Symbol of Southern California?

Felicia pointed out a few days ago that it is hard to get a landscape shot in San Diego without a palm tree in it - and she was right!

And now a little plam tree trivia - although the palm tree has come to be symbolic of Southern California, the only truly native palm is the California or Washington palm (Washingtonia filifera). All other varieties were originally imported. Southern California saw a huge surge in palm plantings during the 1920s and 1930s, many of which still line Southern California streets today.

After the sunset...

... comes the moonrise!

Sunset...

... and the silhouette of palm trees....

Point Loma Sunrise

Point Loma sparkles in the rising sun.

Sunrise Downtown

I've always enjoyed San Diego harbor ("The Big Bay") in the morning. The water is calm and everything is quiet and fresh.

Cruise Ship Dock

This is a shot of the folks who work the cruise ship docks. I took this last May when we docked from our (amazing!) Panama Canal Transit cruise. We're looking forward to seeing this sight again next spring as we just booked our next cruise!

Golden sunshine on waves

Hard to go wrong with sun and beach...

Moon in Black and White

Dry dry dry

So I know this is a black and white shot, but honestly, it is so dry, that the landscape is monochromatic anyway. We have not had appreciable rain in a very long time. Someone remind me that I said "I miss the rain" sometime next February when I am whining about how wet and grey it is! ;-)

Another view of the pink sky

Can you tell I liked the colors of the sunset on this day?

Surfing and Sailing at Twilight

Two of San Diego's very popular pastimes.. surfing and sailing.

Sunset

I love this time of day... colors are so incredible...

Walking in the Pink Sunset

Is there anything better than watching the sunset over the ocean? (Actually, it was better a few minutes later when my husband was beside me instead of behind the camera!)

Honeybird

This hummingbird is feeding from our alovera plant in our backyard. The Boy (6 years old) used to call them "honeybirds" - and the name stuck. Here are a couple of other shots...

Birch Aquarium - Computer Chip Fish?

I loved the colors of this guy - his lines remind me of a circuit board or computer chip!

Birch Aquarium - Camouflage Fish

This is another fish in "The Art of Deception" exhibit. Many fish protect themselves with a head that looks like a tail, or vice versa.

Birch Aquarium - Jellyfish

This is a jellyfish, part of a really interesting collection housed at the Birch Aquarium.

Fire Marshall

Here's a photo of the fire marshall surveying the area near the fire near our house. I needed this photo for the July Theme Day - Red!

Fire!

Yesterday there was a fire on the mountain behind our house. The fire burned about 60 acres - no structures were damaged. This is a photo of one of the helicopters dropping water at the top of the hill.

August Theme Day - Breakfast

When you have 5 cats, this is a very common breakfast-time sight!

See what others have for breakfast!


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