A Father & Daughter Day!

So here is a lovely story.  It starts with Liz and Sarah's new house.  The house comes with a front "lawn" made out of gravel!  What?  Yeah, the previous owners ripped up the grass lawn, and put down a membrane and probably 4 or 5 cubic yards of small white gravel, which is about 5 inches thick!  Yikes!  So they are trying to get rid of the gravel, and then they will deal with some kind of "living" front lawn.  So Sarah placed some ads for "free gravel if you cart it away" online.  They got one call and someone came and filled their truck. When that person left, the lawn looked the same!  So the second caller was Art, here with his daughter Eva.  They came by and Art shoveled the gravel into a wheelbarrow, and then filled his truck with gravel, while Eva used the pan she is carrying, to help put gravel in the truck.  It melted my heart when I learned that Art had brought his daughter with him so they could work on a project together!  He came twice and with two truckloads, he removed enough gravel to leave a 10 foot by 4 foot area showing dirt.  It will take a LOT more people with more trucks before the gravel is all gone!

 

A Family Portrait!

 

One of the last things I did before we left Los Angeles, was to get everyone together for a family portrait, which we usually send out at Christmas with our cards.  Sometimes it is difficult to get everyone together or I forget until it is too late, and there is no photograph to send out with the cards.  But this year is so special because of the addition of Vivian to our family!  So I set up the family in the front yard of Amy and Gus' home and did a nice portrait which you will see at Christmas.  Then Amy said: "Can you take a photograph of Gus and Vivian and I?"  The answer, of course, was YES!  And here it is, so exuberant, a portrait of a new family!  And look at Vivian!  Not fazed at all, flying in the sky! 

The Skateboard Park!

And now for something completely different, and uplifting, the Skateboard Park just off the Venice boardwalk.  I always spend time here watching and photographing everyone do amazing things . These hollowed out shapes are called "bowls" I believe, and the skaters stand around the edges of a bowl, and then when it is clear, they drop in, go screaming down the sides of these bowls which are not that far from being vertical, and then at the bottom they are liable to turn, and zoom up to the edge, turn again, and race around the inner edge of the bowl.  There are young men and women, and some kids, beginners and experts, who are all treated respectfully by the other skaters.  I have stood and watched for an hour to see some of the amazing things they do.  One way of getting out of the bowl is to zoom down to the bottom and then race up the other side, right up in the air out of the bowl, and then they land standing up on the far edge.  Their skills are astonishing and their movements are like dancers.

I discovered during this visit that on the far side of this complex there are gentle slopes and flat areas for people new to the sport to use to begin learning the basics.  It is really something to see!

The Homeless Problem in Los Angeles

This is the Venice Beach boardwalk.  It is one of the first places that visitors come to.  I was told that more people visit Venice Beach and the boardwalk than go to Disney World!  There are all kinds of characters here that you will meet either walking along with the crowd, or sitting by the side of the boardwalk selling things.  Well, sad to say, things have changed.

There have always been homeless camped on the sidewalks and in parks in Los Angeles.  In the house where Liz and Sarah lived for 12 years, there was an encampment about 200 yards up the street with maybe 6 tents on the sidewalk. It was a mess, especially in a residential neighborhood.  Here they have set up their tents on the grass under the palm trees.

So we haven't been here in Los Angeles since December 2019.  Since then the boardwalk and the beach have been taken over by homeless.  They are everywhere, camped right next to the boardwalk, and camped under the palm trees, and camped all over the beach.  It is unbelievable to see them everywhere, overwhelming the place.  It turns out that there are no campers in Santa Monica, because it is forbidden.  But in the City of Los Angeles, where Venice is, there is a law on the books where, if you move homeless people from where they are on the street, you have to have a place for them.  So...   since there are no places for them to go, if they set up camp, they can't be moved.

The homeless don't just have tents and chairs.  They have now collected all kinds of furniture and bicycles and who knows what which are under these tarps, in this photograph.  The city has been working on trying to solve the problem, but nothing so far.

