Photo Blogging

If I had a backyard like this, with deer hanging out, and a hot air balloon overhead… I am not sure I would think of it as “just my backyard”!  I suspect that I am alone in that.  ~WaterGirl

Catherine D.

I find my sorta mowed and ungardened backyard very peaceful. It’s shielded by trees and hedges from my next-door neighbors, and there’s no one directly behind me.

Ithaca NYDecember 6, 2008

This picture was taken during hunting season in December 2008, when I looked out to see 14 deer lounging away from all the Elmer Fudds. We don’t have nearly as many deer now as then because of a sterilization program.

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Today we have the second entry in Bill’s “Mission” series.  We saw the first one, Mission San Buenaventura, on April 1st.  We’ll see the third one next week, and will be treated to the final one the week after that.

I don’t know about you, but the last photo below is the room that I would most like to hang out in. I feel more calm, just looking at it, picturing myself sitting there.  ~WG

BillinGlendaleCA

La Purisima Mission is different in several ways from the other missions in southern California. First, it’s in a rural setting about 4 miles northeast of Lompoc California. Second, it’s one of 2 of the 21 Spanish missions that is not still owned and operated by the Catholic church being instead a State Historical Park. Third, given it’s status as a historical park as opposed to a working church and it’s rural location and size, it recreates mission life of the early 1800’s with livestock (cows, horses, burros, and pigs) and less manicured though maintained landscape.

La Purisima was founded in 1787, originally a mile south of Lompoc (now the southern end of F Street with some ruins remaining) and moved here in the early 1800’s after an earthquake destroyed the original mission. This earthquake occurred on December 21, 1812 also destroyed the chapel at Mission Santa Barbara though was separate from the earthquake earlier in the month (December 8) that destroyed the Great Stone Church at San Juan Capistrano and the bell tower at Mission San Gabriel. The mission fell into disrepair after the missions were secularized in the 1830’s. Archaeological digs and restoration were undertaken in the 1930’s with most of the construction being done by the CCC. Many of the other missions have portions that are not open to the public, so rooms may have been repurposed for church business.

This may have been the first mission that I visited, but I would have been about 4 years old, so my recollections are a bit vague.

Lompoc, CAMarch 6, 2020

Pathway to the La Purisima mission cemetery on the left and main chapel to it’s right.

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A lovely chateau, green gardens, and a floofy kitty, sleeping.  What more could we ask of today’s example of joy and beauty around us?  ~WaterGirl

Auntie Anne

I fell in love with the chateaux de la Loire when I was 14; my French teacher had a series of posters of the chateaux in her classroom. The most romantic of them all in my mind will always be Chenonceau.

In 2017, I fulfilled one of my bucket list items by visiting France, and particularly, the Loire region.

Just as historical context, Henry II gave Chenonceau to Diane de Poitiers in 1547. She had the gallery over the river Cher built, and added extensive gardens. After Henry’s death, his queen, Catherine de’Medici, took over. Catherine added gardens as well.

ChenonceauMay 19, 2017

The approach to the chateau

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Albatrossity has gifted us with another installment of Spring in Flyover Country.  The third one will be next week.  ~WaterGirl

Albatrossity

Here’s the next installment of images and information from the Flint Hills of Kansas, aka flyover country.

Spring is proceeding regardless, as avian migrants leave here, pass through, or return for the summer. The controlled burning season is mostly past us now, although there are still a few smoke columns on the horizon most days, and the Swainson’s Hawks, freshly back from the pampas, patrol the fire lines and pounce on any rodent or snake fleeing the flames. Trees are flowering, birds are singing, and all in all it can feel like a normal spring when you are out in the natural world. I recommend it, if it is possible in your part of the galaxy.

The Flint Hills of KansasApril 8, 2020

The last installment featured a vista of a lone bur oak in a Flint Hills pasture, entitled “Waiting for the fire”. The fire got here. So here’s the before-and-after. The after image shows you why these hills are still covered in tall grass prairie. The soil is very thin and full of sharp flinty rocks that dissuaded early settlers from plowing it up. The rich soils of Illinois, the erstwhile “Prairie State” had no such impediments to the plow, and that is why prairie disappeared from that state almost entirely. Tallgrass prairie is an endangered ecosystem; compared to the iconic endangered ecosystem, old-growth forests of the Pacific Northwest, it has been reduced in size to a much greater extent. I feel fortunate to live here.

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Today we have…  Poppies!  I doubt that satby will be the only one who will be ecstatic seeing all these gorgeous orange flowers.  ~WaterGirl

Dmbeaster

Despite a slow rainy season, late season rains were enough for a gorgeous poppy display this year.  The poppies grow from both seeds and multiyear tubers, and the tubers can flower well in drier years.  The wildflowers that frequently accompany the poppies are more dependent on the rains, and are more muted this year.  But the poppy fields were very nice.

The Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve is located in the far western extent of the Mojave Desert, about 20 miles west of Palmdale and Lancaster on the north edge of the Transverse Ranges.  The Reserve itself was closed due to the pandemic, but the flowers extended well beyond the Reserve boundaries.  These pictures were taken from a dirt road traversing an area a few miles east of the Reserve.  But there were views like this throughout the area.

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With only one photo and no description, it’s possible that this was a test submission from Sharks. But it’s such an absolutely gorgeous picture, who cares?  If we see it again as part of a larger set, I won’t mind a bit!

Our celebration of beauty and joy continues, let’s make the most of today.  ~WaterGirl

Sharks

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Our celebration of beauty and joy continues – let’s make the most of today.  It’s Wednesday, and Bill is taking us somewhere we haven’t been before, on a hike (alone) with his Dad!  ~WaterGirl

BillinGlendaleCA

Just prior to the current unpleasantness shut down most activity in California, I paid a visit to the town where I grew up. I’ve not been back much since we sold off the house I grew up in after my mom’s passing in the late 80’s, but I wanted to return for a hike to Paradise Falls.

Paradise Falls is along the north fork of the Arroyo Conejo about a mile before it joins the south fork in Hill Canyon. The area was pretty undeveloped and being used for westerns (one season of Gunsmoke was filmed there) until the eastern portion was developed in the late 60’s. The western portion was acquired by the city as open space, now known as Wildwood Regional Park. There was even a fort at the eastern access to the arroyo.

In my teen years my dad and I explored the heights of Montcleff Ridge, the Indian Cave and often visited Paradise Falls. I believe the last time we made this hike was in 1977. I didn’t hike much after I went off to UCLA and dad passed away during my senior year, and I never really got back into hiking until recently.

This hike has been on my todo list for a while and I’ve not done it mainly due to traffic on weekdays and the prospect of crowds on weekends. With California pretty much starting to shutdown third week of March with traffic being almost non-existent, I decided to go. I took the same route that we took the last time we hiked there 43 years ago and not much had changed. Some of the arroyo crossings were a bit more developed and the area around the falls has a few more railings to keep folk from falling in the drink.

As Vice President Biden said, the thought of your (loved one), brings a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eye. Dad seemed old then, now I realize after completing that hike, I’m older now than he was then.

Wildwood Regional Park, Thousand Oaks, CAMarch 18, 2020

Path down the middle of the plain between Montcleff Ridge on the north and the Arroyo Conejo canyon to the south. Lizard Rock looms in the distance.

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cckids

The Skagit Valley in Washington is known for their gorgeous tulips and daffodils. I never knew so many types existed before moving here, but have made an annual trip north of Seattle each April to view the carpets of colors and varieties. That, sadly, won’t be happening this spring, but I thought I’d share some of the lovely array of flowers that are there.

Most of these are from the gardens at RoozenGarde; a local floral Disneyland, with acres of blooms, a windmill, and about a dozen meticulously planned and planted garden areas, each one unique and stunning. And of course the gift shop, where you can get bulbs or tschotkes to your heart’s content.

The company was founded by a Dutch immigrant who came to WA in the 1940’s; his family has been growing tulips since the 1700’s; it is still run by his descendants, and employs hundreds of locals. So, if you’re in the Western US, buy some tulips!

I’ve never made it there when the sun was shining, which would probably make the colors even more vivid, but despite the clouds and my lack of photo skills, it would be hard to not capture some of the beauty that is all around.

I love walking through the fields; the rows of color stretching away are impressive, like bright fluffy soldiers. Here’s an article about the tulip festival (cancelled, natch) with drone shots of the fields, like the world’s biggest rainbow flag.

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Good morning everyone,

Enjoy!

Becoming One with Azalea – 1

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Good morning everyone,

Let’s get this week started well!

These were taken in February and March this spring, yes spring started last Feb when the first Wood Frog eggs were laid in our newly rebuilt tiny pond right outside the front door. These are the earliest frogs to wake up from winter hibernation around here, and are really shy, so I have no photos of them so far. They’re medium sized, brown and when stretched out floating on the pond surface about 4 or 5 inches long.

I’m sure multiple frogs laid these eggs over several nights, and there is one more egg mass that sank deeper into the pond, which is nearly 18 inches deep in the center. Those eggs will hatch later on since it’s colder down there. There are also some ferns and flowers in this set of photos.

All photos this time taken with a Panasonic Lumix FZ-1000 camera with a fixed Leica Vario-Elmarit 9.1-146 mm lens, 35 mm equivilent is 25-400mm so pretty long effectively.

