California Buckeye

These trees are often the first to come back after a wildfire. They produce a shiny brown nut about the size and consistency of an avocado pit. Like the acorn it is edible but requires much leaching and grinding to remove toxic compounds which are also found in the leaves and flowers.. The buckeyes were valued by John and his childhood buddies more as missiles than as a food source, or as a good luck charm as it is for some. It is related to the horse chestnut, hence its beautiful candelabra shaped flowers. It is deciduous and often begins losing its leaves as early as July and is the first tree to leaf out in the early spring.

California buckeye is a species superbly adapted for survival with growth habits designed to circumvent the drought conditions of its habitat, a highly effective reproductive strategy being polygamo-monoecious* , leaves and shoots protected from grazing animals by noxious toxic compounds, prolific flowers attractive to native pollinators and viable seeds too poisonous to be consumed.
--UC Master Gardener Program of Sonoma County

We had a rousing discussion about TACO man at Trail House this morning, causing a young man camped at the other end of the table to pack up his computer and leave. I don't know if it was because of us.He showed no sign of having been listening.  We also talked about Alzheimers, vegetable gardening, taking the SMART train and the ferry to San Francisco, The Sonoma Botanical Garden and the large pot/fountain that Bob and Gail are taking for their gorgeous shade garden. (We replaced it with an olive tree).

We had a bit of a late start for our power walk so chose the shady Brush Creek Path and got back to the car before it got blistering hot which it did about the time John decided to go up to the veggie beds to place the tomato supports. He came in worryingly red as a beet, but at least he'd had quite a bit of water, had some more, rested on the couch for awhile and recovered. When I looked at it the thermometer on the porch it said 96F.(33C).

I can only follow politics for so long before I either give up on trying to keep up with the impulsive actions, backtracking, lies and attempts at countering all that, or get too depressed/angry to read any more.  I don't understand how so many can accept the utter unthinking cruelty of what is being done.  As John used to be fond of saying, 'You buy 'em books and buy 'em books,  and all they do is eat the covers'  But we can't 
ever accept the status quo as the norm. We must keep protesting in hopes that all the cruelty and stupidity eventually catches up with him and all his cronies and right wing followers.


*They have all four characteristics of a flower petal with unisexual and bisexual flowers on the same tree. I'm surprised they haven't yet been banned by he orange maniac. It would be tough indeed to get rid of them as they are literally everywhere in Northern California.