Monday Roadrunner Blogging

This fellow was hanging out at the Mesquite Springs Campground in Death Valley, looking for a handout.

Nothing was forthcoming from me, just camera clicks, so he moved on.

Photo: Roadrunner─Death Valley, 2004

Robinson Jeffers: Tor House / Hawk Tower

The house where the poet Robinson Jeffers lived, in Carmel.

"After marrying in 1913, Jeffers moved to Carmel, California, and in 1919 he began building a stone cottage on land overlooking Carmel Bay and facing Point Lobos. Near the cottage, Jeffers built a forty-foot stone tower. Both the structure and the location figure strongly in Jeffers's life and poetry."

Mike, having done some past work using the poetry of Mr. Jeffers, decided to drive by the Jeffers' residence. The property is now owned by a non-profit organization, and tours are offered, but not when Mike was scheduled to be there. Although the quaint Carmel streets can be somewhat confusing, Mike was able to locate the spot without too much trouble.

In Mike's imagination, this would be a wild and desolate location, suitable for Jeffers to compose his poems celebrating the natural beauty of the Big Sur coast. Alas, maybe it was, at one time, but now it's part and parcel of a tidy Carmel neighborhood featuring million dollar homes.

*****

Jeffers' biography, from which the above quote has been taken, can be found at Poets.org.

Tor House Foundation web site.

Mike's Jeffers portfolios published by James Linden: Apology for Bad Dreams and Shine, Perishing Republic.

Photographs: Tor House─Monterey County, 2011; Hawk Tower─Monterey County, 2011

Year of the Rabbit

Happy New Year! (Belated.)

Photo: Rabbit & Tulip─Marin County, 2011

Big Sur

In the purple light, heavy with redwood, the slopes drop seaward,

Headlong convexities of forest, drawn in together to the steep

ravine.

─Robinson Jeffers

"The name 'Big Sur' is derived from the original Spanish-language 'el sur grande', meaning 'the big south', or from 'el país grande del sur', 'the big country of the south'." (Wikipedia)

And away from the highway and the coast, the rivers and trees . . .

Photos: Alders, Big Sur River─Monterey County, 2011; Oaks─Monterey County, 2011

South On Highway One

The enormous light beats up out of the west across the cloud-bars

of the trade-wind. 

─Robinson Jeffers

On the way to Big Sur, starting in Monterey, the coast to one's right.

Photo: Highway One─Monterey County, 2011

Weston Beach

It's a nice little beach, to be sure. Very scenic. Prior post on Edward Weston here.

Photos: Weston Beach Sign─Point Lobos, 2011; Rocks & Surf─Point Lobos, 2011

Point Lobos Pebbles & Rocks

I used the Nikon D90, handheld. Very cool. The pebbles shot is a four-pix merge, so I could make a huge print down the road, if I wanted to.

Probably won't, though.

Photos: Pebbles─Point Lobos, 2011; Rocks─Point Lobos, 2011

Monday Gull Blogging

These nice-looking gulls have been hanging around the local 7-11 recently.

Photo: Gulls─Marin County, 2011

Snow & Hail

There's been a little bit of extreme weather here in Marin recently, including snow on Mt. Tam (San Francisco Theological Seminary in the foreground) and hail (seen bouncing off the backyard fence.)

Photos: Mt. Tamalpais, Snow─Marin County, 2011; Hail─Marin County, 2011

Red Tulips

More on the flower theme. Nikon D90 . . . on a tripod!

Photo: Red Tulips, Yellow Wall─Marin County, 2011

Portraits

Taken with an iPhone.

Somehow, it's very annoying to have to type small-i, capital-P.

Photo: Portraits─Marin County, 2011

Monterey Afternoon #2

It was blustery! The sun made widely spaced appearances, finally diving into the cloud bank off the coast.

Photos: Kniphofia─Monterey County, 2011; Sunset─Monterey County, 2011

Monterey Afternoon #1

Mike arrived in Monterey on a late January afternoon. After checking into his motel on Munras Blvd, he gathered up his minimalistic photo equipment and headed out towards Pacific Grove.

