purple haze

I was trotting the canal trail, and came around the corner, and saw something that took my breath away. Fields of lupine, a purple carpet lining the trail.

Purple lupine carpet

Right now the blooms are amazing, and everything is purple! There are a few exceptions, but the hotter colors seem to come in later in the season as the grasses dry up. For these of you still buried in snow, or just waiting for spring, or stuck at your desk, here's a little photo collection.

Lupine

Lupine (bush type)

Brodiaea (aka Blue DIcks)

vetch

wild iris (and poison oak)

ornamental iris (and bamboo, in my yard)

little tiny purple flowers

this is actually a whole carpet of those little flowers (looked purple in person!)

western redbud

lilac

(also available in white)

vinca major (periwinkle)

(vinca also available in variegated)

At home I continue the theme:

lavender

freesia

(also available in red and yellow)

ranuncula (a little sad, also past the season)

There are few other lovely flowers, I don't want them to feel left out:

Columbine (available in purple, but they all naturalized to yellow)

camelia

early roses (forgot to prune this plant in January!)

And just some eye candy:

this area is filled with vernal pools

sculptural skeleton

oaks busting with new leaves (and pollen)

Do you have similar plants? Exactly the same, totally different? What is your color palette? Most of the green and wildflowers will be gone by the beginning of June. Until then, I'll be soaking up this purple (and green). It will be a long, dry summer.

spring polo

Empire Polo Club

Now THIS was cool to watch. We went to the Empire Polo Club in Indio (also where they have the huge Coachella music festival). Free to go every weekend, take a picnic (we were on the unwashed masses side, the fancy side was spectacular), enjoy the horses. First we went to a practice field, looked pretty damn good to me! But then we went to the real field, and that was something else. A professional photographer with better equipment than a crappy point and shoot would have had a great time. They were going too fast (it was hard to get good photos) plus it was exciting to watch, I kept getting distracted!

shouldn't they have this setup at endurance rides?

first they all run this way

then they all run the other way

a chandelier in the tent, JUST like my stable...

cantering to catch up (horse had a not very smooth clip job)

maneuvering

penalty shot

high speed photography is hard, but I got the horse!

The match was so fun to watch. I knew nothing about polo, though they handed out a nice magazine with some rules and information. These people and horses were tough! Bumping, cutting, all galloping (and they seem to post the canter, must try this sometime), swinging the mallet, wow! Horses were some Thoroughbred, but mostly Argentinian polo ponies. The horses were super agile, and of lean build but strong and with good bone. Each player had 4-6 horses (and full tack on all horses) they switched between chukkers (7 minute play sections, 6 per game). I can't imagine having that much tack!

These were all pretty good (ranked) players. Men and women played together. In the game we played there was one super tough lady, she did a lot of the scoring (and penalties), and was a bit of a standout. Her horses were near us. It was interesting to watch her canter over, jump off, grab the horse from her crew, take off again.

It is a very complicated sport, I'd love to take a lesson (I looked it up later, incredibly expensive). All the horses had on double bridles and martingales, to keep them from flinging their head (I assume). Not my thing, but every sport has it's specialties. And no mane to grab, they're all shaved off to not get in the way. I wondered how these horses would do on the trail, they're pretty used to some perfectly manicured lawn! But they are in some pretty great shape.

They finish the season this weekend, as the temperatures were already soaring in the desert. Made it just in time. It was nice to be able to see horses while on vacation, but I was sure glad to get home and see Major!

spring fling

Roadtrip! A quick trip last week (actually an incredibly long drive) landed me in Palm Springs. I would be missing a week of riding, but visiting my parents, and was furloughed from work, good time to go visit the desert.

The drive down is VERY long. I am not good at being cooped up in a stall (the car). Sometimes there is lots to see, but it is miles of rolling hills, then trees (first walnut, then almond, then citrus and more), then miles of flat much drier desert.

rolling green hills

aqueduct and oil wells

windmills (these things are huge!)

But once in Palm Springs there is great architecture (I love mid-century modern), desert hikes, good food, a great pool, and horses (more on that later). We took a lovely hike out to a palm oasis.

beware (especially when taking close-ups)

yucca

not all is cactus

after the bloom, still beautiful

Lost Palms Canyon

the folks hiking back UP from the oasis, steep!

giant ocotillo

a desert friend

We went to a polo match, but that deserves a whole post of its own!

And where did we go next? Here's a hint:

Any guesses?

looks almost fake (the scene of many movies)

Joshua Tree National Park. Gorgeous. Monumental. Easier to show you the photos than to try and find words.

Joshua tree (which is a type of yucca, not a tree) in bloom

Amazing view (click to see even better)

Hope they found him...

yucca and rocks

Hidden Valley (reminded me of the planet in Galaxy Quest, yes, I'm THAT cultured)

didn't make it

Some people don't like the desert, they think that it is so barren. But it is so full of beautiful things, just not the obviousness we are used to thinking of as beautiful. I love to visit, though I don't think I could live there.

Driving home we had to stop for dinosaurs. Awesome dinosaurs. I wanted to stop not just because roadside attractions are cool, but because these dinos feature in one of my favorite silly movies, Pee Wee's Big Adventure. You can go into the dinosaur too, but the museum inside is not my thing, just seeing the outside was enough.

rarrrr! my tiny arms!

brontosaurus looks on dispassionately (or worried)

Then another 9 hours home. Stuck in the stall. It still was a fun adventure.