I’ve found two new flowers I have not identified yet on the Creek Trail this morning.  They are amoung the latter-spring flowers, along with the Indian Paintbrush and Chaparral Yucca that fills the same area.

Also a clover and pink/purple desert flower to add to the flora database.

With around five inches already on the ground and more accumulating from the constant eastern winds and the white-out conditions we have slowed down our pace. Most of us are working from home, the camp kids happily at home because of a snow day and we’re keeping in touch through our regular radio conversations.  We have lost our power a couple times and hear that all canyon roads are closed.

It’s beautiful outside and cozy inside.  With this early snow and unexpectly extreme weather we wonder what this winter will be like.  Last winter was much wetter than the one before and this one is shapping up to be the same.  We had some rains in early October and then again late last month, each time being rainfall that our desert mountains desperately need.

I have a reserved booth #512 and excited to attend ACSI Southern California Convention next month–November 24-25 in Anaheim.  As Steve and I are preparing materials, and getting excited to reconnect with the schools, teachers and peers at other Christian camps I’ve also been considering where our program has come in the last ten years.

I’m excited to share with the camps that are attending this year where we are renewing our vision and mission, and where we feel God is leading us.  We continue to be commited to providing excellent facilities and effective programs for the purpose of students experiencing God’s creation up here at THE OAKS, surrounded by the beauty of His creation, all for the purpose of worshipping the Creator!

So in a great synthesis of where I was in college, and where I’m at now, Thomas Friedman’s latest book addresses both global economics and geopolitical ecology in Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution–and How It Can Renew America.

I just watched a video of Thomas Friedman addressing the issues in his book here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/m26UDCME5JTRS2:m1NWHCLFG6SZQJ

It’s excellent content!

I went on a great walk along the perimeter of our property the other day.  I spotted a few things I had not identified before: a few Lark Sparrows, a pink fussy oak gall, a rabbit warren that seemed to be developing on our NW Loop trail plateau, an abundance of grapes in a scat pile, and a crazy black-iridescent wasp with large orange wings that I have yet to identify.

I’m amazed at how many species are in residence around our property, even when not seen all the time.  I’m also scheming as to what new trail enhancements and additions I can bring to the trail system in the next year.  I’ll be posting some ideas shortly, for now stay tuned to our Trails Page online.

One morning I found a family of California Quail drinking from our backyard cement slab.  It’s a family that’s been hanging around our apartments quite a bit lately, and we’ve been able to see the little chicks during their development.

It started with a trail guide we have had for awhile at camp that I knew needed updating, but that would also be a good education for me to be the one to revise it and add to it. So I began by restocking my resource bookshelf with some excellent resources. Then I began finding citations for the plant species we already had listed in the books I was collecting, and then making revisions and additions to that primary list. From there I began adding more and more species to the list.

Since I had been exploring and learning a lot through running the camp website I began thinking what I could do with this list if it were online. I would love a way to put a LOT of information into each species record, and then be able to search, tag and add notes to each one. Those would be advantages over just a paper-copy list. Well, I started on that at the end of last year, and just in the last month I’ve had breakthroughs that have allowed me to make those functionalities work and make it work making live online. Much thanks to Brad for his help on this. I debated whether or not to make an intensive effort to photograph all the local plants and tree to add to this database I was creating, but came to the conclusion that I would leave that for later, and not base this project around it. Since then I’ve found great sites online that already carry photos that I could create specialized links from each species to pull up. So I went in that direction.

So now the result of these efforts is posted on this blog, on the right column I have a link to the Local Flora Species, and Local Fauna Species. It is still a work in progress and I edit and add more entries. There are still some more ideas and directions to go with this. One idea is to integrate it with another online species database, such as the Encyclopedia of Life, iSpecies, eFloras, or Calflora’s What Grows Here project.

Resources used so far in cataloging local species:

Alden, Peter and Fred Heath. National Audubon Society Field Guide to California. New York, NY: Knopf, 1998.
Balls, Edward K. Early Uses of California Plants. Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 1962.
Barbour, Michael G., Todd Keeler-Wolf, Allan A. Schoenherr. Eds. Terrestrial Vegetation of California, 3rd Ed. Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 2007.
Belzer , Thomas J. Roadside Plants of Southern California. Missoula, MT: Mountain Press,1984.
Clarke, Charlotte Bringle. Edible and Useful Plants of California. Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 1977.
Collins, Barbara J. Key to Coastal and Chaparral Flowering Plants. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 1987.
Dole, Jim W. and Betty B. Rose. Shrubs and Trees of the Southern California Chaparral & Mountains. North Hills, CA: Footloose Press, 1996.
Dole, Jim W. and Betty B. Rose. Shrubs and Trees of the Southern California Deserts. North Hills, CA: Footloose Press, 1996.
Elpel, Thomas J. Botany in a Day. Pony, MT: HOPS Press, 2006.
Fross, David and Dieter Wilken. Ceanothus. Portland: OR: Timber Press, 2006.
Harrington, H.D. Western Edible Wild Plants. Albuquerque, NM: The University of New Mexico Press, 1972.
Harris, James G., Melinda Woolf Harris. Plant Identification Terminology. Spring Lake, UT: Spring Lake Publishing, 1999.
Lanner, Ronald M. Conifers of California. Los Olivos, CA : Cachuma Press, 2007.
Munz, Philip A. Introduction of California Desert Wildflowers. Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 2004.
Munz, Philip A. A Flora of Southern California. Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 1974.
Ornduff, Robert, Phyllis M. Faber and Todd Keeler-Wolf. Introduction to California Plant Life. Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 2003.
Pavlik, Bruce M., Pamela C. Muik, Sharon G. Johnson and Majorie Popper. Oaks of California. Los Olivos, CA: Cachuma Press, 1995.
Quinn, Ronald D. and Sterling C. Keeley. Introduction to California Chaparral. Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 2006.
Schmidt, Majorie G. Growing California Native Plants. Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 1980.
Stewart, Jon Mark. Mojave Desert Wildflowers. Albuquerque, NM: Jon Stewart Photography, 1998.
Stuart, John D.and& John O. Sawyer. Trees & Shrubs of California. Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 2001.
Wiltens, James. Edible and Poisonous Plants of Northern California. Berkely, CA: Wilderness Press, 1999.