Verna and Bob's Weblog

Bob

Verna’s Water Zen

Gaze and Relax

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.’

January 23, 2008 by Photography Vacation

Wilderness Park

wilderness parkNestled in a few acres and not generally visible unless you’re in it, lies Redondo Beach’s Wilderness Park. A repose from the bustling city suburbs just a few yards away, this peaceful and idyllic park is the calm within the storm.

Within the park, you can feel isolated, yet walking up the path to the park’s east boundary, you can get panoramic views of the south bay skyline. There is a pond there too – today there were several ducks by the pond and one timid snowy egret that swooshed up to the top of a sycamore tree when we showed up. A screech owl flew out of it’s roost loudly vocalizing as it went along.

Hopkins Wilderness Park was developed in 1977 as a center for camping, nature study and conservation. The 11-acre site includes a Visitor Center used for nature-related classes and meetings; four ecological habitats: forest, meadows, streams, and ponds; amphitheater with firepit (150 capacity); three overnight campgrounds: Gumwood Camp, Pine Camp, and Sycamore Camp (30 person capacity each); Day Camp picnic site (30 person capacity); and public restrooms and support facilities.

No entrance fee is required for individuals or families who wish to visit the park.

The pond is shown below. As usual, you can click on most of our thumbnail pictures to see a larger view.

pond

January 19, 2008 by Culture Photography

Old Downtown Torrance

From the on-line book description of “Old Torrance Olmsted Districts:”

craftsmanThe City of Torrance anchors Los Angeles County’s South Bay area and is known widely as a ‘headquarters city’ for corporate giants Exxon Mobil, Nissan, Honda, and others. Yet the city’s unique history often gets glossed over.

‘Downtown Torrance,’ also known as ‘Old Torrance’ and the ‘Olmsted Districts,’ was laid out in 1912 by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., the influential urban-designer son of the ‘Father of Landscape Architecture,’ F. L. Olmsted Sr.

The town founder and patriarch, Jared Sidney Torrance, gave Olmsted Jr. the imperative to create a unique industrial city. The results are in the streets, buildings, and parks between Western Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard, north of today’s Plaza Del Amo and south of Dominguez Way. Some structures in this district were designed by renowned architect Irving Gill, including the Southern Pacific Railroad Bridge and the Pacific Electric Railway depot.

Image above: Verna took this photo of a beautiful Craftsman Home in the Olmstead district. This is one of the many beautiful homes in the district. Click on the image to enlarge.

January 18, 2008 by Culture Photography

More Grand Canyon

I still have the wanderlust bug today. I’ll put up this photo of Verna enjoying a very nice view of the canyon last summer. Click for the nice 1024×768 resolution.

Verna at the Rim

January 17, 2008 by Photography Vacation

Grand Canyon Rain

Canyon WestOne day last summer, we were visiting the Grand Canyon. The weather was intermittent rain, but the views were spectacular. This view of the canyon is looking west from South Rim Drive between Grand Canyon Village and Desert View. Click on the image for the larger view.

Earlier in the day, we were in Sedona and drove up to the canyon through Flagstaff, where we got gas and did some shopping for sundries and ammunition at WAL*MART. The store in North Torrance has no ammo concession in their sporting goods section. We got several boxes of 100 Winchester 9mm rounds at a very reasonable price.

step back a bitWe stopped at several of the roadside vistas at the canyon, including Desert View, where the Watchtower is located. I stood next to the canyon to pose as Verna took this picture of me. It only looks like I’m on the edge of the cliff, but there was actually another ledge just below the rim. I have terrible vertigo and don’t normally like to stand next to a sheer cliff. Click image to enlarge.

Later that day we drove out of the National Park to Cameron, where we spent that night before heading out to the four corners area the next day.

Ahhhh . . . the wanderlust. Sitting here at my desk, it’s all I can do to get myself back to work. Oh well, I’ve only got 1 year, 6 months, 14 Days and 3 Hours or so to go – but who’s counting?

January 16, 2008 by Photography Vacation

Point and Click

Please don’t associate this terminology with computers – unless the *&^$@ computer dies and just might make a better target than a tool.

point and click

January 14, 2008 by Firearms Photography

Avalon 1998

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