I’ve been out to Rattlesnake Bar a few times within the past month with my new companion, and I seriously enjoy introducing him for the first time to these places that are so familiar to me. Before the most recent round of storms hit, we went out to explore another section of shoreline, and we both found a few surprises. My favorite was the splash of brightly colored telegraphweed (Heterotheca grandiflora) lighting up an otherwise gray day; for my pup it was probably the soggy remains of an old tennis ball abandoned along the rock-strewn shore.