Cross Country Pics

I can't make it to Davis' weekday meets this fall because my teaching schedule makes it impossible to get home before 5:30pm.  So, I was really glad one of Davis' teammates took a lot of pictures and tagged him on facebook.  Then I can just download the ones with Davis.  Here's a bunch of them from the meet this last Wednesday.  Davis won the frosh/soph race - his first win!  I would have loved to have seen it.

I wonder what he's looking at?

See Chris on the right with his arms folded?  The race was close enough that he came out for Davis' race and then went back to work.

This must have been coming onto the straight away before the finish line.

I took this picture Saturday at a bigger meet.  Davis improved his time by about half a minute and placed in the top 20.  He thinks he was 2nd or 3rd sophomore in the race.

Davis has gotten much bigger and stronger (and as a result, faster) since last year when he first started running.  Now he is starting to learn how to race.  It's fun to watch.

August in the Chaparral

In August the hillsides are dried out, the grass is brown, most shrubby plants have drying seeds on them, the baby quail are almost full grown, and the rattlesnakes don't seem to be out on the trails as much.  There are still a few new plants blooming and a couple sights unique to this month.

Beware allergy sufferers - the ragweed is about to bloom.

 In the early morning when the marine layer made everything all misty, I could see spiderweb "funnels" all over the open grassy areas.

 Sweet Fennel is about 6 feet tall this time of year.

 The marine layer cools everything off and makes for a nice run.

 A field of sweet fennel.