 

The Blue Room

I looked toward the open door of this room at Liz and Sarah's home at about 9:30PM last night, I saw the glow of blue light.  I knew the reason immediately where the light came from.  Sarah has an aquarium and it is in the left hand corner of the room.  It is illuminated at times during the day, with a "daylight" quality light which is why this room is illuminated by blue light.

 

An Ear Infection

First things first...  Vivian is just fine!  Last night we had dinner together, and Amy put Vivian to bed.  We were sitting around having dessert when Vivian started crying and then screeching at the top of her lungs.  We were all unhinged by this and when it did not stop, so Amy called the emergency room at Kaiser-Permanente.  They said to bring Vivian in.  So we drover over to the hospital and Vivian was examined by a doctor and they found she has an ear infection.  So they prescribed a liquid antibiotic which Amy was able to get at a late night pharmacy window at the hospital.  After about an hour, they came out the emergency room door, and we headed home.  What a relief!  Vivian slept through the night, thankfully.  This was all a bit more exciting then we all would like, I must say!

 

Graduation Day!

This morning at breakfast, Kathy said: "There is someone in the street wearing a graduation gown!"  And there was.  He was being photographed by his friend.  It was fun to watch because he was striking a whole bunch of interesting and fun poses.  So I grabbed my camera and went down to say "hello."  I asked if I could take some photographs of the graduate being photographed, and he said "sure."  His name is Joseph and his story is amazing.  I asked him about the sash around his neck, which says "EOP" and"CSUN".

He said that he applied for and was accepted into a program called "Educational Opportunity Program" which provides admission, academic and financial support services to historically underserved students throughout California.  So Joseph was accepted in the program, and will graduate from California State University, Northridge!  He came over to his friend's house to have him take some photographs to celebrate his graduation.

Here is a nice portrait of him.  He is such a friendly guy and we had a nice conversation after I took these photographs.  He is very outgoing, and is smart and I liked him immediately.  I asked him about the printing on top of his mortarboard, and he showed it to me.  How powerful is this message!

Meeting Joseph this morning was really special, and he made my day!  Congratulations to Joseph for all the hard work and dedication!  I think he will do really well as he goes out in the world after graduation.

 

Morning at Liz & Sarah's Home

So I woke early on our first morning at Liz and Sarah's new house.  The light in the living room was just beautiful, illuminating the tree by the window and then there was the vase of sunflowers in the window.  And I love the two guitars in their stands by the fireplace.  Just a lovely scene, and a wonderful place to sit in a chair and read in the early morning light, which is what I did.

 

Meeting Vivian

So of course the first thing we wanted to do when we arrived, is to see our new granddaughter!  And that we did!  She is gorgeous and a delight to be with.  So curious about everything and she spent time looking at us, one by one, checking us out.  She is able to crawl around the room, and also to go over to low tables and pull herself up to a standing position.  We got to watch her being fed, and taking naps.  She has grown so much in such a short time.  We are so glad we are getting to see her at such a young age!

 

Back In The Air!

 

We are back in the air again!  Early JetBlue flight from JFK to LAX today.  It was cloudy over a major part of the United States but the clouds opened when we got to the west.  I was looking out the window while reading when all of a sudden I noticed this!  Wow!  I had my little "toy" camera in my lap and quickly shot about six frames.  The problem is that we were very close to this, nearly flying overhead.  Which is my excuse for not getting a perfect composition.  But it is a great view of part of the Grand Canyon!

Which Way?

I was coming home from our observing session the other night and as I came down the long hill and approached the harbor I saw this scene in the distance.  I kept my eye on it as I approached.  Then, when I was at the right spot, I stopped the car in the middle of the road and took this photograph.  There were no other cars around at that hour of the night, so I was OK doing that.  I am not exactly sure what the appeal of this scene is to me, but it grabbed me.  The two traffic lights are bright red eyes, and the double arrows almost ask a question.  If you have not been to our house, the answer to this question, above is: "turn right."

