iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 14/10/2026

Today I did a hike in Castle Rock State Park, a favorite of rock climbers. But this was a Tuesday afternoon so I had this spot, at Goat Rock, all to myself (at least for a bit, a group of three young guys came by shortly after this). It's a beautiful place, not […] [Original post on sfba.social]

A 60-something man with a salt and pepper beard, a green cap and a flannel shirt, taking a selfie on top of a sandstone rock formation. The rock behind him to the right has pits caused by erosion (tafoni). Behind him is a blue sky and several tree-covered mountain ridges, fading into the distance where a low marine layer of clouds can be see.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 13/07/2026

This is from a recent hike at Long Ridge Open Space Reserve in the Santa Cruz Mountains, looking toward the sea. #sfba #hiking #photography

A view from a trail in the mountains. There is yellow high grass in the bottom right, a large fir tree on the left, smaller trees in the middle, a mountain ridge in the distance, a blue sky, and low white clouds in the far distance.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 09/07/2026

Yesterday I heard that a visitor to Big Basin Redwoods has spotted leopard lilies (Lilium pardalinum) blooming. As they are one of my favorite flowers, I had to check it out, and hiked out to the spot, about 2 miles/3 km from park HQ, which was described to me […] [Original post on sfba.social]

A group of dozens of vivid orange globular flowers in front of a very large log, with ferns and the edge of a hiking trail visible.

An orange flower that looks like a Chinese lantern, with petals curving together to form a spherical shape, more of a yellow color near the base, and dark spots on the bottom. Six large pistils hang down from the base of the flower. The background is green and out of focus.

Two vivid orange flowers. The one in the foreground has curving orange petals in a somewhat irregular shape, with pistils hanging down. In the background is a more perfectly formed flower, with the petals arranged to form a globe. The somewhat out of focus background is composed of green leaves and stalks.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/06/2026

I met this snowy egret on a short walk along Alamitos Creek in the Almaden neighborhood of San Jose. #egret #phtography #SanJoseCA

A large fluffy white bird with black stilt legs, a long black beak, and one yellow eye visible, at the edge of a creek, wading in very shallow water. The photo is framed by tree trunks on either side, barely visible in the shot; the creek bed is brown and there are some green grassy plants visible on the other side of the creek.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/06/2026

Today's hike was at Purisima Creek Redwoods Preserve, on the San Francisco Peninsula. This scene was a pretty spot on the Whittemore Gulch Trail, with some lichen on the redwoods and lots of sword-hilt ferns below the trees. #redwoods #hiking #phtography #sfba

A trail with a redwood duff surface passing a stand of large second-growth redwoods on the left, just behind a hillside covered with ferns. There's some sun shining through ahead on the trail, and on the right there are some more slender redwoods.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 30/05/2026

I met this rough-skinned newt on a trail today at Nisene Marks park in the Santa Cruz mountains. We have two kinds of newts in the area that you see a lot: the rough-skinned newt has a flat head, the California newt has bulgy eyes that stick up a bit, so I've […] [Original post on sfba.social]

An reddish-brown amphibian with a long tail and four limbs visible, crawling across forest debris: leaves, fir needles, and soil.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/05/2026

This is a Mariposa lily (Calochortus venustus) I encountered in my hike yesterday in Mount Madonna Park, between Gilroy and Watsonville in the Santa Cruz mountains of North Central California. #wildflowers #photography #mariposalily . The common name is actually […] [Original post on sfba.social]

A beautiful wildflower with three white petals, red at the center, six pistils coming up from the center, and an insect perched on one petal

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 21/05/2026

I recently heard that there is a wildflower that lives in a small preserve north of San Francisco, and nowhere else in the world, and also heard that it is blooming right now. It is the Tiburon mariposa lily (Calochortus tiburonensis). So today I paid a visit. A […] [Original post on sfba.social]

A very unusual looking wildflower. It has a platform with hairs and six stamens rising from the middle.

