7.16.06
hot & steamy
1 hour
3 miles
n/a
blue-tailed skink

It's been awhile since I've had anything worth posting here. Today's post isn't about an interesting hike per se, but about the contrasts that time brings when re-visiting a familiar trail.

It's been at least two months since I've walked the quiet trails of the Mercer Arboretum, but this morning I was able to get in a nice hike in before the monsoon hit...a very welcome event around here. We seem to be in a draught of sorts, and I was surprised to see one of my favorite spots, the Cypress Bog, nearly bone dry (see below). That combined with more vegetation overhanging the crushed-granite trails through the wilderness side of the arboretum made me realize how places change when we don't visit them frequently. The changes were almost enough to make me feel as though I was walking in a new place, when in fact I've strolled these paths nearly a dozen times over the last six months.

You can see the last vestige of water at the right. When I last visited, the decks on the left were lording over the fishes and turtles that swam reverently beneath the treated deck boards.