 

Stan's Exhibition Print

Today was an auspicious occasion.  Stan came to visit, for the first time in probably a year and a half!  We are all vaccinated so a visit without masks was possible.  He had a 16x20 inch print made, and he bought a frame but he needed a mat cut for the frame and the photograph, and I volunteered.  His framed photograph is for an exhibit celebrating a friend of his in the Asian-American community, a fellow photographer named Corky Lee who Stan has known for years and years.  Corky Lee photographed every event in the community for years creating an amazing archive.  Sadly, Corky, in spite of being so careful, was infected with Covid-19 and did not survive. If you enlarge this photograph, you will see Corky on the right side of the photograph, standing on a fire hydrant, photographing a ceremonial procession in Chinatown.  Oh, in honor of Stan's visit, we all had dinner together which was wonderful, and dinner was flounder stuffed with crabmeat!  Stan approved of the dinner!

 

Japanese Maple Leaves

I went out looking for more photographs with my infrared camera.  I didn't have to go far.  These delicate leaves are on the end of a branch of the Japanese maple tree.  Probably, in reality, these leaves would look pretty much the same if I had shot them with with a normal camera in black and white mode, as opposed to infrared.  The leaves in reality, are a beautiful light green, and the leaves from fall on the dark green ivy on the ground,

Contrails

It's Tuesday so we were down at the beach this morning, of course.  I happened to notice this bright white contrail coming from the northeast.  It is unusual to see contrails around here because you really need a clear blue sky, with very little haze.  So I grabbed my binoculars from the car, but could not identify the aircraft, other than it had four engines and I couldn't see any colors or markings on the fuselage.  So I grabbed my iPhone and opened an app that shows airplanes flying nearby, and then you can click on the icon of the plane, and it tells you the airline, and flight number and the departure airport and the destination, which is really cool!  But this airplane did not show up, so I am betting it was a military aircraft.  And then it began a gradual turn to the west.  Contrails, which is short for  "condensation trails" are line-shaped clouds produced by aircraft engine exhaust.  They only occur at altitudes of 25,000 to 40,000 feet.  They are composed primarily of water, in the form of ice crystals.  The combination of water vapor in the exhaust and the low air temperatures at high altitudes allows the formation of ice crystals.  The air temperature at 25,000 feet is about -60 degrees Fahrenheit at this time of year!  Brrrrrrr...

 

Moonset Over The Harbor

Our club had an observing session tonight out at the planetarium.  It was cloudy driving out but true to the forecast, by 10PM it was clear.  But the moon was a waxing crescent, and it was so bright that it was difficult to see the stars because of the sky brightness.  So the answer was, a lot of us observed the moon instead.  The moon is an amazing object to observe - through a telescope it is a smashed and bombarded landscape that is almost not to be believed!  On the way home, the setting moon was racing through the trees alongside my route, leading me home.  When I got to the harbor I saw this scene, and pulled the car over to make this photograph.  A perfect ending for a perfect evening!

 

Some of Our Ferns

When we bought our house in September,  1970 there was a steep front bank from our lawn down to the street level, that had a lot of twisted brown stuff on it and I never looked closely.  Imagine the thrill when Spring arrived and coming out of the  front bank were bright green fiddleheads.  Fiddleheads are the furled fronds of a young fern. Each fiddlehead unrolls into a new frond, which is a large divided leaf of the fern.  These ferns have been a joy to watch all the years we have lived here.  In the last 5 years or so, some small groups of ferns have emerged from the ivy under the Japanese maple tree.  So infrared did a nice job of showing both the delicacy of the ferns, as well at some of the ivy leaves.

Ouch!

I was down walking along the harbor and you know I look at everything.  As I went by this utility pole lit by the late afternoon sun my first thought at seeing the texture of this was, man I would NOT want to touch that pole!  We are talking a handful of splinters!  Nosiree, I would not want to get near this.  But it is pretty in its rich colors accented by late afternoon light.

