Water Again - Friday 1/5/2007

My water glass at Bob's Big Boy. Again, with the water. I don't know what that's about.

Except it's one of those common things that is actually kind of pretty if you really look at it.

And it's sort of comforting to be back at Bob's, where they know my regular order--hot tea, oatmeal and a big glass of water--and I am now one of the regulars. One old guy (since he's over 80 I don't think I need to beat around the bush) stops and chats with me a little bit every morning. I nod and smile, say hello, to others.

And I write. Rewriting is sooooo much slower than NaNoWriMo writing, but I am discovering cool stuff about my characters and figuring out what you will need to know about them at the beginning, and what they know about themselves, and what they have to learn.

"How's the book coming?" the twenty-something hostess asks me.

"Doing okay," I say. It takes a long time, but I'm up for it.

Weather Moving In - Thursday 1/4/2007

Rain being blown across the Angeles National Forest, on the far side of Acton.

Love the way the light slips through a mountian notch somewhere out of sight to the east at this time of year and throws an unexpected glow every so often.

Fuzzy Skulls - Wednesday 1/3/2007

It is probably appropriate that my first back-to-work photo is fuzzy. This is my little travel mug, which I filled with water for my first commute of 2007. I really find cold water the most refreshing beverage first thing in the morning.

If an archaologist found this in the cupholder of a car 1500 years from now, she would probably assume that I carried this as a talisman against death.

Who knows? Maybe I do.

Back to the Rocks - Tuesday 1/2/2007

We took B&J to the Devil's Punchbowl for another hike. Down to the creek at the bottom. This rock has been carved by water even though the creek is dry about half the year.



Sun on underwater leaves.

The ranger told us all kinds of cool things about the geology of the Punchbowl area. Stuff I've heard and forgotten and new stuff too.

He also pointed out that we could see both Mount Whitney in the Eastern Sierras and Telescope Peak in the Panamint Mountains on the east side of Death Valley from the parking lot. Amazing. That's more than 100 miles.

Made me want to start driving for the desert right then and there.

Rose Parade : Part 2 - Monday 1/1/2007

Light in leaves on the side street in Pasadena where B&J parked their car. A resident assured us that we could leave it there while we went to view the floats. What a pleasant town.



I got a kick out of seeing this on the sidewalk. Yeah, I get a kick out of odd things sometimes. But you see this used in various motifs in the Craftsman architecture and decor that is so prominent in Pasadena. Like, in ceramic tile patterns or as newel posts.


I like this one because it has easily recognizable components. Limes, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, beans, etc. This is from the viewing area at Pasadena High School.


Up close and personal with a Native American headdress.


The sky was so gorgeous that day!

Rose Parade: Part 1 - Monday 1/1/2007

We went to the Rose Parade! It took our friends, B&J coming from Indiana to get us to go. They treated us to bleacher seats, a program, and tickets to the viewing afterward. We drove to Union Station and took the Gold Line from there. Very smooth.

B pointed out that Mother Nature was a little scary. Guess all those hurricanes, etc., have put us off her a bit!



This one's for Ween! See? I told you I thought of you and Blue!


My personal favorite. A Dino Rock band. This guy's hair moved in the coolest way as the float moved down the street. All the dinos on this one were great.



The dog of Hydra's youth was a bulldog. I thought the cat's expression was pretty terrific on this one.

Yes, that was the party that was. Out with the old year, in with the new!


B told us that when they arrived just before dawn, there were still fires going... Logs burning right on the street! But everything went very calmly and people were 99.9 % thoughtful and friendly.

Antici.... Sunday, 12/31/2006

...pation!

A fuzzy photo of my new calendar book. Oh, the places it will go!

We were busy cleaning and cooking most of the day. T&M came for our traditional New Year's Eve dinner. Nice to be with people who don't feel compelled to stay up till midnight.

Well, it was midnight in Texas anyway, when we turned in. And it was a very nice evening, though we were to miss our usual breakfast together because we were taking off early for the Rose Parade!

Hike Coup - Saturday 12/30/2006

Actually, no, we didn't take over the park. And there will be no elegant little poem. I just, well, thought it was cute at the time. Here's Hydra up on a big rock looking across the Antelope Valley from the Devil's Punchbowl county park. If you click to enlarge the photo, you can see that some sort of bird of prey is also in the shot. Didn't know that when I took it!




We'd gone off the regular trail and saw this, which I think looks like a bird's eye and beak. Hydra thought he saw bear tracks, which is entirely possible, so we went back to the more traveled part of the park.

The moon was almost full. Love the layers of rock. We try to come here around New Years every year. Last year there was snow!


A nest on the other side of the punchbowl. Zoom!