Making a Comeback

Both the tree and me! 
After yesterday's weird heavy rain and Arctic temperatures, the day dawned sunny if not exactly warm yet. I decided my challenge for today was to do the walk in the regional park which we last did just a few days (BS...Before Surgery). This park was heavily damaged by several fires, and contains many 'ghost trees'....trees which are clearly dead and have been left to gracefully sink to the ground  We were advised to wait at least a year before doing any cutting of trees damaged in the fire as it takes at least that long to be able to tell if they are going to be able to recover. As we hiked up a hill our trail took a turn around the tree I posted today has a lot of new growth on almost every branch and looks like it is going to make a good comeback.

As for me, I thoroughly enjoyed ticking off another milestone, hiking along a hilly, rocky trail with no adverse effects on either my knee or various other body parts which have been protesting as they adjust. I was hoping for more wildflowers, but the grasses are very tall this year after all the rain and it was difficult to tell if there were any flowers lurking in their shade.

The grasses are drying out despite yesterday's rain and I was wondering whether they will be cut in this regional preserve. Given the scale, I don't see how they can. Some of the smaller parks will be bringing in goats to eat their way through all the underbrush.

I was interested to read that although there are protests at Sonoma State they remain peaceful and the president entered the square where tents have been pitched, talked to the protesters and listened to their demands. It occurred to me that this is the first university I've heard about where any member of the administration made an effort to communicate with the protestors.

It seems to me that a lot of the discourse  is  based on semantic misunderstandings than what is actually going on in Gaza. It is not anti-semitic to deplore the way Netanyahu is conducting this war. It is not anti-Zionism to deplore the settlements that encroach on Palestinian territory. And it is a war against Hamas,  not against the Palestinian people. Israel has a right to defend itself, but not to lock civilians into Gaza and then bomb them. Not to destroy hospitals, schools and apartment buildings. 

Ironically, while this debate is going on all over this country, we seem to have stopped paying so much attention to what is actually going on in Gaza or even the negotiations that are ongoing to call a cease-fire  and free hostages.