 

The Magical Place Where We Live

 

You probably remember either the photograph of the two white Adirondack chairs on the back hill, or the photograph of Kathy and I sitting in them, reading during our lunch.  Well, we were sitting in the chairs today and I suddenly thought of my Infrared camera and being aware of all the green leaves surrounding us, I decided to go in to the house and retrieve the camera.  I didn't have my super wide angle lens with me, so I took two photographs and stitched them together with software to make this extra wide view.  It is spectacular in infrared, isn't it?  And it is also magical!  Please click on the image to see the extra large image I posted.

Oh No! He's Using That Camera Again!

Oh no, it's spring again and the leaves are on the trees and it looks like he got out his infrared camera again from when it was stored for the winter.  In winter there are no leaves on the trees, so he doesn't bother to get the camera out.  The leaves have chlorophyll in them, and chlorophyll reflects a LOT of infrared light.  So that's why all the trees and plants that are green end up being bright white.  It is such a beautiful way to see nature in a different way.  I woke up this morning to the sound of chain saws and a giant wood chipper.  After breakfast I decided to take a walk around the neighborhood to see if could find where the clear cutting was taking place.  I didn't find anything but I did have my camera with me and found this scene, which looked magical to me.

My Perfect Lawn!

 

So this is hysterical! It is early Spring and I have mowed the lawn twice and I am thinking to myself, "This year the lawn is going to look pretty good!"  I mean, look at it.  Dark green for the most part and no bare spots and a rich covering of grass.  You may remember last year I did a drone shot of my lawn, and it looked like it had been carpet-bombed by a B-52.  I am aware that the lawn always looks good in early spring and then looks terrible later.  So I decided to launch my drone and photograph the lawn before it looks awful.  So off I went, flew the drone, and took the photograph, below.

The lawn is already a mess!  Man oh man!  I can't win for losing!  Look how bad the lawn is in so many spots.  Last year I did cultivate some parts of the lawn, and they are dark green and pretty full.  Those areas are about 1/4 the way from the right, in the bottom of the photo.  But for the rest of the lawn?  It just plain looks like there is no hope at all!   Sigh...  Look what you can learn with a drone!  Please click on each photo and see the lawn in better detail.

Robin Redbreast

There was a Robin hopping around the yard today, when the sun was out and it didn't seem to be worried about my presence.  So I got out my 400mm lens and photographed it.  It was looking for worms, of course and I wondered how they do that.  I think I believed they had some kind of radar or something.  Well guess what.  I was wrong!  Birds, including Robins, find worms mostly through sight.  Birds have exceptional vision, and their keen eyes can spot the tiny end of a worm as it pokes out of the soil.  They can also see small changes in soil and grass as worms move about just below the surface, movements that indicate where a worm is located.  Also, as worms move about, they disrupt the soil and small particles of dirt rub together, making noises too faint for humans to hear!  THAT is astounding!  So amazing what skills animals have that we find it hard to relate to!

 

Gone Fishing

There are always fisherman down along the harbor, but it was unusual to see a fisherman in waders.  They usually fish from the rocks, as the other fisherman on the right is doing.  In my case, the advantage for me is to have a more interesting composition with one fisherman up and one down.  Interesting how the water, which is flat and the sky are almost interchangeable.

 

Happy Mother's Day!

I was trying to think of what I could photograph for Mother's Day, and I couldn't come up with anything that would be as good as a photo of Amy and Vivian.  So I asked Amy if she would send me a photograph of the two of them.  She is really good with selfies, but she picked a picture taken by her husband Gus and I couldn't beat this one!  What a lovely photograph of a beautiful baby and her beautiful mother!  In a Facetime call, Amy said that She and Gus walked the mile to the beach with Vivian and spent time there this afternoon before heading home.  A nice way to spend the day!  (Photograph by Gus Albero)

 

Virtual Picture on the Wall

 

There used to be a picture hanging here but we removed it to repaint the room.  So it was a great surprise one afternoon when we saw this square of sunlight in the picture's place.  It didn't last more than a few minutes and it was a puzzle at first.  Then we realized it was an image of the kitchen window created by the setting sun, and you can see the blinds, and a hanging sculpture made of colored glass and wire.  Because the sun was shining through the trees, this image only lasted about five minutes,  and then it was gone.

