Wobbling Wheel

• Sarah & Tumbleweed Snowman
  
• Sarah And A Giant Pumpkin
  
• Sarah And A Tropical Cassava
  
• Sarah And A Huge Durian Fruit
  
• Sarah And A Giant Pine Cone
  
• Sarah And Giant Banana Flower
  
• Sarah & Dodder (Witches' Hair)
  
• Sarah & Witches' Hair (Dodder)
  
• Rare Palomar Mtn. Snow Hippo
  
• Sarah & A Delicious Jelly Palm
  
• Sarah And Colorful Lorikeets
  
• Sarah & A Red-Wing Blackbird
  
• Sarah And A Duckweed Pond

The steep, eastern escarpment of Mt. San Jacinto is covered with colorful colonies of crustose rock lichens. In the photo are orange Caloplaca saxicola and yellow Acarospora chlorophana, two common species in the high mountains of southern California. Lichens are fungi containing photosynthetic algal cells. Living together they form a remarkable marriage in which both partners benefit. The algal cells provide food (carbohydrates) for the fungus, while the fungal body provides a safe home for the algal cells. Without each other, they could not survive in this harsh environment of extreme temperatures and long periods without a drop of water.

Sarah holding two enormous legume pods from a large woody vine or liana of the tropical rain forest. This unusual legume belongs to the genus Entada, possibly the Old World species E. phaseoloides. It is similar to the New World species called the sea heart (E. gigas), except sea heart pods are larger and very flimsy. In fact, sea heart pods are the world's longest bean pod. They usually break apart into one-seeded sections and the large brown seeds are distinctly heart-shaped. The seeds of Entada species are carried by torrential rains into rivers and eventually into the sea where they often drift to the shores of distant continents and islands.

This bass was caught by Sarah at Doane Pond on Palomar Mountain. What is astounding about this catch is that she did it with a little stick, a piece of fishing line, and an old lure, all of which she found on the ground by the pond. Other people fishing nearby were not catching any fish, and yet they were using fancy fishing rods, nets, tackle boxes and bait. Incidentally, the fish was thrown back into the pond to give the other people a chance.