An unusual looking wildflower. It looks vaguely like a monster from Stranger Things in this shot, but less scary.

An unusual looking wildflower. It has kind of a triangular greenish platform with hairs rising from it, three petals growing outward, and a group of six red-orange stamens in the middle.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 18/05/2026

The Santa Cruz Mountains are just exploding with California tortoiseshell butterflies right now. The reason is that their favorite plant, ceanothus (aka California lilac) is also exploding since the huge fire of five years ago. Today at Big Basin park there were […] [Original post on sfba.social]

An orange butterfly with black edges and black spots on its wings; it has landed on a white book which is on a wooden bench.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 10/05/2026

I met up with this beautiful mariposa lily on a hike I did last Friday between the main peak of Mount Diablo and two neighboring peaks. It's my favorite local wildflower. #MariposaLily #wildflowers #hiking #photography

A beautiful bowl shaped white flower, looking down into the flower, with red markings on each of its three overlapping petals and in the base of the bowl, with yellow stamens in the middle, against a blurred background of soil, rocks, and grass.

A beautiful bowl shaped white flower, looking from the side, with red markings on each of its three overlapping petals and at the base of the bowl, against a blurred background of soil, rocks, and grass.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 25/04/2026

This is Joanie, whose favorite thing is coming up from behind and jumping on my shoulders when I am not expecting it. It is much better for me if I have a shirt with a collar on, so she doesn't stab me with her claws in an effort to hold on. #CatsOfMastodon

A tuxedo cat perched precariously on the shoulder of a man with a gray beard and a flannel long sleeved shirt. A wooden cabinet with glass windows is in the background.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 19/04/2026

I haven't posted a #caturday photo in a while, and there's still a bit of Saturday left in my time zone. Sebastian (tabby) and Joanie (tuxedo) say hi. Or, they will if they think you're about to feed them.

A tabby cat and a tuxedo cat sitting contentedly on a lumpy blue blanket

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 19/04/2026

I noticed a ladybug (ladybird for UK friends) crawling on a sticky monkey flower, on a recent hike. #hiking #photography #wildflowers

An orange beetle with black spots crawling on the stem of a yellow flower, with a blurred background

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 07/04/2026

Here is a pair of Douglas irises I passed on a hike yesterday in Wunderlich Park on the SF Peninsula. #wildflowers #photography #sfba

Two purple Douglas irises. The flowers each have three main petals, pale purple with a pattern of white lines on them, and three smaller petals in between the large petals (so, a large triangle with a rotated smaller triangle inside). The leaves of the plant are in the background, they are flat strips a bit more than a cm wide.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/03/2026

Ceanothus (aka California lilac) blooming along Skyline to the Sea Trail in Big Basin. Since the big fire, this plant, a fire follower, is all over the place.

About six pale purple flower puff balls on a bush.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 11/03/2026

This is Sebastian, as photographed by my daughter just now when she got home from work. He looks surprised to see her. #CatsOfMastodon

A tabby cat with a surprised expression, looking out of a kitchen window. The photo is taken from the other side. A vertical bar in the center kind of splits The cat in two, his head is on the right, the rest of him is on the left. The cat is on the sink, and wooden cabinets, a counter, and a stool are in the background.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/03/2026

This is a valley oak that acorn woodpeckers have been using as acorn storage. It's from a hike today at Henry Coe state park. #hiking #photography #AcornWoodpeckers

A large tree trunk that has many circular holes in the bark, just the right size to store acorns, though the holes all appear to be empty. Behind the tree, green grass, a smaller tree, and bushes are visible, along with a bit of blue sky.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/03/2026

These are Henderson's shooting stars, which I saw many examples of on today's hike at Henry Coe state park, in the mountains to the southeast of Silicon Valley. #hiking #wildflowers #photography #HenryCoe

Closeup of a group of four magenta wildflowers, plus one dried up flower, with out-of-focus plants and grass in the background.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/01/2026

