Grass wars at Lighthouse Field

One of the things about Lighthouse Field that bugs people with dogs is the foxtails that ripen in the summer. These nasty grasses -- also called wild barley -- make sharply barbed seeds that can really wreak havoc on a dog's nose or ear or eye. In the summer, parts of the field are covered with them. Other parts are covered with another exotic, wild oats.

This year there's something different going on. Perhaps because of the very wet winters we've been having, and the bonus rain we had after the rainy season was over, we've got a different balance of grasses. There's always been a wide variety of grass species in the field, which I have meant to study before this, but not having any real knowledge of grasses to start with I was reluctant to dive into Jepson cold (Jepson is not really so great for actually identifying plants. It's better for getting to understand the general way that plants are related, and ranges, and stuff). The foxtail colony this year is pretty small, and the wild oat colony even smaller, and the rest of the field seems to be overtaken by --
( some kind of bluegrass )

On another front, I've been plagued by an idea for a story about gender engineering, probably because I'm reading the Tiptree anthology, but it's only ideas, no character, conversation, or plot, and it's almost as annoying as the painful lump growing below the hairline on my neck.

Persecution under the almond tree

That same adolescent scrub jay has been harrassing my cat who seems to think it's all part of a day's work.

( grainy action shot under the cut )