Close Encounters of the Beluga Kind

Close Encounters of the Beluga Kind, originally uploaded by Digitalexx.

I had an opportunity to pet this whale at Sea World the other day - and it was the coolest, blubberiest thing I've done in quite a while. That big nob-thing on it's head actually jiggles like a bowl-full-of-jello! Too cool.

Sunset

Here is a photo of a sunset taken from my backyard. I'm sad to let you know that I can't keep posting on a regular basis anymore and need to take a hiatus. I hope to be able to start again sometime next year. Thank you all for visiting!

Overworked, underpaid

My brother sent me this photo of a Santa at the mall. Poor guy has a tough job.

A Little Seaside Village

This photo makes me think of Cannery Row or some quaint sea side town. In truth, it's one of the restaurants at Seaport Village. I took this photo between the rain spells we had all day last Saturday. There is a lot going on at Seaport Village this holiday season, you should head down if you haven't been in a while!

Yuma Builiding

I was standing on the upper level of the Horton Plaza parking garage when I took this photo that shows part of the historic Yuma Building on 5th Avenue. The building was built in 1888 and was one of downtown's first brick buildings.

The watering hole

Okay, this will be the last photo of the Leo Carrillo Ranch - hopefully these photos will entice you to visit this great park. I thought this was a nice long view to show the expanse of the property. The visitor guide said that there were once several hundred head of cattle and dozens of horses on the ranch. This set of buildings includes the Cantina, Carriage House, Feed Shed and Tack Shed.

Movies in the barn

There are a few restoration projects underway at Leo Carrillo Ranch. One of the projects is to restore the barn and convert the interior of the building to a movie theater and meeting room space. Pretty cool idea. The above photo is actually of the stables which is next door to the barn.

A room of one's own

I liked this little cottage at the Leo Carrillo Ranch. The house was an artist's studio for Leo's wife Deedie. We weren't able to go inside the cottage to see what was there, but I think I remember reading somewhere that she worked with clay. Maybe the rounded dome to the left was a kiln and the pot on the right was her own work?

Leo Carrillo Ranch Historic Park

The Leo Carrillo Ranch was once a working ranch that was built in the late 1930s by actor Leo Carrillo. The ranch was dedicated and opened as a public park in 2003. This is the view from the pool/La Cabaña looking at (from left to right) the Wash House where Leo lived while the place was being built, a stone BBQ, and the main house.
Before we headed out to the park I worried that it might be just a regular old park, but it was quite special with the preserved buildings, wide open spaces, and the peacocks and peahens roaming around.

We are family

Did you know that peacocks are the largest of the family of birds that include turkeys, chickens, and pheasants? The proper term for the bird is peafowl - the peacock is the male and the female is called a peahen. I just learned this when I recently visited the Leo Carrillo Ranch in Carlsbad where this rare white peacock lives, along with about two dozen other peafowl. I'll show you more photos of the Ranch over the next few days.

Queen Califia's Fall Leaves

Yesterday I visited Queen Califia's Magical Garden, a wonderful sculpture display in Escondido by artist Niki de Saint Phalle. I'd never taken the drive up to see it and was pleasantly surprised. It was a place for everyone, regardless of age, to let their imagination fly.

We settled in, spent a few hours there, having a picnic & letting the kids run around & play. The longer we were there, the more details popped out at us. It was really quite lovely! Strangely, though, I kept being drawn to these leaves on the ground - perhaps its odd to be taken by this monochromatic microcosm within the brightly colored mosaic garden, but I wasn't the only one to comment on the beauty of these leaves. I'll post some of the photos of the actual sculptures at another time - in fact, Felicia has posted about this place a few times and you can check out her lovely photos;

here, here and here.

SWAK

These lips painted on a rock at Lemon Grove Avenue and High Street make me happy. Click here to read the story of how it all started more than 30 years ago.

Skyline

This view of downtown is from Harborview Park in Coronado. It's been more than 5 months since I posted a photo of our skyline - click here to see the last skyline photo I posted that includes more links of more skyline photos. You can never see enough skyline photos, right?

Solid as a rock

Since I first saw the sculpture La Tehuana in Balboa Park's House of Hospitality courtyard, I've tried to get photos of other works by Donal Hord. The above photo is of Mourning Woman, a petite sculpture (a little under 5 feet tall) of carved granite that is located inside the Coronado Public Library. Click here to see my collection of photos of various sculptures by this artist.

Another gazebo

This gazebo is the center of activity (aside from the playground) at Spreckels Park in Coronado. The park hosts Art in the Park on the first & third Sundays of the month, an annual flower show in April, and free concerts in the summer. The little photo to the left is part of a mosaic on the outside walls of the restroom.