I haven't posted hiking pictures in a while. Today's hike was in Joseph Grant Park, in the mountains to the east of San Jose, California. Because all of our rain falls in the winter and early spring, this is the green time for us. It was unusually warm (high 60s […] [Original post on sfba.social]

A selfie of a man with a grey beard and a green cap, on a green grassy mountain ridge, with a few bare oak trees in the middle distance, a valley below on the right, and a mostly blue sky with a few white cloudy streaks

Grassy rolling hills on a mountain ridge, with multiple ridge lines and valleys in the distance, with a drop-off to a valley on the right.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 19/12/2025

These photos are from a short walk I did yesterday at Bair Island, on the San Francisco Bay near Redwood City. I've never seen so many snowy egrets together, often egrets are solitary. #protography #egrets #SnowyEgrets

A long legged, fluffy white bird with kind of a hunchback and a long straight bill walking in very shallow water on a brown mud flat. A rock is in front of the bird.

Ten white birds (snowy egrets) wading in very shallow water (perhaps a centimeter or two deep). Many of them have eyes and bills looking downward, perhaps hunting for grubs or other food in the mud.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 17/12/2025

I did a hike on Monday at La Honda Creek Open Space Reserve, near La Honda, California. It's a beautiful place with varied terrain: open fields, redwood groves, and Douglas firs. While the lower entrance is freely accessible, I started from the permit-only lot at […] [Original post on sfba.social]

A scenic landscape at sunset, looking out from a mountain ridge, with layers of rolling hills that descend toward the ocean in the distance.

On the left is a towering cluster of dark green Douglas firs. Below these tall trees and stretching across the bottom of the image is a dense canopy of varied vegetation.

Beyond the immediate forest, the landscape opens up into a series of rolling hills and ridges.

In the far distance, a wide expanse of ocean stretches horizontally across the photo.

A band of golden light reflects off the water's surface, indicating where the sun is breaking through the clouds above.

The sky is dramatic and filled with textured clouds.

Above the horizon, there is a band of warm colors: oranges, peaches, and pale yellows.

The gray cloud layer has a large opening where sunlight shines through.

(I asked AI for help in describing this image but heavily re-wrote the result to be more accurate and less over-the-top).

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 13/12/2025

A couple of days ago I hiked up to Mission Peak, east of the San Francisco Bay. It was foggy in the valley that morning but it didn't take long to climb above the fog layer. This hike can be very crowded on weekends with mild weather, but far less so on a Tuesday. #hiking #photography #MissionPeak

A man with a gray beard, sunglasses, a black jacket and a green cap, in a selfie with green hills, a blue sky, overlooking a valley with a layer of fog below. His hand holding his cell phone is visible as a reflection in the sunglasses.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 01/12/2025

Me on a hike today at Henry Coe Park, on the Bowl Trail above the Hunting Hollow valley. It was perfect hiking weather. Northern California is good for that. #hiking #photography #HenryCoe

A 60 something year old man with a beard and a green baseball cap taking a selfie on a hike on a mountain ridge. The immediate background is grass, just starting to turn green. A valley is behind, and there is a tree covered slope on the other side of the valley. The sky is blue with a few scattered white clouds.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 30/11/2025

It's that time of year for banana slugs. Here's a pair that is preparing to mate. They have a ritual that can take hours. They are hermaphrodites, with both male and female organs, and both of these slugs might wind up pregnant and lay eggs. This was in Big Basin […] [Original post on sfba.social]

A pair of vivid yellow banana slugs, curved towards each other. Each has its head positioned by the other slug's body. A burnt log is to their right, on the ground below is redwood duff, sticks, and small green plants.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 30/11/2025

Sunlight through second growth redwood trees on a hazy morning at Mount Madonna Park. #redwoods #photography

Beams of sunlight on a hazy morning in a redwood forest. A large trunk is on the right, a stump with leaves and duff on top is below, and slender young redwood trunks are on the left. A bit of blue sky is visible through the trees.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 18/11/2025