Outside the front door in SW WVaFebruary 2, 2020

This is the first frog egg mass laid in the newly rebuilt pond of last August. We were thrilled to hear the Wood Frogs chirping and splishing in the pond back in early February, it wasn’t until we heard that music again after years without that we realized how much we missed the frogs and toads outside the front door.

When the weather is good (not too cold, not too hot, not too many bugs) we leave the front door open to hear the froggy action while surfing the innertubes and snarking on Balloon Juice. There is a second egg mass deeper in the water, and I think they have all hatched as there appear to be hundreds of tiny tadpoles swimming near the surface of the pond in the sunshine.

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Good morning everyone,

Have a great day and weekend; the alternatives are worse.

Here’s the next installment of images from the spring of social distancing in flyover country. We are now under a state-wide stay-home order starting on Monday March 30. There are two cases (so far) of COVID-19 in my home town, and apparently one of them was likely to be community transmission (the other was a professor who had been teaching a Study Abroad class in London). We can still go out and watch and photograph birds and landscapes, however, so that is what i plan to do. It is remarkable how other vexations can just disappear when you are trying to coax a bird into the right spot for a photograph!

Near Alma KSMarch 19, 2020

When this part of the state was settled, there were no trees which could be used to build fenceposts. There were plenty of limestone rocks in the recently plowed fields, however. So the early settlers learned how to build dry-stone walls, separating fields and pastures from each other. Most of those were eventually replaced by barbed wire fences and imported fenceposts, but some relics still remain. Here’s one, with a winter Flint Hills pasture behind it.

On The Road – Albatrossity – Springtime in Flyover CountryPost + Comments (27)

Good morning all,

Another highlight of our trip to Chile late last year was taking the “Ruta del Fin del Mundo” the “Road to the end of the World” and going to Tierra del Fuego and Torres del Pane National Park in Patagonia.  (Note: the name Paine is pronounced “Pie-nay” not “Pain” by Chileans)

Today I’m sharing a few of the pictures of the hour we spent standing among a herd of guanacos. We were actually looking for a puma and our guide Rafa and one member of our group got a brief look at one going over a ridge away from us but I didn’t see it. However, the scenery was spectacular and I’ll share some of that soon, but for today it’s the guanacos and ther wonderful babies, which are called chulengos For me they were the scene stealers.and we were within a hundred feet of them and they were all around us!

Patagonia, La Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica ChilenaDecember 3, 2020

“Ruta del Fin del Mundo”

the “Road to the end of the World”

On The Road – Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!) – Guanacos and chulengos in Torres del Paine, La Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica ChilenaPost + Comments (12)

Further south from Bombay beach and a few miles east of the Salton Sea’s shore is Salvation Mountain and Slab City. During WW2 this was a Marine training base, and after the war the land was given to the State of California. The State really hasn’t done much with the land except remove the old buildings leaving Slabs(hence Slab City). Folk have just kind of squatted on the land, formed a community and even built stuff. Salvation Mountain was built by Leonard Knight as his tribute to the Sinner’s Prayer. It was built with adobe and straw and covered in latex paint. You can climb Salvation Mountain by following the Yellow Brick Road up to the top. Further east of Salvation Mountain is Slab City, it features a preforming venue(The Range), a library and various art project. The area is home to both folk who drive their RV’s there for the winter as well as a hearty group of permanent residents that live in mostly rundown trailers.

Slab City, CAFebruary 9, 2020

Wide view of Salvation Mountain you can the God’s mailbox at the right.

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Good morning all,

Another Tuesday, another day to be thankful for breath and good cheer.

Submitted March 6, in the beforetime.

Hello fellow Juicers,

Consider this part of the “On the daily walks” series. We are lucky enough to live near a handful of trails, so we only had to drive a few minutes to start this hike (but the drive cut out about 900 feet of elevation). This is in the Pacific Palisades area of the Santa Monica Mountains. Oh, regarding my nym (from the not-exactly-a-classic Kentucky Fried Movie), my real name is Mike, but I came up with that nym in a fit of divine, sarcastic inspiration while getting frustrated at having to come up with yet another username.

For the camera geeks, I’m using an Olympus O-MD E-M1, this time with their cheap, but decent, 40-150mm lens on it (it’s a micro four-thirds camera, so double those numbers for the full frame equiv.)

Enjoy and hang in there!

Temescal Ridge, Santa Monica MountainsMarch 18, 2020

A pano looking towards Mt. Baldy (50+ miles away) – I’m not sure just which one it is from this side :-/ Anyway, it’s got a nice pile of fresh snow :-)

On the left side, you can see part of Mt. Wilson (with all the transmitters on it), and a glimpse of the Hollywood sign, about 1/3 up and 1/3 from the left. The LA basin is on the right and the valley is to the left.

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