The Empire Mine State Historic Park in Grass Valley, once the richest gold mining site in California (1850-1956), is also home to some very cool hiking trails. They provide a nice escape from some of the Valley heat, and along the way you may stumble across the remains of a number of smaller mines, some of which, like the Orleans […]
I concluded the California Mission series a couple of weeks ago, but I couldn’t leave the topic of the missions without taking a look at the swallows that arrive at Mission San Juan Capistrano every spring in mid March. These beautiful little birds clearly bring a lot of joy to the people in the area as they gather to celebrate […]
I’m embarassed to admit that I am a very lazy photographer. I’ve accumulated some pretty decent equipment, and over the past two years I’ve had plenty of time to study the basics of photography and to improve my skills. Instead, I mostly wander around and shoot whatever catches my eye — without bothering to get a serious grasp on using […]
A couple of weeks ago Memory Monday visited the Gold Discovery Park at Coloma; this week I have images, shot in 1985, from two other day trip destinations near Sacramento. Sadly, the first one is no longer accessible. Daffodil Hill, located near the small foothill town of Volcano, permanently closed in 2019 after being in operation for more than 80 […]
No, my mom was never constantly on the phone — but I really like this candid shot I took of her with my Polaroid camera in March 1976. It also helps remind me that it’s been WAAAAY too long since we’ve talked (and even longer since we’ve been able to see each other). I guess I know what needs to […]
Midmorning at Lower Lake Clementine Dam, Placer County — May 2021
It’s fairly common knowledge that Fort Ross in Sonoma County was founded by Russians in the 1800s, when they came to the Pacific Northwest to hunt for furs and to trade with the indigenous people. Fort Ross was actually the southernmost limit of their contact. At Gualala Point Park, just south of the town of Gualala, we came across a […]
Lately it seems like everybody in my area is going crazy over the purple lupine at Folsom Lake, so naturally I had to go and find some alternative wildflowers. Besides the Douglas iris which I found near Gualala growing almost as thick as the lupine at Folsom, there were so many other shapes and colors. Some of them were familiar […]
I recently finished reading a book called All the Gallant Men, a fascinating memoir by Donald Stratton, who was serving aboard the USS Arizona at the time of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. He survived the ship’s sinking but suffered serious burns; and while he and his fellow survivors were initially treated in Hawaii, they were later transferred first […]