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"A weed is no more than a flower in disguise." – James Russell Lowell
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Now is the time that Lake County's landscape is painted with delicate and exotic bouquets – feasts for the eyes.
No trivial things, these humble beauties, wafting in the wind and showering the terrain with pollen.
All floral beauty aside, the importance of flowers' role in the cosmos surrounding us cannot be ignored. Without blossoms, life as we know it would not be possible.
The inflorescence on fruits and vegetables are, as we know, the plants' reproductive makeup, allowing the amazing biology of a plant to blend eggs with sperm and voilà – with a little help from a pollinator, like a bee – we get apples and zucchini!
Nature is creative in the ways of attracting pollinators to stop by.
Take a bee orchid. It has evolved over time to look like a bee to attract other bees to carry out the pollination process.
Other pollination mechanisms that are entomophilous, which is Greek for “insect-loving,” include flowers with nectar, special markings called nectar guides, scent and coloration.
Most flower pollens do not noticeably cause allergy sufferers to sneeze, as it is most often the pollens from trees and grasses that carry those irritating allergens.
Of all nature studies, there must be none more delightful than one who studies wildflowers.
Each year one can greet “old friends,” the flowers who make appearances in the same spots as previous years. Then, a joyous quest to scout out new acquaintances and learn about other wildflowers ensues.
Each plant requires its own soil type and climate to flourish. It is wondrous to discover how plants ensure their futures through the variety of seed distribution. Some use hooks, some seeds have bristles, while still others create pretty parachutes to launch seeds into the wind.
Flowers of all sorts have made their way into the lives of a variety of cultures. Some flowers are edible, some are grown for their beauty alone, and some, like those used in the Flower Carpets of La Orotava's Corpus Christi San Isidro have incorporated both religious and aesthetics into the annual presentation.
While visiting my family, who has resided in the town of La Orotava, on the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands, our jaws dropped at the beauty created on the town's sidewalks when fragrant flowers, seeds and colorful volcanic sands were employed in the creation of sidewalk tapestries, which they have been solemnly completing each year since the 19th century.
During flower cultivation in Victorian times one could select a flower to send a message. Asters represented patience, roses equaled love and honeysuckle symbolized devotion.
In the 1930s the public was clamoring for BFRs, or Bach flower remedies, which were tinctures of flower petals with brandy and water.
Bach, a British homeopath, used certain flowers whose plants contained healing properties for his remedies, which he claimed held the flowers' force or energy to enhance the patient's emotional condition.
Bach's philosophy, according to Wikipedia's reference list was based on the classic elements in ancient Greece, those being the four elements: “The earth to nurture the plant, the air from which it feeds, the sun or fire to enable it to impart its power, and water to collect and be enriched with its beneficent magnetic healing.”
Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is a retired educator, potter, writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.” She also writes for NASA and JPL as one of their “Solar System Ambassadors.” She was selected “Lake County Teacher of the Year, 1998-99” by the Lake County Office of Education, and chosen as one of 10 state finalists the same year by the California Department of Education.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County Animal Care and Control has more big dogs and a little dog needing homes this week.
This week’s available dogs include mixes of border collie, German Shepherd, Great Dane, husky, pit bull and terrier.
Dogs that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are either neutered or spayed, microchipped and, if old enough, given a rabies shot and county license before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.
If you're looking for a new companion, visit the shelter. There are many great pets hoping you'll choose them.
The following dogs at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption (additional dogs on the animal control Web site not listed are still “on hold”).
Female terrier
This small female terrier has a short white coat and floppy ears.
She’s in kennel No. 6b, ID No. 7334.
Great Dane mix
This young Great Dane mix has a short black coat with white markings.
He’s in kennel No. 18, ID No. 7388.
‘Haley’
“Haley” is a female German Shepherd with a medium-length brown and black coat.
She already has been spayed.
The shelter is offering her to a new home for a low adoption fee.
She’s great with other dogs, but needs to go to a home with no livestock, cats or small animals.
She’s in kennel No. 20, ID No. 7253.
