It was cloudy and chilly today at Mandalay Beach in Oxnard, California:
Nonetheless, I went in the water:
Here it comes!
Brrrr.
Aaaahhh.
The current Weekly Photo Challenge wants photos from an unusual perspective.)
On my recent walk across Oroville dam in northern California, clouds moved rapidly across the sun – all these photos were taken during just a few, rapidly evolving minutes – and created a spectacular scene that looked like star nebula photographed by the Hubble.
The current Weekly Photo Challenge wants photos from an unusual perspective.)
Reflections and shadows make the world more intriguing. This is true in people as well as terrains, but I don’t have photos that demonstrate this for personalities.
August’s full moon was so bright that it cast shadows on my car and produced enough light for me to take this photo:
That bright dot is the full moon, reflected in my car hood.
An easy hike up Malibu Creek in southern California leads to duplicate images in this still and reflective pond.
Can you find the water line?
Look in the pond and see the sky!:
Pond’s-eye view of the sky.
A tree’s reflection in the pond:
Another pond’s-eye view
The current Weekly Photo Challenge wants photos from an unusual perspective.)
My “desert island” food is the blueberry. My “desert island” place is the ocean. Which proves convenient: I don’t have to bring my favorite place with me to the desert island, it will already surround me.
Desert island. Typing that phrase, I realize how comfortable I am using language when I don’t entirely know what it means. That must get me into trouble sometimes but apparently I don’t know when that happens.
Desert island. Somewhere remote and cut-off, I figure. Checking that infallible source of information, the internet, I learn that a desert island is an island that is not inhabited by humans.
(Sue’s first rule of blogging: start with a digression. Or four.)
Here’s the point: I love the ocean but I have only been to two of them. Mostly the Pacific. Occasionally the Atlantic. Surely I need to see the others, and visit them from more than one location. Which means I had better get busy and travel faster.
Here is what the Atlantic Ocean looked like during my visit to a Florida beach:
The Atlantic Ocean at sunset from a beach in central Florida.
At this beach it was not a good idea to walk while enjoying the view. There were dead jellyfish everywhere! I don’t know whether this was typical for this area. Perhaps I visited during a time of jellyfish affliction.
It was a beach of dead jellyfish land mines.
(In response to this Weekly Photo Challenge.)
The ocean is my place. It’s where I go to revive, invigorate, find peace. At the shore I feel connected to all that underlies our everyday lives.
I love the way the shorebirds run out as the surf recedes, run back as it returns. They are so in tune with the pattern of the waves and the movements of the other birds. And it often feels like they are playing as well as eating.
Ventura Beach, California, 2008
(In response to this Weekly Photo Challenge.)
I don’t like seagulls much, but this one did nothing offensive during the brief time we were together. Anyway there can’t always be pelicans.
Ocean with gull, in landscape mode.
Ocean with gull, in portrait mode.
These photos show a glimpse of beach at San Clemente, CA, where it is always this beautiful.
(This week’s Photo Challenge wants to see one image shot two ways.)
This week’s Photo Challenge wants to see one image shot two ways. I often take two photos, one landscape (wider than tall) and one portrait (opposite). After years of doing this, it was only when assembling images for this post that I discovered that I always prefer the portrait result. The scene feels closer and more immediate. Nonetheless I expect to continue to take photos from both perspectives.
Moonset at sunrise, landscape mode
Moonset at sunrise, portrait mode
What do you think? Are there shots here where you prefer the landscape?
Dead tree, portrait mode
Dead tree, landscape mode
Trail, portrait mode
Trail, landscape mode
The dog and I live with five cats. (Insert who-in-their-right-mind rant here.) It is almost a peaceable kingdom, with one glaring – and hissing – exception.
Shadow the rescue dog, age about 8, likes everybody. She terrified kitten Leo until Leo discovered the dog tail as toy. Now all but one of the cats like the dog.
Shadow and Luna
Luna and Bop, age 10, came from the same shelter on the same day. They mostly get along but never much bonded. We blame Bop.
The oldsters, Bop and Luna, age 10.
Luna likes everybody. For a long time he feared the dog. Eventually this fear evolved to a play arrangement with surprisingly specific terms: the dog can chase Luna if the dog is in the backyard first and Luna arrives. In all other locations and situations, no chasing.
A new familiar sight – Luna napping with a youngster, in this case, Bo.
Arrow, Leo, and Bo, age 11 months, came from two different shelters on the same day. They could not be more loving and friendly to each other. All three are the sweetest cats I’ve ever known. Otherwise they have quite distinct personalities.
The youngsters, Bo, Leo, and Arrow, when they first joined the household.
Bop tolerates the dog but chases her if dinner is delayed and she is crabby. Ditto Bop with her life partner, Luna. The reality is that Bop wants to be an only animal in a household where she never will be.
Bop hates the kittens and for months we had to keep them separate – no easy task in our 700 square foot home – lest she kill them. Now that two of the kittens are bigger than Bop, we let them mingle. The kittens are learning to stand their ground. We have six spray bottles of water stationed all over the house and yard. We spray Bop whenever we catch her messing with a kitten. Oh so gradually the violence seems to be lessening. But there are some days – you can just tell – Bop won’t be able to relax until she has kicked some kitten butt.
A peacekeeper.
The situation is further complicated by the similarity in looks between mean old Bop and sweet young Arrow. What amazes me: the kittens can’t tell them apart, either! I thought animals used smell to identify. Maybe not, or maybe they can’t distinguish Bop from Arrow because the smells are so mixed up at our house. Whatever the explanation, the other youngsters, Bo and Leo, are always doing doubletakes when a tuxedo cat walks in.
There were too many instances of Leo and Bo clearly mistaking the two – running from their best friend Arrow, or running toward their enemy Bop – so now Bop wears a collar with a bell. That seems to have helped some.
Typical sight around the household: Bop menacing a youngster.
This time, the target is Arrow, just awakened from a nap to find Bop glaring at her.
Pop quiz: who is this? Bop or Arrow? (answer on next page)
Another hour bites the dust.
This post reacts to this Weekly Photo Challenge.
I can stare at a city view for hours, studying the structure, sensing the underlying chaos, sensing the history and the stories, hearing faint distant sirens and that lowgrade perpetual hum that comes from so many people in one locale. Below are shots of
I will leave it to you to figure out which is which.
This post responds to this Weekly Photo Challenge.
Required Writing 