Colorful characters

As I wandered through the village of Mendocino earlier this month I found quite a few sculptures on the grounds outside the Mendocino Art Center, but others can be found randomly around town. One of the most prominent is the former Masonic Temple, built between 1866 and 1872. Its builder, Erik Albertson, topped it off with a sculpture that is […]

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A walk into town

During our recent stay in Mendocino, I actually walked into town twice from our rental house on the east side of Highway 1. Of course there’s loads of amazing ocean views to take in along the Mendocino Headlands; but if you stroll along any of the village streets you’ll soon find all sorts of quirky touches and beautiful historic structures. […]

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Flowers around town

Even as winter hangs on for dear life, there are already tons of flowers blooming everywhere in the village of Mendocino. I didn’t have much time to explore, but I did shoot a few blooms on two separate days. The first day was overcast and rainy; the second day was mostly sunny and bright. I can’t help admiring the local […]

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Below Timber Ridge

I just keep finding more and more photos from our stay at The Sea Ranch in Sonoma County back in September 2022. I thought this would be the final set, but there are still quite a few more images for me to go through. Every one of them brings back great memories, and I hope you enjoy them as much […]

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A walk along the creek

The dirt trail running parallel to Hinkle Creek is roughly a half mile in length, passing through oak woodland inhabited by a variety of wildlife. The murmur of the creek is never far away even though much of its banks are crowded with prickly blackberry bushes. The location is not exactly isolated; visible just up the steep hill to the […]

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Hues of spring

My favorite part of spring-like weather this time of year is the appearance of many types of birds, each sporting unique and colorful plumage. I shot most of these images along the Hinkle Creek Trail; the bluebird, magpie and mallards were seen at Phoenix Park. Above, not a perfect capture, but I like it because this female Lesser Goldfinch seems […]

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Up on the bluffs

Whenever I head over to Phoenix Park in Fair Oaks, I usually try to find time to walk a little farther, through the neighborhood behind the park and over to the bluffs. There I can always find a slightly different view of Lake Natoma than the one I normally see, with a wide vista of Mississippi Bar below me. On […]

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Closer to spring

The arrival of spring is a slow process with a number of stages along the way — especially in a place like the Phoenix Park vernal pools. I wanted to have a look around after the rain cleared just to check in for the first time this year. It will be awhile before the flowers start popping up, but it’s […]

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