Home»Tassajara»5/20-25/2025 Poetry Workshop with Naomi Shihab Nye and Paul Haller»Flowers, Insects, and Lizard

Flowers abound here. Upstream by the creek, Golden Brodiaea shows its pretty face; Yerba Santa crowds the grassland margin, and inspires a poem. The trail up to the Suzuki Roshi memorial is alive with blossoms: shade-lovers near the bottom; near the top, those appreciating full sun. The sun-warmed hillside past the memorial is ideal for flowers. The goal of a flower is to attract insects: butterflies and bees gather to help pollinate. Insects attract their own predators, including a lizard. Down along the creek toward the Narrows, dragonflies bask in the sun, waiting for insect prey. A harlequin-colored cricket shows off on a spiral of flowers.