Milk Thistle

Well I was on a blog – and all internet, in fact, life in general – hiatus after our furniture arrived because I’m a little obsessive about getting everything unpacked and organized immediately. Now that the house is (mostly) set up, I’ve begun hiking again and have started checking out nearby parks. Last night I went to Garin/Dry Creek Regional Parks, which I am fortunate to live quite near.

I’m trying to adapt to the Bay Area’s idea of a park. It seems to this native East Coaster that around here they see a large brown hill and they label it a park. (Bonus points if it includes random cattle.) A lot of the parks around here are very brown, very open, and very steep. Whereas to me the Platonic ideal of a park would be very green and heavily forested with creeks running through it (except I lived in Virginia for 11 years, so I would call them “runs”), gentle elevation changes, and woodland creatures peeping at you through trees. Virginia has this in abundance. I read Yelp reviews of parks around here and I see people taking off stars for parks with tree cover because the reviewer prefers open spaces, and I find this confounding. I don’t “get” the appeal of hiking up a 45-degree incline under the blazing sun, with little but huge swaths of brown surrounding you. But Garin/Dry Creek started to win me over because apparently the appeal of climbing at least the brown hills in that park is THE STUPENDOUS VIEWS. Meaning you can see for miles and miles, including the bay and San Francisco. I have some photos of the incredible views, but tonight I am instead going to show you some pictures I took of a plant I like, even in its dried up form. It’s milk thistle (I’m pretty sure), which blooms purple but which I’ve only seen as brown, white, dry, and brittle. It’s considered invasive, but I sure like taking pictures of it out in those weird open parklands that dominate the place I now call home.