Myco Mania

The wood chip-covered vacant lot behind Peet's Coffee on Redwood Road -- home of the annual Boy Scout Christmas Tree Lot -- is today sporting hundreds and hundreds of mushrooms. Your Boulevardier assumes that the spores were somehow carried by the mulch that is used to keep down the weeds on the lot, and that our copious winter rains have encouraged the fungi to grow and propagate.



The bloom -- if that's the appropriate word for a mushrooming spurt of mushroom growth -- was better a few days ago. The plants (again, if that's the right word) were fuller and lighter in color. Unfortunately, Your Boulevardier was not able to snap a photo at the time. Now, the mushrooms are starting to collapse and return to the earth. It will be interesting to note if they reappear next year, and in what quantity. (And, if a mycologist is among the readership, it would be interesting to know what variety of mushrooms these are.)

A Bank of Trees

Several days ago, Your Boulevardier noticed an unusual group of trees next to the Chase Bank on Castro Valley Boulevard. He snapped this photo, which is not very good; a close inspection (click the photo for a better view) shows that 14 small tree trunks all blend into the same petite canopy of foliage. It's eccentric landscaping, and he was surprised to see it by a staid bank building. He's giving it the coveted "garden art" tag, even though he doubts it's an intentional act of topiary.


P.S. Your Boulevardier got caught in today's brief hailstorm during his afternoon walk today. It was not unwelcome or unpleasant, but it was certainly unexpected.

The Nesting Instinct

With New Year's Eve falling on a Thursday, it's likely that many Castro Valleyans -- at least those with means -- have blown the burg and are settled in elsewhere for what amounts to a four-day weekend. Others are staying close to home, of course. Some of us -- Your Boulevardier falls into this third category -- find ourselves flitting about like overwintering birds between leafless trees, rather than settling into one spot for an extended period. While cozying into a nest may be appealing, circumstances prevent it.



The inviting small bird nest seen here is in one of the Chinese Pistache trees on the Castro Valley Boulevard side of the Safeway parking lot. For now it is vacant, but one can imagine that with the return of warmer weather -- and some leaf cover -- it will be reoccupied by some LBB. (Confused? See the third definition.) The aerie is much smaller than the photo seems to indicate; nothing is in the picture to provide viewers with a sense of scale. For the record, it's no more than 2 inches wide. That's the Sunflower restaurant in the background.

Sighting this nest the other day served as a reminder that now is a good time for bird aficionados to check trees for nests. Big nests high in deciduous trees are easy to spot in winter, and smaller nests near eye level can be mentally tagged for future checking when spring returns.

However readers are spending the first few days of 2010 -- whether nesting or flying about -- Your Boulevardier wishes you a happy new year.

Post-Holiday Blues ... and Reds

On his walk today Your Boulevardier noticed several broken windows on Castro Valley Boulevard. Specifically, a window at Crush Comics was boarded up, and a window and two glass doors at Direct Sales were secured with plywood or tape and awaiting repair. It's a shame to think that holiday revels in Castro Valley got so out of hand that vandalism was the result, but it so appears. Do readers have any more information about these happenings?

By way of contrast, nature was having none of the human-caused havoc. The morning skies were clear and cold, and the few remaining leaves and berries on deciduous plants were calling for attention, as evidenced by these fruits appearing on a shrub on Redwood Road.



The clear winter weather just begs for long, objective-free walking, in the opinion of Yours Truly. It (the weather, that is) is not supposed to last; off-and-on rain is predicted for the rest of the week. Your Boulevardier has professional work to catch up on, and so, in a way, he hopes the inclement weather comes; it will force him to stay at his desk and complete the projects before the New Year arrives.

Fall is Flushed Away

Your Boulevardier snapped this photo of autumn leaves a few days ago -- before the big storms came in and swept away all reminders of fall, and told us in Castro Valley, in no uncertain terms, that winter is here.


Sure, the calendar may say that we still have a handful of days until the change officially hits. But the bare trees, overcast skies, and bitter cold -- especially in the mornings -- makes it clear that the deepest, darkest season is upon us.

