Walking Rancho Hermosa

 San Jacinto range on left Palomar range on right

JOY

A brightness heralds the dawn, and the giant Birds of Paradise are moving in a Santa Ana dance...hummmm, the sky will be clear today and the Mountains are going to be spectacular.

Starting out down the San Dimas Hill, it is warm. It was 10:30 AM when I walked out the front door, the air pleasant and balmy. Setting a good pace, it was warming up and I wondered, will it be too hot coming back up the San Dimas Hill, should I cut the walk short? No, then the pictures of the Mountains would not be there for my new day, and I have waited so many weeks for the right light, clear air, and the crystal conditions of perfection for long distance picture taking. The San Jacinto Mountain range is 93.7 miles from where I stand at the end of San Miguel Court.

The air is very still and the sun hot on my back. Really, many misgivings about the return trip to home. In the summer, every day, there is an Ocean Breeze, we call it the Oceanside air conditioner, and it saves our selves from becoming limp and strung out from the heat. But, this is not summer, though it feels like it, and the O'side Breeze is not there now.

Turning the corner from San Dimas to San Miguel, and I see so clearly, there they are! The snow capped peaks of the San Jacinto and the Palomar mountain ranges. Crystal clear are they, and if I were a bird, the distance would not be too great to fly away and seek out the coolness of the snowy mountain sides...

Several folks are here, we, keeping our social distance, wave and smile. Sharing this wondrous day, the bird song lifting our spirits and letting we humans know that in the bird world all is well.

Going round the corner of San Miguel onto San Dimas, my world changes. The Oceanside Breeze has come early. It lifts my hat a little as if to say, Hola Ruth, the day is yours, and going up the hill will be “a breeze”. Rounding the corner to San Pablo, there is my little buddy Rocky, resting from his walk on the front porch smiling...

And so it is, the day is easy, the walk perfect, and Joy has come to Rancho Hermosa on April 15, 2020.