Two of my very favorite books growing up, and even to this day, have been Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alice was always shrinking and growing and being forced to examine her world in completely new ways. I liked to play at being Alice: peering toward the edges of mirrors and pretending that backward […]
The Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge for the week of January 29, 2016
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week is Pink or Magenta Flowers: Neighborhood roses Homegrown camellias
The Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge for the week of January 22, 2016
For Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week, three wildflowers and a cultivated garden beauty. Wild iris Geraniums (thanks to Mom, when Google failed me!) Purple wildflowers. These are everywhere in the spring; but Google as I might, I couldn’t come up with a proper name. Everybody seems to just call them California wildflowers… Sweet peas (thank you, […]
The Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge for the week of January 15, 2016 Seen at Folsom Pioneer Village, January 2016
Garden flowers: It took me a fair bit of Googling but I believe these are Canna Lilies. Although the flowers look a bit droopy, their bright orange hue caught my eye as I was walking through my neighborhood, and I had to go back for a photo. The colors here a more subtle but still glorious. I’m lucky to have neighbors who enjoy tending to roses, and just walking past the colorful blooms brightens my day. Wildflowers: Indian paintbrush along the base of the cliffs at Negro Bar State Park. I had to try several times before finally getting some good shots of these flowers; they lie at the base of a cliff that gets heavy sunlight most of the day, and that tends to make accurate photo coloring tough. If it’s not too sunny, it’s usually too breezy — these beautiful buds do a lot of swaying in the wind!
Hollyhock flower seen in my neighborhood. These flowers originated in Asia and Europe and are now widely popular with gardeners. Kyoto, Japan, holds an annual Hollyhock Festival every May. For white flowers, I need look no farther than the camellias in my driveway. We have two plants; one produces white petals and the other produces pink/red flowers. Now is the […]
I took these photos in September and December 2015. I was delighted to get close enough for decent shots with my point-and-shoot camera; but at the time I could only identify my subjects as seals (or possibly sea lions?) and birds that looked like gulls and “sandpipers.” I’m pleased to say I finally took the time to sit down at the computer and educate myself about these California coastal critters. “Pacific Harbor Seals are found north of the equator in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In the northeast Pacific, they range from Alaska to Baja California, Mexico. They favor near-shore coastal waters and are often seen on rocky islands, sandy beaches, mudflats, bays, and estuaries… “Pacific harbor seals spend about half their time on land and half in water. They can dive to 1,500 feet (457 m) for up to 40 minutes, although their average dive lasts three to seven minutes and is typically shallow, and they sometimes sleep in the water. They are opportunistic feeders, eating sole, flounder, sculpin, hake, cod, herring, octopus, and squid. While harbor seals swim safely in the surf, they will often curiously watch humans walking on beaches. However, they are wary of people while on land and will rush into the water if approached too closely or disturbed. In fact, if disturbed too often, they have been known to abandon favorite haul-out sites or their pups.” Quoted from The Marine Mammal Center web […]