Other reminders can be seen all over town. The reds, golds, and greens of the holiday have supplanted summer's yellows, oranges, and blues in shop windows. Furry Ugg Boots are footwear of choice, preferred over flip-flops and sneakers. Decorative lights along rooflines twinkle -- or don't, in the case of the LED variety that are now arrayed on Chez Boulevardier. Warming soups and coffee drinks have replaced cooling salads, smoothies, fro-yo and ice cream as the foods of choice.

Speaking of warm beverages, the Chabot Cinema will mark the season with an 11:30 p.m. showing of the Frank Capra classic, "It's a Wonderful Life," this Friday, December 18. Your Boulevardier hopes to be there, though he is not sure that the offer -- free hot chocolate with a large popcorn -- is good combination. Still, the $5 admission can't be beat.

Red Friday

Your Boulevardier was up early on Friday morning for a yoga class, and later in the day walked the City of Lite. Things were generally quiet on both occasions, perhaps to the displeasure of retailers. There was no waiting to see Santa in Castro Village at around 1:00 p.m., but the line for coffee at Peet's practically stretched out the door.

Although the Man in Red was under-occupied, the Trees in Red -- these spotted in the parking lot behind Round Table Pizza on Redwood Road -- were busy working their magic.



An hour or two later in the day, a pocket storm blew through bringing high winds, torrential rain, and thunder, all followed by a double rainbow. Quite the weather episode.

Boulevard & Vine

How could it be that Your Boulevardier has walked the City of Lite for so long and never noticed the fantastic vine on the side of the B.A. Morrison building? Be sure to click the photo for a larger view.



The building was for many years a feed store. One believes that live chicks -- once the foundation of the Castro Valley economy -- were still sold there when Your Boulevardier was a youth. Given today's boomlet in backyard poultry among the eat-local set, that could perhaps be a going concern again.

On a related note: Mr. Morrison is to be commended for maintaining the building to such high standards. (Check the photos on the company website, linked above.) It definitely earns the coveted "favorite buildings" tag. He's also commended for letting such a rambunctious vine run rampant!

Eyes on the Prize

On his morning walk yesterday, Your Boulevardier noticed this pair of odd little trees on the north side of Castro Village Bowl.



With a little bit of imagination, one can picture the building as a gigantic creature and the two poofs of yellow and green foliage as eyes.

Lucky on San Miguel

Your Boulevardier has long admired, and only now photographed, this concrete shamrock on the corner of San Miguel Avenue and Kerr Street, a block south of Castro Valley Boulevard.

The yard it's in always has lovely flowers along its walk (visible in this photo), but for as long as can be remembered the earth around the shamrock itself has been virtually lifeless. While the shamrock is charming, wouldn't some lush green around it make it even more appealing? And more like Ireland?

Still, it's rare that a slab of concrete can be so good-looking. A tip of the beret to the creators of it.

The Somerset Bear

Your Boulevardier has been spending a good bit of time on Somerset Avenue of late, while doing a project for a friend. It's an interesting street, with many lovely homes, a number of churches (including the very busy Our Lady of Grace), a bus line, and a few interesting businesses, including a dance studio and the wonderful, crowded little Al's Food Market.

There's also this fantastic piece of garden art -- a life-size bear, presumably carved with a chainsaw from the very tree trunk on whose stump he now stands.



Does anybody know the true story of the Somerset Bear?

More Tenacity of Life

It's the first full day of spring, and on warm days like those we've been having, Your Boulevardier misses the star jasmine that was formerly a feature of the landscaping -- such as it was -- at the Castro Valley Post Office. Earlier this year the plants were all removed and water-efficient landscaping was installed.

The removal of the shrubbery around the base of the flagpole has exposed the back of the sign rooted in the planter. The backs of the signs clearly show their reuse, and the bits of jasmine wood that the landscapers could not extract from the pole show just how determined that plant was to succeed in its environment. (Click the photo for a better view.)

The Tenacity of Life

In this season of weeds, plants find some remarkable, unexpected places to take root. Your Boulevardier spotted these shoots under the eaves in the strip mall which houses Peet's Coffee in Castro Valley on Redwood Road. (The pictured vegetation grows close to the Payless Shoe Store.)



The seeds for these two different varieties of plant, it would seem, were carried to this unlikely spot by birds who have built nests under the eaves. It's not certain how the seeds received water to germinate, but clearly they did. Now the young plants are reaching for light and producing blossoms.

It's a wonderful image of spring, rebirth, and the tenacity of life on our fragile earth.