Our cats, Joanie (tuxedo) and Sebastian (tabby). Joanie has licked herself bald on her sides and is on meds for that, but otherwise seems happy. Looks like they want a treat. #CatsOfMastodon

Two cats, a tuxedo cat and a tabby cat, sitting on a leather covered stool in a kitchen. There are wooden counters and a linoleum floor in the background. They are looking at the camera with expressions that say "please feed us". The tuxedo cat has a bald spot on her side.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 15/11/2025

It is is that time of year when the toyon trees sprout bright red berries here in Northern California, which is why "Christmas berry" is a nickname. The berries appear in November and peak in late December. #toyon #sfba #photography

A tree with clumps of hundreds of bright red berries backed by small green leaves, with a blue sky at the top.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/11/2025

Oyster mushrooms (I think) from a hike yesterday in Pescadero Creek park, near La Honda, California. #mushrooms #hiking #photography

A group of about ten mushrooms growing on the trunk of a tree. They are off-white in color and conical shaped.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 24/10/2025

I met this tarantula today at Henry Coe Park. This is the time of year to see them. #tarantula #hiking #photography #HenryCoe

A large spider with black and tan markings with front legs extended, on a dirt trail next to some rocks.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 14/07/2025

I am a volunteer docent at Big Basin Redwoods state park. A fellow docent mentioned that there were leopard lilies in bloom at a spot in Opal Creek about a mile up, and I found them. First time I had seen them at this park, though I had seen them before at […] [Original post on sfba.social]

A globe shaped flower, orange with dark spots, with pistils hanging below, against a background of green wide blades of grass. Part of another flower is visible in the lower right corner.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/07/2025

This is a leopard lily I saw today on a hike at Portola Redwoods state park, near La Honda, California. #hiking #photography #wildflowers

A globe shaped wildflower (leopard lily), orange petals, yellow with dark spots below, with hanging pistils, with green from trees in the background.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/07/2025

Here's a cute little chipmunk I saw on a recent hike. #chipmunk #photography

A cute chipmunk climbing onto a cut log.

A little striped rodent (a chipmunk) on sandy ground with small rocks.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 15/06/2025

Me on the Morrison Bridge in Portland, Oregon at the #NoKingsProtest . I live in California but am in Portland visiting family. A great turnout. #NoKings

Selfie of a man in a green cap, sunglasses and salt and pepper beard with dozens of protesters with signs marching behind. Green signs indicate that they are heading for the city center

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 01/06/2025

Here's Joanie in her pillow fort, her favorite hangout. #caturday #CatsOfMastodon

A tuxedo cat on a blue blanket on a couch, with pillows on either side and another blanket on top, forming a little fort.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 15/05/2025

For the past seven weeks or so I have been training to be a decent for the California State Parks, and I will be helping out at Big Basin Redwoods, the oldest state park in California. #BigBasinSP

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 15/05/2025

Turkey tail #fungus on a log at Big Basin State Park, in the Santa Cruz mountains of California.

Dozens of fungi on a log. The fungi are flat semicircles protruding from the log.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 12/05/2025

This photo is from the last time I was able to be with my mother, who lived across the country from me (she in Maryland where I grew up, me in California). She had quite a few health problems but was mentally sharp to the end, which came a couple of months later (summer 2017). #MothersDay

A petite elderly woman sitting at a table next to a late middle aged man (her son). She has a pillow behind her and her son's hand is resting on the pillow. She is smiling at the camera, he is smiling in her direction.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 26/04/2025

I was at Fort Point, by the San Francisco end of the Golden Gate Bridge, with my wife and daughter to see the @WePlayers production of Macbeth, this time with an all female cast. They made full use of the space and the audience got a lot of exercise. It was […] [Original post on sfba.social]

A photo of the Golden Gate Bridge and Fort Point after dark. In the foreground is the water of San Francisco Bay; the nearer tower of the bridge is lit up and reflected in the water; the other tower, farther away, is also lit. The fort, a brick building, is on the left, with two rows of lit up windows. The bridge lights reflect off of low crowds

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 23/04/2025

Ithuriel's Spear (Treleia laxa), seen on a hike at Harvey Bear / Coyote Lake Park near Gilroy, California. #hiking #photography #wildflowers

Closeup of purple wildflowers with a grassy background. There are eight flowers visible; three are fully open. They have six pedals each, in a hexagonal pattern around a center that has several pistils (stem-like parts).

