) – Leland Stanford Mansion State Historic Park – Museum of Medical History – Old Sacramento Schoolhouse Museum – Old Sacramento State Historic Park – Sacramento Zoo – Sacramento Historic City Cemetery – Sacramento History Museum (formerly Discovery Museum History Center) -- Sojourner Truth Multicultural Arts Museum – Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park – Towe Auto Museum – Wells Fargo History Museum (Old Sacramento location only).

*Please note that the Crocker Art Museum is under construction for its major expansion. Parking and gallery access will be limited, and shuttle service will not be offered to the Crocker Art Museum during Sacramento Museum Day 2009.

Comprised of 27 greater Sacramento area museums working in partnership with the Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Sacramento Association of Museum's mission is to raise awareness of local museums by giving the community the opportunity to discover California’s fine art, history, science and wildlife treasures. SAM achieves its mission through implementing cooperative promotions and developing strategic marketing alliances, by encouraging sharing of knowledge and resources among its partner institutions, and by conducting Sacramento Museum Day each year.

Be Grateful for cloudy skies

2009-01-25T03:50:25Z

The Bee was full of cloudy skies today with news of soaring unemployment rates and the fiscal undoing of my employer, the County of Sacramento. It put me in a gloomy mood.

Yet when I took my dog out for his walk this afternoon the actual cloudy skies brightened my outlook. The clouds were beautiful to look at, for one, and made me feel grateful for the rain they carried, which our drought-ridden state needs so badly.

So I took some pictures of them.

Keep right and straight on to the birds

2009-01-16T22:59:59Z

AR Parkway, near Sunrise Blvd.

Sunset on the American River

2009-01-07T04:59:56Z

These were taken on a foot bridge, near the Sunrise Blvd overpass.

Mushroom Hunt

2009-01-07T04:07:01Z

I took some pictures of mushroom on my walk by the the American River, and I geocached them here on Google maps. I only spotted four. I went for my walk after work, and it got dark before I had even gone two miles.

A Walk at the American River

2008-12-22T23:16:03Z

More at The Brambles.

A Walk at the American River

2008-12-22T23:04:38Z

(Cross posted at the Bramble)