Vasquez Rocks - Thursday 5/4/2006

I stopped on the way home last night and hiked around Vasquez Rocks for about an hour. This park is only about 15 minutes from my house, and I drive right by it every day.

It was overcast and cool yesterday. Really nice hiking weather. I explored for an hour, climbing up high, following trails marked only by the wildflowers that have filled in during the spring rains, cutting between boulders to get back to the parking lot. It's easy to get your bearings because all the rocks point in the same direction. There was some crazy earthquake action here back in the day.

Hiking like this, where there are lots of little side trails and places to go right over the rocks, is good for your mind as well as your body. The time really flew because there was always some new perspective to enjoy.

D and I are planning to go back Saturday morning. He has to see how the green and the flowers. The last time we hiked there it was about 107 degrees and we were pretty beat by the time we finished.

Innocent erosion or weird scary monster footprint? You decide.

Oh, and yes. This is where Kirk fought the Gorm, for all you old school Trekkies out there. (Screen capture is from the Internet, of course!)

I love my MP3 player 5/3/2006

One of the coolest production gifts I’ve ever received. I’m already in love with my new toy!

I downloaded Bookworm and The Business podcasts from KCRW and listened to interviews with Kurt Vonnegut, Octavia Butler, and Ron Howard on my commmute.

And then! I was able to use the voice recorder function to make note of a thought I had about the book.

As I got out of my car in the morning, ready for a long day of work and then writing group dinner, I noted that I was packing an MP3 player, a cell phone, my laptop computer and my digital camera.

Did I mention that I like tech toys!?

Lady Banks' Roses - Tuesday 5/2/2006

Some of you may have had your fill of flower pix, but I have to explain. I never cared that much about them either until I bought a house with some flowers in the yard. They just pop up! At some point, boom there they are!

There are about a dozen mini roses in each of these little clumps.

This last shot is to give an idea of the scope of the plant. There are also a lot of shorter branches off to the left that haven't bloomed yet. They get more shade, I guess.

May Gray - Tuesday 5/2/2006

Never heard this term before, but it sure applied today. This morning it was fairly clear where I live, but then I dropped down into the fog.

Jeez, look at that skid mark. What do you suppose that jerk was doing?

Um. Taking photographs?

Through the intersection that collapsed during the 1994 Northridge Quake. Spoooky!

Who Picked Your Fruit? - Monday 5/1/2006

A real live person. Possibly an illegal immigrant. A human being who deserves to be treated decently on the job, which means simple things like being provided with water to drink, a place to take a break out of the sun, a reasonable workday length and toilet facilities.

It seems like documenting immigrant farm workers would make them less vulnerable to unscrupulous employers. We should be watching the employers and demanding that they treat workers in the way any of us would want our kids to be treated if they were hired.

The situation is what it is because we’ve allowed it to continue. I think it’s a good thing that we’re talking about finding solutions.

I have to say, though, that my Day Without an Immigrant involved significantly less traffic. An unitentional side effect.

Another Gorgeous Day - Sunday 4/30/2006

Flowers in the back yard, against a backdrop of a piece of wood we used to use as a parrot perch, but have given over to the wild birdies.

The Enemy at the Gates - Saturday 4/29/2006

I spent a good hour pulling foxtail grass weeds from the slope outside our front door, and felt like I’d done a pretty darned good job.

Then I turned around and looked at the hillside. Oh man, there’s a whole army of foxtails just waiting to invade!

(That’s them in the foreground!)