You may have heard that oil wells are a Southern California thing, and the discovery of gold happened in the foothills of Northern California. Well, in this episode of California’s Gold we learn that just the opposite is true! The fact is that gold was first discovered on a quiet little rancho just north of Los Angeles; and the location […]
The outside of the California State Capitol building is impressive, but the inside is pretty cool too. I was standing on the second floor beneath the rotunda when I took these pictures.
The Black Phoebe is a dapper flycatcher of the western U.S. with a sooty black body and crisp white belly. They sit in the open on low perches to scan for insects, often keeping up a running series of shrill chirps. Black Phoebes use mud to build cup-shaped nests against walls, overhangs, culverts, and bridges. Look for them near any […]
The theme of Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week is Letter F – Topic is Fun or Flowers. To me flowers are all about fun. But fun is not limited. Have fun with this week’s challenge. Since I just posted a bunch of flower images a couple of days ago, I decided to focus on the fun part of this […]
One great thing about where we live is the proximity to Lake Natoma and its attached ponds. The Big Guy grew up in the area and has been hiking and fishing around Lake Natoma nearly all his life. His most enthusiastic fishing companion for more than ten years was our Doberman-Rottweiler, Buster. All the Big Guy had to do was pick up his fishing rod and Buster was at the front door, whining, impatient to go. The ponds have been formed partially by the remnants left by large gold dredges that operated on the American River at Mississippi Bar from about 1900 until 1962. Most connect to what is now Lake Natoma, allowing bass and other sunfish shelter in which to build their spawning beds and guard their young. Patience pays off: Sometimes instead of fishing from the shore, we’d use a small aluminum boat. Instead of an outboard motor on the back, the Big Guy would attach an electric trolling motor to the bow of the boat. Since there is a 5-mph speed limit on the entire lake, the trolling motor is a great way to get around. Buster was right at home in the boat, mostly because he’d been spending time there since he was a tiny pup. In his younger days he would play for awhile on the shore and then climb into the rear of the boat, curl up on a blanket and go to sleep. But […]
It’s very peaceful near the water’s edge, away from the busy, bustling world. On this cool, grey morning the quiet lap of the waves and a scatter of birds skimming through the misty fog are just enough, and no more.
In January 1986 I was lucky enough to visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. It was an incredibly moving and humbling experience to me even though I had no names to search for. I grew up seeing coverage of the Vietnam War on the TV news every evening, but I was young enough that the conflict never touched […]