I like to multitask

PICTURE OF THE MOMENT

It never fails that when I go out with people to do anything, they make fun of me because I do something else, too.

For example, I went birding with the San Diego Beginning Birders. Sure, I saw birds, but I also saw lots of other interesting things, and since I like to multitask….

I thought the paths we were walking on were quite beautiful, so I took pictures:

I saw a bench for the weary, so I took a picture:

I saw a Los Angelesized stream, so I took a picture:

A “Los Angelesized stream” is a stream that has been rebuilt with concrete. When I moved to San Diego in April 1993, San Diego had started doing that to its streams. The citizenry had a fit and put an end to it. I think Los Angeles has put an end to it, too, letting many streams revert to what Mother and Father Nature meant them to be. You can see that the stream above is reverting to nature. For a great look at Los Angeles streams and rivers, watch “The Terminator” when they are driving vehicles in the river. That’s a Los Angeles river.

I saw a plank bridge over the stream, so I took a picture:

Reminded me of my childhood when I built plank bridges over streams.

At one stop near some Western Sycamores (Platanus racemosa), I couldn’t see the tiny birds that everyone else was watching, so I took some pictures of this:

That’s Western Poison Oak or Pacific Poison Oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum) in its “green phase.” During the fall it has a “red phase” (and they say we don’t have fall colors here — ha!), and the beautiful flowers you see will eventually result in berries that the wildlife like.

As I was taking pictures, a couple walked up and asked me what I was taking pictures of. I said, “Poison oak.” They asked, “Why?” I had no good answer. For blogging?