Photos: Iceplant─Monterey County, 2011; Rocks & Bay─Monterey County, 2011

Dumpster Light

There are those who have celebrated water lilies being bathed in the exquisite atmospheric light of Southern France. And there are those who have celebrated Half Dome in the dramatic early morning light of the Sierra Nevada.

But I have chosen the road less traveled by.

Photos: Dumpster AM─Los Angeles, 2011; Dumpster PM─Los Angeles, 2011

Monday Deer Blogging

Near the ocean last month.

Photo: Deer─Point Lobos, 2011

Melrose Avenue #30: Haus

A gourmet cookie truck parked on Melrose.

Mike didn't get any cookies, though he should have.

Their web site is http://www.eatcoolhaus.com/.

Photos: Eatcoolhaus─Los Angeles, 2011; Eatcoolhaus, Self-Portrait─Los Angeles, 2011

White Tulips

Mike has been experimenting with flower pix. This is a hand-held Nikon D90 photo.

Photo: White Tulips─Marin County, 2011

Melrose Avenue #29: Self-Portrait

I rather like that angular look.

Photo: Self-Portrait, Melrose Avenue─Los Angeles, 2011

Olives Marin No. 2

In early February the smaller, riper olives were deemed to have most of the bitterness removed and were placed into a vinegar marinade. We used an old Central Grocery olive salad jar for the job.

They're actually quite good! The difficulty is that the whole brining process, although not particularly hard, is certainly long and drawn-out. The larger olives are still brining after three full months! Yikes! This might call for a different strategy.

Photo: Olives Marinating─Marin County, 2011

Olives Marin No. 1

Thus we continue the olive theme.

Alert readers will recall the earlier December olive post from last year. At that time the olives had just been harvested and put into a salt brining solution. The photo above illustrates the process.

Photo: Olives Brining─Marin County, 2010

Melrose Avenue #28: Olives L.A.

I've been going through some of my older color photos─taken on film─from 1997 through 2004. I really expected to see more Melrose pix. But no.

At least we have these olives.

Photo: Olives─Los Angeles, 1997

Mystery Canal Solved

Alert commenter Muttley has identified the canal in the foreground of the Lamont-Odett shot to be none other than the famed Los Angeles Aqueduct.

Monday Common Goldeneye Blogging

. . . Common Goldeneye duck, that is. "Their breeding ground is the taiga." How cool is that!

Spotted just behind Starbucks where it had come to join the gulls being fed by the homeless guy.

Photo: Common Goldeneye─Marin County, 2011

Landscape with Oaks

Sooner or later I will have a photo that can truly be called "Landscape with Oaks." What a cool title! Until then I'll have to be content with various pix taken here and there. (Nice oak photo seen here.)

Both photos above taken with the Nikon D90. Top photo is a three-photo merge, bottom is a single-shot. Also, obviously different white balance results after running the pix through Photoshop.

Photos: Oak Trees─Calaveras County, 2010; Oak Trees─Monterey County, 2011

Water 99

Right opposite El Cholo on Western Blvd. I fussed with it in Photoshop in order to reveal some of the interior.

Photo: Water 99─Los Angeles, 2011

El Cholo

During my last visit to L.A., Joe and I took a drive down Western to check out El Cholo, a Mexican restaurant that's been around for years. The food, alas, was just so-so, but the interior did have that "old L.A." feel to it. Also interesting: the restaurant was not that far from our 2009 Korean cuisine excursion.

Photos: El Cholo Exterior with Harley─Los Angeles, 2011; El Cholo Interior─Los Angeles, 2011

Melrose Avenue #27: Starbucks

I thought I should post a photo of the Melrose Avenue Starbucks here, since most of my Melrose Avenue photos have been taken in its general vicinity.

Photo: Starbucks─Los Angeles, 2011

Melrose Ave #26, January, 2011

Images found at the corner of Melrose and Ogden as I trudged towards Starbucks.

Photos: Random Message─Los Angeles, 2011; Glory─Los Angeles, 2011

Trees & Snow

I've been trying to use the Canon G12 as a landscape camera, but results have been mixed.

An earlier photo of cows worked OK. This is OK too. As as matter of fact, could go into the "Best of 2010" pix category.

Photo: Trees & Snow─Sierra Nevada, 2010