Today was our grocery shopping day. Since we had some time to spare we took a ride down to San Pedro and around the Palos Verdes Peninsula. We took a lot of pictures – upwards of 250 or so. This one of the Korean Bell, was one of the nicer ones that Verna took.
That’s the name we call our neighborhood gardener – a fellow that mows several lawns in the area. He spreads these with his equipment like Johnny Appleseed spread apple trees in Ohio.
This is a photo of a dandelion that I took at Wilderness Park last week.
You may have noticed the “Verna’s Water Zen” widget in the sidebar. This is the story behind that.
Verna likes the light patterns that water makes when sunlight dances through it. Whether in a swimming pool, in a river, in a marina channel or in a shallow harbor, it doesn’t matter, she likes the shimmering ripples.
Last September (2007), we spent our anniversary, as usual, on Catalina Island. We go to Avalon every year since that’s where we got married. While we were there, we took a lot of pictures and a few movies.
While we were waiting on the Green Pier for our glass-bottom boat tour. I leaned over the rail and captured this short sequence of the rippling water in the harbor. I used my little Canon A710 IS digital camera in AVI mode. I pointed the camera straight down and captured about ten seconds of video. When I showed the preview to Verna, she said it was relaxing like ‘Water Zen.’
So, when we got home, I converted the short video to Flash® and popped it in the sidebar as a remembrance to our time in Avalon and an opportunity to ‘gaze and relax.’
We don’t know how this isolated cove on the west side of Palos Verdes got it’s name, but it seems to be a favorite for scuba diving and snorkelers.
According to Franco’s Divers Maps, the cove has these highlights:
Divers enter Christmas Tree Cove via a steep dirt path at 2800 Paseo Del Mar. The underwater features mini walls and kelp, and usually the best visibility around the PV Peninsula. This is a popular game fish area, although it also features garibaldi, opaleye, treefish, and colorful bluebanded gobi. Invertebrates include: Sponges, anemones, keyhole limpets, Spanish shawls, chestnut cowries, and octopi. Good snorkeling throughout.
You can’t see any of that from the cliffs above, but you can get great views of the cove itself and the birds that inhabit the rocky coastal islets just offshore (you will need binoculars or a telephoto camera lens). Click on the image above for a 1024×768 pixel view.
No, not as in death – as in color dye. Snapped the other day in the supermarket flower shop.
I’m not very familiar with this succulent but I think there is one of these at the South Coast Botanic Gardens. I’ll try and find out. The fist-sized flowers remind me of something that should be in the ocean. It’s very pretty though.
