Can You See It?

A beautiful striped San Francisco Garter Snake! We hiked at nearby Ano Nuevo State Park, famous as a breeding ground for elephant seals, with a group of university retirees this morning. What a stunningly beautiful day, windy as it often is on the coast, the sound of sea lions coming over the water, and the occasional rumble from one of the elephant males still hanging out on the beach. Mammas and babies are long gone for this year, so we didn’t see any creatures, but it was a great time to be outside and listen to the ocean. We passed close to a pond where the cormorants dive, and you could hear the flap flap of them as they flew overhead. The snake at the side of the path was a bonus: they are relatively rare, but the tree frogs and red-legged frogs that make up their diet are plentiful right here in the vegetation next to the pond. 
I walked four miles in the sun and wind and sand and am inordinately proud of myself for that.