Pepper Trees, September 2000 Equinox

On September 22, at 10:27 PDT, the bay area is wet with rain. But the pepper trees stand dry in the stormy morning light. I invite you to come under their spell at the end of San Antonio Road, an entry to Shoreline Park, off Highway 101 in Silicon Valley, south of San Francisco, California, USA.

There is a tree called the "first California pepper" (see http://www.sanluisrey.org/photoret.html for more info). The encyclopedia reports that the California pepper tree Schinus molle, is an ornamental plant and is not used as a spice. However, to me the fruit of this tree smells and looks very much like black peppercorns.

The photos are synchronized with the time of the equinox, as part of Wrinkle 12. Here is a QTVR movie (small and large):

• Pepper trees (400 KB)
• Pepper trees, large movie (2 MB)
• September equinox
• September season