Squall Line

I am not done with my "leftovers" from California, but I made this photograph late this afternoon, and just had to post it, because it is so beautiful.  I was working outside, and knew from checking the radar online, that a squall line was headed our way this afternoon. Suddenly the sky got really dark, so I jumped in the car and drove down to the beach.  I grabbed an umbrella because it was starting to rain and the wind was howling, and managed to get this shot before the squall hit.  I am stunned by the beauty of the dark clouds, and all the delicate shadings in the clouds.

Backyard Snake

This is one of the wonderful exhibits at the San Diego Zoo.  It is the skeleton of a Python in a display case.  It is hard to figure the length, but I think it is between 6 feet to 8 feet long.  And displayed backlit like this shows how beautiful its structure is.  Of course, this is not really a "backyard snake."  At least not in any back yard in Sea Cliff.

They Are Not There For The Seagull

This is another photograph from La Jolla.  I am standing on some of the rocks that are covered with bird waste.  There were two groups of kayakers paddling around below the cliffs, and it took me a while to realize what they were looking at.  There are caves underneath the cliff, and rocks below at water level, and on those rocks and in the caves are Sea Lions and Harbor Seals.  The Kayaks were able to move in and get great views of the animals.  Wish we could have done the kayak trip, that would have been really cool.

Flamingo Parts

This group of flamingos is at the entrance to the San Diego Zoo - the first animals you see after entering.  There have been a group of flamingos at the entrance since the museum opened almost a hundred years ago.  I spent a fair amount of time photographing them because their shapes are so interesting.  I love this shot because the three necks in the foreground are almost mirror images of each other.  I was curious why the flamingos stay there, and I asked one of the park people if they stayed because they are social and want to remain in the group, or because their wings were clipped.  The answer is that some of the primary feathers are clipped.  They're not taking any chances.

Guano

The cliffs at La Jolla are really picturesque, and they are the home of a number of different sea birds. There are pellicans and I believe these are cormorants.  There are hundreds of them, everywhere.  There is only one problem - they defecate all over the rocks that they live on.  This is an environmental disaster.  The smell around the cliffs is awful, if you happen to be downwind.  There were notices that there is an environmental clean up program in progress.  But it can't be easy because they can't just wash the waste into the ocean - they have to remove it from the cliffs without polluting the water.  Wow, what a mess.

The Ghost

So this is the skeleton that I spoke about in yesterday's post, sitting on Amy & Gus' couch  It really is wonderful, with its wispy cloth body.  It just seems so creative, and the head does light up sometimes.  I am serious, I wanted to bring one of these things home, but it would have to be carry-on and I can't imagine that it would make it successfully through airport security, given that there are some electronics in its head.  So now I don't know what we will hang on our porch for Halloween.

Halloween Shopping

You have to love Hollywood!  We were shopping in the Rite Aid, and noticed that there were Halloween decorations already on the shelves.  So we started looking around and found some really cool stuff.  We bought two skeleton head ghosts with long gray wispy robes, one each for Liz and Amy.  And then Amy found this, and of course could not resist trying it on.  And since all Spencers are actors, she couldn't possibly put this on and keep a straight face, and so we have this wonderful photograph!