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 22/04/2025

I was near Sunnyvale Baylands on the South end of the San Francisco Bay and saw a large flock of goats chowing down on the grassy hill that covers an old landfill. The goats are used to reduce the fuel that could otherwise lead to grass fires. #goats #Sunnyvale #sfba

A large flock of goats (perhaps 40 in the picture) of different colors and varieties, on a grassy yellow-brown grassy hill, many are eating grass. There is a wire fence in the foreground and a blue sky above the hill.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 12/04/2025

Joanie and Sebastian wish you a happy #caturday !

A tabby cat and a tuxedo cat lying on a lumpy orange blanket. The tabby is looking at the camera.

A tuxedo cat and a tabby cat are on an orange blanket. The tuxedo cat is looking at the camera, the tabby appears to be sleeping.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 11/04/2025

A California valley oak (Quercus lobata), photographed on a hike I did yesterday at Henry Coe Park. The grass is still green; it will transition to yellow-brown some time in May. #hiking #photography #oak

A large oak tree on a grassy hill, against a partly cloudy sky. The tree's branches have a wide span and it is wider than it is high. The edge of a smaller tree and a hiking trail can be seen on the left.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 07/04/2025

A bunch of Sisyrinchium bellum (western blue eyed grass) at Almaden Quicksilver. #hiking #photography #wildflowers

A cluster of about twelve wildflowers with green grass in the background. The flowers have six purple petals each, with three to five parallel creases in each petal extending to the end and spiky ends, and a yellow center.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/04/2025

These photos are from a hike I did a couple of days ago in Sierra Vista Open Space Reserve, in the mountains just northeast of San Jose, California. This time of year, near the end of the wet season, the hills are deep green; they'll change to golden brown by […] [Original post on sfba.social]

Rugged mountainous terrain: a steep hill with short deep green grass at the top and forests further down, with more mountains, a partly blue sky, and a valley in the distance.

A hiking trail in the mountains with a steep hillside left of the trail, a deep valley to the right, with a grassy hill and more forested hills in the distance.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 27/03/2025

I haven't posted a #CatsOfMastodon photo in a while. Joanie just jumped up onto my shoulders without warning, something she likes to do. So here we are. I plan to trim back the beard a bit soon.

A tuxedo cat sitting on the shoulders of a bearded man in his 60s, with a wooden kitchen cabinet behind.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 18/02/2025

I haven't posted hiking photos in a while. These #Mosstodon shots are from today's hike on the Saratoga to Skyline Trail, which connects Quarry Park and Sanborn Park in Saratoga, California. It is a beautiful single track trail with lots of bay laurel trees, and […] [Original post on sfba.social]

Moss covered trees and rocks by a small creek.

A large moss covered rock with a mossy tree in front.

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 21/01/2025

View from Aquinas Trail at El Sereno Open Space Reserve, above Los Gatos, California. #hiking #photography

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 17/01/2025

Here's an oak tree full of galls from a hike I did last Sunday at Calero County Park, near San Jose. They aren't fruit; wasps lay their eggs in the oak, injecting a chemical that makes the stem swell up into a ball. #hiking #photography #oak

A mostly bare oak tree with lots of oak galls (round brown balls that look like fruits), with a lake and blue sky in the background

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Joe ❌👑 @not2b.sfba.social.ap.brid.gy · 29/12/2024

I spotted this shroom today on the Stanford campus. #fungus

A white circular mushroom growing in grass, with a yellow center and a slender stem

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