sunflower
Terri Webster Schrandt

Sunday Stills: #Yellow Discoveries in the Golden State

The color yellow and all things associated with it is the theme for this week’s Sunday Stills photo challenge.

I had a slightly different post planned, but my journalist tendencies would not allow me to bury the lead.

Blogger Meet-Up

Two Bloggers

This week I got to spend a day with my blogger pal Marsha Ingrao of Always Write at her lovely home near Visalia in the Central Valley of California. Driving to the small town of Woodlake, I discovered the charming, nearby town of Exeter, amid the golden yellow foothills.

As we drove around the area, we spontaneously took the short drive through the foothills into the south entrance of Sequoia National Park! Sequoia is known for its giant redwood forest, home of the General Sherman tree, Moro Rock, and other natural wonders of the Eastern Sierra Nevada Range. And she lives so close to the park!

I was 12 years old the last time I visited Sequoia and nearby Kings Canyon NP. This was a treat!

We drove the winding roads and stopped along vista points to capture the scenery. Yellow leaves and dry grass help frame the jagged peaks. On a clear day, you can see Mt Whitney, the highest mountain in the contiguous U.S. at 14,505 feet. We walked a little for more photo ops, but I will leave that for Marsha to tell you.

Yellow leaf vista of Sierra Range

As we drove toward the park exit, a black bear stood in the road begging for a photo op. By the time I got out my phone (I left my camera in my overnight bag), he had lumbered off the road amid the yellow grasses, the late afternoon sun highlighting his coat a golden brown.

Golden Black Bear

Why California is Golden

In Northern California at the end of July the grasses have turned yellow as vegetation dries out and temps heat up.

While walking in the delta last weekend I found these beautiful yellow wildflowers growing along the levee.

Delta Yellow Wildflowers

Summer flowers show a variety of colors but none so recognizable as the sunflower. Indulge me while I share a few with you this week.

Another golden bear, this time a Teddy Bear sunflower!

Teddy Bear Sunflower 2020

As of this post, I have a whopping 13 sunflowers in my small garden. These are two of the five varieties I planted from seeds from last year’s crop. I recently caught this one opening up.

Square photos of varying perspectives are partially inspired by Becky B’s July Square Perspectives and Cee’s Flower of the Day challenges.

Blogging Break

Please note that after this week, I’m taking a six-week break for travel and family events while focusing on packing and working on our house to ready it for sale in October. I also need to focus as I prepare to teach my university classes online for the Fall semester at the end of August.

Sunday Stills will be in the capable hands of Cathy Ryan of PictureThis who will take hosting duties during August, while Hugh Roberts of Hugh’s Views and News will host September 6 and 13th. Please visit and follow their blogs to stay updated for the challenge. You can find their themes and links to their blogs on my Sunday Stills Page.

I will be back on Sept 20 with new themes. Please stay tuned. Please follow me on Instagram as I travel around Mammoth Lakes and San Diego.

Please link your yellow posts to today’s post so I can read, comment and share. You can link all week; however, by Thursday I will be driving to Mammoth Lakes and may not get to your post right away.

I appreciate all of you who take the time to read and comment on my posts and photography, and those who take part in Sunday Stills each week. Photo challenges are fun and offer a chance to be part of a wonderful blogging community. Who knows? You might also meet a fellow blogger in real life, too!

All my best as you enjoy the rest of your summer (or winter)!

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89 comments

  1. Hi, Terri – What a wonderful visit with Marsha!
    I’m completely jealous about your bear sighting.
    You’ve done a wonderful job combining this week’s SS theme with your recent travel. Enjoy your well-deserved break. See you in 6 weeks.

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  9. Lovely yellows Terri – your sunflowers are gorgeous and I really like how the bear was lit by the sun. Lucky you for meeting Marsha! I felt much the same when I met both Patti, my blogging partner, and svetlana – whom I now call my sister with another mother! Both became my friends through blogging which is so much fun! Enjoy your break and family, You are very fortunate to be able to travel and mingle these days1!

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    • Thanks, Tina, isn’t the blogging community just full of special people? I’m meeting my daughter and brother in Mammoth Lakes next weekend, then a trip the following week to attend my mom’s memorial service. We still all have to be careful and respect each other’s distance and preferences. Once we get moved to Spokane, we’ll likely stay put through the winter.

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      • Aww, I feel for you, Tina. My daughter begged me to come on this trip to Mammoth. She really needs a break and isn’t happy we’re moving and selling her home where she grew up. Hard time for all families now. I hope things get better soon, human contact and our social relationships is what makes the world go ’round.

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      • Amen Terri, you got that right. I understand your daughter’s sadness perfectly. My brother bought my parents’ home when they passed away and we celebrate Christmas there every year. Fingers crossed it happens in 2029 🤞

        Liked by 1 person

  13. Wow, the sun flowers!!!!! Fabtastic!
    And … since I can see how fabtabulously this fits here (thank you for the nudge!), here’s my double-dipping entry:

    By Design


    Have a lovely lovely lovely time off and I hope it is the best R&R possible!
    Na’ama

    Liked by 1 person

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  16. I so love yellow Terri and your shots are great. The fact that you met up with a fellow blogger and saw a bear make me smile! I always appreciate your sunflower shots as they are my favourite flowers.

    Looking forward to joining Cathy and Hugh in the next few weeks and wishing you a happy time on your break. Thanks for all you do in organising Sunday Stills.

    Here’s my post: https://debs-world.com/2020/07/26/are-you-a-xanthophile/

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  19. Terri,
    Great pictures as usual. We love sunflowers and they grow tall in Tennessee. We’re in Montana and plan to be in Northern California in late August (if they don’t close everything down). Never spent much time there and looking forward to the NorCal Coast and Yosemite. Enjoy your break and please stay in touch. Joe

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  22. No sunflowers in our garden this summer, Terri. It’s been too wet and cool for them. I’m going to miss them this year, especially when the heads get full of seeds and the birds feed on them. We’ll definitely have no yellow grass either. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the lawn looking so green at this of year.

    We were lucky that we saw a bear when we were driving through Yosemite Valley many years ago. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find my camera, so we lost him as he went through the trees.

    So glad you got to meet up with Marsha. I bet you guys had lots to talk about. It sounds like she lives in a beautiful part of the world.

    Here’s my offering for this week.

    Enjoy your upcoming break and for leaving Sunday Stills in the safe hands of Cathy and me.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • I’m glad to see a pop of yellow in what you describe as your misty green part of the world, Hugh! We had a dry-ish winter and cool, dry spring so everything is quite yellow already. Meeting up with Marsha was fun (you should read her latest post for the details); I hope to meet with another blogger while I’m in San Diego soon. Thanks for hosting SS in September!

      Liked by 1 person

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  41. You have a huge job packing to get your house ready to put on the market. Wishing you the best. How about you new house. Is it ready for you to move in yet? Safe travel with your family and enjoy your break, Terri!

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