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Saturday, April 19, 2014

Mountain View – Snails and Rapeseed

Left: Snail Crossing Vista Slope Trail; Center: Deborah Butterfield Horse with Rapeseed; Right: Milk Snail Shell
Snail Crossing Vista Slope TrailDeborah Butterfield Horse with RapeseedMilk Snail Shell
When in Mountain View, I look forward to my early-morning ride on a bright yellow G-Bike. My normal route takes me heading east along Amphitheatre Pkwy, skirting the south edge of Vista Slope. Before 8:00 am, the tech world is asleep, but not the numerous Otala lactea (milk snail) crossing the trail. They seem to be hurrying to take cover for the day, after a night of slimy adventures. I try to swerve out the way, but every now and then there is “crunch” signaling that another snail just passed on to the big gastropod in the sky.

Toward the end of the route, I pass by the Deborah Butterfield horse on Crittenden Lane. During a week in mid-April when I'm there, there are drifts of yellow Brassica napus (rapeseed, rape), echoing the color of the bike I ride. The Rape of Crittenden [ref]?

Left: Rapeseed Flowers and Leaf; Center: Deborah Butterfield Horse with Rapeseed; Right: Snail Hanging on to Rapeseed Flower Stalk
Rapeseed Flowers and LeafDeborah Butterfield Horse with RapeseedSnail Hanging on to Rapeseed Flower Stalk

Left: The Famous Google GBikes in Front of Building 1900/2000; Right: Close-up of Blue GBike Chain
The Famous Google GBikes in Front of Building 1900/2000Close-up of GBike Chain and it’s Blue

Shapes: Deborah Butterfield Cast Bronze Horse (left); Black-Tailed Jack Rabbit (Lepus californicus) and the Twin Peaks of the Shoreline Ampitheatre (center); Twin Milk Snail Shells (right)
Deborah Butterfield Cast Bronze HorseBlack-Tailed Jack Rabbit and the Twin Peaks of the Shoreline Ampitheatre Twin Milk Snail Shells

Milk Snail Research: The Snail I Barely Missed and the “Killing Machine” (GBike) (left and center) and the Vista Slope Snail Dodge in the Early Morning (right)
The Snail I Barely MissedThe Snail I Barely Missed and the “Killing Machine” (GBike)Vista Slope Snail Dodge

Panorama View from Knoll on Crittenden Lane. Far left is approximately due north.Panorama View from Knoll on Crittenden Lane. Far left is approximately due north.

Panorama View from Vista Slope. Far left is approximately due east.
Panorama View from Vista Slope. Far left is approximately due east.

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