Thursday, February 19, 2026

Rain & Puddles

 I guess it's all what you're used to. For me, cool weather and rain is not all that common, so I really enjoy it. We had a fair amount of rain, cold temperatures (for us) and strong gusty winds earlier in the week, and it's raining lightly as I type this. I love getting out and hiking in this weather. Great skywatching too!
The wild mustard blooms early in the year. Nice to enjoy the sea of yellow flowers, but the plant will dry out and die in a couple months, becoming a fire hazard.
 
The city placed these rocks here for erosion control along the trail. I always marvel at the beautiful colors!
 
There are a few flowers blooming, but it's still early. A few more weeks and there will be a lot of color in these hills. The prickly pear cactus are not in bloom yet (there's even some fruit left from the last bloom), but their flowers will add lots of color.
 
Beautiful lighting on the ferns.
 
Everything is so green this time of year!
 
Wild radish.
 
Sticky monkey-flower. Soon they will blanket the hills!
 
 
 
 
Rain cell on the horizon.
 
Wild cucumber.
 
 
This little pond only contains water for a handful of days every year, but the moment it fills up, these ducks magically show up!
 
 
Twins!
 
Thanks for stopping by, and wherever you may be, stay warm and safe!
Linking with Skywatch Friday.

41 comments:

  1. Your photos are gorgeous. I love cool weather and rain...I live in Montreal.

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  2. This is definitely not your usual post. No sandy vistas, petroglyphs, unusual rock formations, but I did enjoy the flowers and sky views.

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  3. I enjoyed your early spring views, especially the flowers. It will be quite a while before we have any bloom here, even with our warmer than usual winter this year. The red growths on the cacti are prickly pears, or what in Italy is called "fichi d'India" when they are fully grown and considered an edible fruit. I'm not a fan of them but my husband loves them!

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  4. Twenty five years ago, I was fortunate to take a dory boat down the Grand Canyon in April and I was in awe at all the blooming things I found. I came home with some 300 pictures, fully half of them of various things blooming and nothing to do with the Colorado river.

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  5. ...life depends on water and you showed it beautifully!

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  6. Wow! So refreshing to see all the 'green' and other spring like colors ~ tired of all the white stuff here in MA ~ Great sky shots too ~ thanks,

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  7. Looks like a great time. 40's and 50's are my prime time hiking temps. Warm enough to where I don't have to bundle up and cool enough to keep the slithery things from stopping their brumation.

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  8. Love seeing the blooms there this time of year. The cacti always fascinate me! I would love to see them in bloom.

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  9. Yeah, it was a chilly one today, wasn't it? Well, for us. I enjoy the rain way more when I don't have to be out in it, or working in it.

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  10. Okay my comment is the beginning and the end, LOL. I just love the cover night sky shot,, it still just amazes me, And I love the twins. ;-) .I learned some thing too (as it seems always do here) , I did not know that was a wild cucumber. YOu are good with those flowers, they are all beautiful, I breathed deep and got a great smile. The best from over here on the first coast.

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  11. That’s more vegetation that I am used to from you. It’s still white here, but we’ll get there.

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    1. Yes, not out in the desert for these photos, so things are definitely greener!

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  12. It has been wet here in NorCal as well, hoping to see some blooms soon.

    Worth a Thousand Words

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  13. Beautiful shots! It’s amazing to see how the desert transforms with just a little rain.

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  14. Fantastic scenery. Bangalore had harsh winter this time but only paltry rains

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  15. Excellent pictures--- Beautiful flowers. There's a spot near us where a temporary lake forms when we have a lot of rain. Within hours, a zillion Canada Geese will be floating around in it.

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  16. I love spring rains when all the new greenery and blossoms come out. It looks very beautiful at your end. Enjoy the rain and the blossoms.

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  17. At least you have some nice flora to see, we have a few spring flowers coming out at the moment but also a lot a of rain. The gauge in my back garden shows over 5” since the 1st Feb, other places have had more. We will sink soon

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  18. Just. Wow. The burst of colors in your desert world have to be so exciting to see and photograph. We have the wild cucumbers here too, but we don't have the elegant flowers that I see photographed.
    Those monkey flowers are so vibrant. The desert area springs to life with the rains doesn't it?

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  19. Haha twins indeed! Love that photo. The other photos are great too :-D

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  20. The rainy weather has provided you with a beautiful colorful series.
    Here winter is coming to an end and I'm longing for some sun and warmth.

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  21. A splendid series showcasing your outing on what sounded like an enjoyable day, weather-wise. I can imagine the heat you experience. But hey, it's a dry heat, right? ;-) A beautiful "carpet" of color that the mustard seeds provide you and it's nice to see the hills coming alive with some early color. It makes me yearn for Spring. I've heard a lot about the storms in California; both high up and in the desert areas. I can only imagine some of the areas that haven't recuperated from the wildfires yet. A cute shot with your twin. Have a great weekend!

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  22. Living in a rainy climate, I've come to love the rain, especially all the green it brings. I'm glad you enjoy rainy days too. Lovely cactus blooms!

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  23. the last photo made me smile, loving the cucumber plant, I've never seen that before. Good to see some erosion control happening to protect the ground and I'm thinking the desert area was happy to see some rain.

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  24. Some of your cool weather has made its way over here. The last week we've actually normal winter temps in the low 60's. I love all the desert blooms and there will be more on the way. This bit of rain will help that. I've seen quite a lot of yellow brittlebush blooms lately. I love that last photo. You two are looking very smart!

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  25. Rain really transforms the desert, doesn’t it?
    Those pops of yellow and the fresh green everywhere are just beautiful.
    Glorious photos as always!

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  26. I can't even tell which one of you twins is which. I'll call you two the desert rats. We're going to have rain until hell freezes over I think is what the news basically said. The colors are so vibrant and contrasty.

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  27. It's nice when we have changes in our "norm", such as your rain clouds and puddles. It offers new opportunities for creating images, such as the ones in this post. Loving those clouds, flowers, wet road - all of it.

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  28. So different from usual, really enjoyable.

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  29. Looks like early Spring already -- lovely!! Wonderful pictures and narrative putting me right in the mood of your (beautiful) corner of the world. (Must say that one of those twins has been out in the sun and rain a bit too much though!)

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  30. Sometimes rain brings beautiful colours... although we're rather fed up of it here in Wales at the moment!

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  31. I know wild mustard and cucumber, but wasn't familiar with the other flowers. Your climate is so different from mine and I enjoy seeing things I would never see where I live.

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  32. Looks at all those flowers. We on the other hand are buried under two feet of snow!

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  33. No dry desert here. I scrolled down to ensure this was the right place. Yup. Lots of dry desert beauty, stars, and petroglyphs. This is the right blog!

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  34. Lovely plants! Right now we have brown grass, but in another month, spring will start to show its colors. I can hardly wait.

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  35. Lovely to see flowers and greenery! All white here in S Ontario, and probably will stay that way for a while.

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  36. For your part of the continent, rather lush.

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  37. Love The Twins - Stopped By Because I Was Wondering What Your Planet Photos Were Looking Like Out West And Did You Capture The Blood Moon ??

    Stay Groovy ,
    Cheers
    The Padre

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    1. Thanks for stopping by! Long story short, I did take photos of the lunar eclipse, but I had technical difficulties with my cameras memory card, and all the photos have disappeared. Very disappointing!

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  38. To rain (and fun last pic). I was lucky. too, and videos to come (some time I took sooooo many pics and all in Madeley/Perth)...

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