Verna and Bob's Weblog

The Memorial at Manzanar

We recently visited the historic site of the Manzanar Interment Camp. We were heading home from Reno through the Owens Valley in the shadow of the Sierra Nevada and stopped to view the history and exhibits in the museum there. We took a self-guided tour of the grounds and stopped to pay our respects at the Memorial for those who died there.

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Image: The Manzanar Memorial – click to enlarge.
From WikiPedia:

Manzanar is most widely known as the site of one of ten camps where over 110,000 Japanese Americans were imprisoned during World War II. Located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada in California’s Owens Valley between the towns of Lone Pine to the south and Independence to the north, it is approximately 230 miles (370 km) northeast of Los Angeles. Manzanar (which means “apple orchard” in Spanish) was identified by the United States National Park Service as the best-preserved of the former camp sites, and was designated the Manzanar National Historic Site.

November 9, 2009 by Culture Photography Vacation

Orange Unique Rose

These are the centerpiece this week – ‘Orange Unique’ roses. The light was hitting this bud at a very nice angle when I snapped tis photo. Click to enlarge.

Orange Unique

According to the label on the package we got at the flower concession:

Orange variety with small size bloom, low petal count, large green foliage and few thorns. opens steadily into a classic rose shape. 5-7 days of vase life.

November 8, 2009 by Home & Garden

Model Train Show

The South Coast Botanic Garden is the setting for the Model Train Show this weekend, November 7-8, 2009. It’s always fun to see the variety of miniature railroad exhibits. The best modular layouts in Southern California are represented in several venues around the garden.

Verna got this shot of a red car model in a great miniature circa WWII setting. Click on the image to enlarge.

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November 7, 2009 by Culture Home & Garden Leisure

Garden Cleanup

I planted an umbrella tree in one corner of the yard a few years ago to provide a barrier between our yard and the neighbors. It does the job quite nicely, but, as you can see in the “before” panel above, it’ got a little out of control. Exacerbating the control problem, a group of several California palms popped up behind the umbrella, next to the wall in back. Many people consider this variety of palm a weed – in this case, it’s true.

For the “before” picture, Verna posed me next to the garden project just as I began to whack away with the branch cutter and chain saw. Two green bins worth of tree parts later, she snapped the “after” picture. It was more work than it appears. The palms were a bitch to clean up, all intertwined and always with the little razor sharp spikes catching on stuff (luckily, I escaped any of them snagging a chunk outta me). Eventually, I will remove the palms completely, before they start moving the block walls.

Remember that little squirrel that kept popping up in people’s pictures on the web? Somehow, that little guy managed to get in the “after” picture. Maybe he was hiding there before – you just couldn’t see him through the thicket.

November 6, 2009 by California Home & Garden

Railroad Crossing

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Verna took this picture of a train crossing not too far from our house. My grandfather was a motorman on the Pacific Electric Railway – I can remember being around trains from a very early age and I still have an affinity for them. While Verna was taking still pictures, I made a video of the train crossing and posted a story on the other blog that you can see by clicking here.

November 5, 2009 by Nostalgia Photography

Waiting

When I’m in the family room and Bob is upstairs, Bear will station herself where she can keep an eye on me and watch the staircase – usually about halfway between me and the stairs. I shot this photo of her listening for Bob’s return to the family room.

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Click the image to enlarge.

November 4, 2009 by Critters Family

Avalon 1998

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