Buckeye Tree

These trees, native to North America grow amongst the oaks, bay laurels and big leaf maples which grow in the hills here. They seem to be a bit out of phase with the life cycles of other deciduous trees. Related to the horse chestnut, they get the same very pretty candelabra shaped blooms in the spring. They have deep green hand shaped leaves and buckeye nuts (actually seed pods) which are somewhere between ping-pong and tennis ball size and look rather like an avocado pit. 

Some people believe it is good luck to carry a buckeye and the Native Americans crush and knead them into a salve for cuts and burns. They also believe it is an effective treatment for arthritis. John said they were great to throw when he was a kid, but they are quite hard and have no bounce.

The leaves are the first to change, usually sometime in August and instead of changing color they go from green to brown making the trees, scattered amongst other still green trees, look like they are dead. The leaves eventually fall off, leaving the buckeyes hanging from bare branches. This is a particularly large specimen growing alongside the trail on the Spike Walk.

The paper is still warning us of high fire danger as the hot Diablo winds blow from the interior toward the coast in a reversal of the usual cooler offshore winds. They have been relatively quiet here although there are occasional high wind gusts. They tend to be much stronger on the tops of the mountains which surround us here.

Ironically, on the 35th anniversary of the Berkeley HIlls Fire which burned in the hills behind the Claremont Hotel  just blocks away from our  house, There was another fire yesterday just a few miles away in the Oakland Hills. Fortunately forward progress on that fire was stopped relatively quickly.

We are on the list for a possible PSPS (Public Safety Power Shutoff) but so far it hasn't happened. There have been quite a few helicopters flying quite low over the neighborhood. I suspect they are either PG&E ones checking transmission lines for sparks or CalFire ones surveying the mountains.

Dana and Jim are coming for dinner tonight before they leave for Chile and Patagonia tomorrow. I made a white bean/chicken chile from a new recipe which looks like it will be quite good. I also made an apple cake from a favorite recipe which turned into something of a disaster because the bottom of the springform pan was imperfectly fitted and half the batter leaked out onto the bottom of the stove....I'm waiting for what's left to cool before I decide if I can rescue it. The cake , that is, not the bottom of the stove. It can be rescued but it will be a pain and can wait for another day....