‘Daisy’
“Daisy” is a husky with a medium-length tricolor coat and blue eyes.
She has not yet been spayed.
Shelter staff estimated she is 9 months old. She has no food aggression issues and did well when introduced to a male dog. However, she is recommended for a home with no cats or small animals, and children ages 6 or above.
She’s in kennel No. 24, ID No. 7341.
‘Kevin’
“Kevin” is a husky with a medium-length tricolor coat, and one blue eye and one brown eye.
He has not yet been neutered.
Kevin is estimated to be about 9 months old, sweet and good with other dogs. He will need some training but is anxious to please, and has no food aggression. It’s recommended that his adoptive home have children ages 6 and above, and no small animals or cats.
He’s in kennel No. 26, ID No. 7340.
‘Daisy’
“Daisy” is a female pit bull terrier mix with a black coat and white markings.
She has a short black coat and has been spayed.
Daisy is offered for a low adoption fee.
She’s in kennel No. 28, ID No. 7375.
‘Toby’
“Toby” is a male border collie mix.
He already has been neutered.
Shelter staff said he needs a home with no other animals.
He’s in kennel No. 29, ID No. 7379.
To fill out an adoption application online visit http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Dog___Cat_Adoption_Application.htm .
Lake County Animal Care and Control is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport, next to the Hill Road Correctional Facility.
Office hours are Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Visit the shelter online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm .
For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
As it drives uphill from a band of rippled sand dunes, NASA's Curiosity Mars rover is toting a fistful of dark sand for onboard analysis that will complete the rover's investigation of those dunes.
From early February to early April, the rover examined four sites near a linear dune for comparison with what it found in late 2015 and early 2016 during its investigation of crescent-shaped dunes.
This two-phase campaign is the first close-up study of active dunes anywhere other than Earth.
Among the questions this Martian dune campaign is addressing is how winds shape dunes that are relatively close together, on the same side of the same mountain, into different patterns.
Others include whether Martian winds sort grains of sand in ways that affect the distribution of mineral compositions, which would have implications for studies of Martian sandstones.
“At these linear dunes, the wind regime is more complicated than at the crescent dunes we studied earlier,” said Mathieu Lapotre of Caltech, in Pasadena, who helped lead the Curiosity science team's planning for the dune campaign. “There seems to be more contribution from the wind coming down the slope of the mountain here compared with the crescent dunes farther north.”
The linear dunes lie uphill and about a mile south from the crescent dunes. Both study locations are part of a dark-sand swath called the Bagnold Dunes, which stretches several miles in length. This dune field lines the northwestern flank of Mount Sharp, the layered mountain that Curiosity is climbing.
“There was another key difference between the first and second phases of our dune campaign, besides the shape of the dunes,” Lapotre said. “We were at the crescent dunes during the low-wind season of the Martian year and at the linear dunes during the high-wind season. We got to see a lot more movement of grains and ripples at the linear dunes.”
To assess wind strength and direction, the rover team now uses change-detection pairs of images taken at different times to check for movement of sand grains.
The wind-sensing capability of the Curiosity's Rover Environmental Monitoring Station is no longer available, though that instrument still returns other Mars-weather data daily, such as temperatures, humidity and pressure.
Two of the six wind sensors on the rover's mast were found to be inoperable upon landing on Mars in 2012. The remainder provided wind information throughout the rover's prime mission and first two-year extended mission.
A sample of sand that Curiosity scooped up from a linear dune is in the sample-handling device at the end of the rover's arm.
One portion has been analyzed in the Sample Analysis at Mars, or SAM, instrument inside the rover. The science team plans to deliver additional sample portions to SAM and to the rover's Chemistry and Mineralogy instrument.
One factor in choosing to drive farther uphill before finishing analysis of the scooped sand is the status of Curiosity's rock-sampling drill, which has not been used on a rock since a problem with the drill feed mechanism appeared five months ago.
Engineers are assessing how the use of vibration to deliver samples may affect the drill feed mechanism, which is used to move the drill bit forward and backwards.