Storm Clouds

I was on my way to the hardware store this afternoon.  When I got down to the harbor I caught a glimpse of these clouds, so I quickly parked my car, grabbed my camera and ran across the street.  I only had my toy camera with me and the lens was not enough of a wide-angle view, so as I did just the other day, I took two photos, one on the left, and one on the right, and then combined them into one photograph.  This is really stunning, isn't it?  Please click on this image and watch it fill your screen!

 

I Love Dandelions!

I love Dandelions, don't you?  They have these brilliant bright yellow blossoms that make a dull green lawn so beautiful!  I look forward to seeing them scattered around the lawn in early spring!  Now the colors have faded, and instead there are these beautiful diaphanous spheres all over the lawn.  They are so delicate and fascinating to look at, especially up close.  I found this huge group of Dandelions in the ten-foot wide strip of lawn that the neighbors up behind us own, and up against our other neighbor's concrete block wall.  So nice to see so many Dandelions all in one place!

 

Cloud Panorama

I went outside today, and when I looked up I saw these beautiful dark gray clouds overhead.  I tried a couple of different views of the sky, but I couldn't get enough of the sky to satisfy myself.  So what I did was to take two photographs - one on the left and one on the right and then using some special software, I combined the two photographs.  This is the result, and doing the combination results in the strange shapes around the edges.  If you click on this, it will open up extra large.

 

Thank You, Joan

When Joan moved out of our family house, to her condominium, she offered up furniture that she couldn't take with her.  Joan offered us these two white Adirondack chairs.  So we put them up on our hill at the back of the side yard.  The two white chairs looked pretty sitting there.  So just for the heck of it, we tried sitting up there to eat lunch, and found it is a wonderful place to sit!  We are in the shade, and can see all the way down the side yard to the street.  We have never, ever thought to sit here before, and now it is our favorite place!  Thank you Joan! 

 

A New Place to Sit

Kathy bought a new piece of furniture to put all her sewing thing in it.  There are three rectangular baskets that you can take out and fill with stuff and then put back in, and there are three small drawers for smaller things.  It goes under the bay window, where a small plant stand was.  This is pretty in its green color and a nice contrast in the room where all the other furniture is dark wood.  So, once it was in place, you know who would have to come sit on it!  It is just the perfect height so that they can keep an eye on the side yard.

 

Reflections at Dusk

I lucked out!  This is Sunday night.  That means, after pasta for dinner we go to McDonalds for vanilla ice cream cones!  On the way home we drove by the water, and the beautiful gray clouds were surrounded by the subtle colors of dusk making for a beautiful scene.  And there was a fisherman!  So where is the sky and the clouds?  Well, I started by including the sky, but then noticed the reflection of the clouds and the sky in the water.  And that's the better shot!

For the curious, This photograph is what I thought I was after, and it is fine, it's just that the other one is better, I think.  You can vote on my choice, if you like. 

 

Mysterious Light

After I had put the gray primer on this part of the room, on one sunny day I noticed this mysterious light on a narrow section of the wall between two windows in the bay window.  Wow!  What an interesting shape that the light makes.  So I grabbed my camera and did a photograph of the light.  Funny that I wasn't curious where this light came from.  I can't believe I didn't try and track it down.  Cut to a week later when the finished color was on the wall and there it was again!  So I photographed it again.  I think it is a better photograph with the light on the red wall.  So THEN I got curious and went over to the window and looked out to see where the reflection was coming from.  Surprisingly it was not from outside!  The narrow window to the right in this photo has a crack in it, and that's what is reflecting the sunlight.