Disappearing High Tension Lines

Not far from where I work, there is a golf course and a tennis club. In the bad old days, these both were just a cleared out area where the power lines and their unsightly towers ran through on their way from the electric power plants in El Segundo and Playa del Rey on the way to distribution points east.

Planners decided at some point that the wires were not a desirable feature and found a way to run these high wires underground. I took this panorama from the east end of the subterranean power line run to the west end where the towers resume. You can see the lines disappearing as they plunge into the ground at the near end. The golf course is directly behind the tree line along the street running from left to right. I circled the west tower where the lines come back up about a half mile in the distance on the far right end.

power line

I sometimes walk down to this end of the run from the building where I work, which is at the far end of the run in this picture. About a mile round trip and a good after lunch walk.

Bend in the River

We’re still digging through the vacation pictures and I found this shot of a bend in the Colorado River – at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. I used my Canon A710-IS camera with maximum optical zoom of 3x. You can see sandy beaches along the riverbank beside the muddy river where the ancient peoples of this region spent the winters to escape the cold temperatures at the rim. Click image to enlarge.

river bend

A Very Nice Northern Arizona Day

We’re still rummaging through our vacation photos from last month. This one shows what a perfect day at Canyon de Chelly looks like. Verna thinks so too. Click the image to enlarge.

Verna at Canyon de Chelly

Topsy Turvy

Topsy Turvy is the nickname of the eschevaria that produced these delicate little flowers. Looking at the appearance of the leaves on this plant gives you some notion as to why it has that nickname. Click to enlarge.

topsy-turvy.jpg

Half of the Fun

. . . when you’re on vacation, is trying to figure out what to photograph next.

what next

Verna contemplating her next shot at Bryce Canyon. Click for bigger.

Bromeliad

Our Bromeliad is currently blooming on the front porch. It gets even more interesting than this when all of the pinks and blues come out as the bloom matures over the next few weeks. Click on the image for a larger view.

bromeliad

[Note from Bob: Get out your 3D anaglyph glasses and see a stereo photo of one of these I took a couple of years ago.]