In addition, high winds at the linear-dunes location were complicating the process of pouring sample material into the entry ports for the laboratory instruments.
“A balky brake appears to be affecting drill feed mechanism performance,” said Curiosity Deputy Project Manager Steven Lee, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. “In some cases, vibration has been observed to change feed effectiveness, so we're proceeding cautiously until we better understand the behavior. In the meantime, the engineering team is developing several methods to improve feed reliability.”
Curiosity landed near Mount Sharp in August 2012. It reached the base of the mountain in 2014 after successfully finding evidence on the surrounding plains that ancient Martian lakes offered conditions that would have been favorable for microbes if Mars has ever hosted life. Rock layers forming the base of Mount Sharp accumulated as sediment within ancient lakes billions of years ago.
On Mount Sharp, Curiosity is investigating how and when the ancient habitable conditions known from the mission's earlier findings evolved into drier conditions that were less favorable for life.
For more information about Curiosity, visit http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl .
LAKEPORT, Calif. – “Memories to Legacies,” a series of free workshop sessions to help individuals reflect on their lives and pass on legacies, will be presented by Hospice Services of Lake County starting Wednesday, May 10.
Workshop sessions will take place at the Odd Fellows Hall, 9480 Main St., Upper Lake.
Each session will have its own theme designed to help participants write about their lives, share stories with family and future generations, and connect with new friends.
Participants may sign up for any or all of the five classes. No writing experience is necessary.
Meetings will be from 10 am. to noon on each of the scheduled days.
Session dates and the scheduled topics are May 10, “Show and Tell for Grown Ups,” participants share stories about memorable items; May 24, “The Stories Behind Your Photos,” share and write stories about personal photographs; June 14, “The Stories behind Your Keepsakes and Heirlooms,” write stories about personal keepsakes and heirlooms; June 28, “Legacy Letters/Ethical Wills,” memorialize meaningful information; and July 12, “Past Memories Potluck,” prepare and share a special dish that brings back memories.
Hospice Services employees Laurie Fisher, spiritual caregiver, and Loretta McCarthy, bereavement counselor, will facilitate the workshops.
“Join us for this delightfully fun, thought-provoking, and important series,” said Fisher. “We think you’ll enjoy the activities we’ve planned to help you reflect on your life, share your wisdom, and pass on your stories so your precious moments live on. The workshops offer a safe, supportive space where you can share your thoughts freely.”
The number of participant seats will be limited at each session. Registration is recommended. To register for any of the five workshops, contact Fisher by calling 707-263-6270, Extension 130.
Hospice Services of Lake County’s mission is to support and comfort people by providing the highest quality medical, emotional and spiritual care to help patients and their families navigate their end-of-life journeys.
For more information, call Hospice Services of Lake County, 707-263-6222.
Visit the organization’s Web site at www.lakecountyhospice.org .
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Public Service’s Department announced that the Eastlake Landfill and the Public Services office will be closed Monday, May 29, in observance of the Memorial Day holiday.
All facilities are closed, and there is no garbage pickup. Curbside service will be delayed one day for the rest of the week.
Both facilities will reopen on Tuesday, May 30.
Normal operating hours at the landfill are 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. The Public Services office is normally open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
If you have any questions regarding this subject or any of the solid waste issues in Lake County, please call 707-262-1618.
MENDOCINO NATIONAL FOREST, Calif. – Operations are underway on the Log Springs timber sale about 14 miles southwest of Paskenta on the Mendocino National Forest.
Hauling may start this week and continue into July with an estimated 12 to 15 truckloads a day.
Trucks will be hauling from the sale area, southeast on the M9 Road, to the M9/County Road 55 junction, then down County Road 55 to the M4 Road and off the forest. There will also be some water truck traffic on M4.
Travelers need to be extra cautious on County Road 55 between the M4 and M9 roads as there are many blind corners.
Please watch for traffic signs along the haul route and logging activity signs around the sale area.
For more information about the forest, visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/mendocino/ .