The Calm Before the Storm - Mission Bay

Balboa Park Founders

Two of the founders of Balboa Park, Ephraim Morse and Alonzo Horton.

OK, actually statues of two of the founders.  

Moonrise Over a San Diego Freeway

HMS Christmas Surprise

John Williams is the Man!

Our third fabulous concert in as many weeks.  We saw John Williams conduct the San Diego Symphony - they played a number of his famous compositions, from Close Encounters to Harry Potter to Star Wars.  Fabulous show!

Star Wars fans may enjoy this tribute to John Williams.

A Little Christmas Color

According to the Paul Ecke Ranch in Encinitas, California, 80 percent of all flowering poinsettias in the world get their start in the greenhouses on this coastal city just north of San Diego. The Ecke Ranch ships several million vegetative cuttings to growers in over 50 countries, and finishes thousands of potted flowering plants for Christmas, sold to wholesale and retail florist outlets in California, Arizona and Nevada. In fact, the poinsettia is arguably the most popular potted plant in the world today.

A native of Mexico, the poinsettia had been introduced into the United States in the early 1800s by its namesake, Joel Roberts Poinsett. The poinsettia's yearly cycle of blooming during the winter, near the holiday season, gave Paul Ecke the notion that this would make an ideal official holiday flower. Over the years, Ecke's, and later, his son Paul Jr.'s, tireless cultivation and promotion of the flower grew the popularity of the flower into the holiday symbol that it has become today.

Today, the Paul Ecke Ranch cultivates a wide variety of poinsettias that produce a variety of blooms and an array of different colors. Along with the traditional crimson red, poinsettias now come in pink, white, coral, salmon, and a number of different shades of red.

By the way, the beautifully colored petals really aren't flower petals at all, but actually leaf-like bracts. The yellow centers are the actual flowers! In addition, The widespread belief that poinsettias are poisonous is a misconception. Studies conducted by The Ohio State University in cooperation with the Society of American Florists concluded that no toxicity was evident at experimental ingestion levels far exceeding those likely to occur in a home environment. In fact, in 1992, the poinsettia was included on the list of houseplants most helpful in removing pollutants from indoor air. So, not only is the poinsettia a safe and beautiful addition to your holiday decor, it can even help keep your indoor air clean!

Dense Fog Advisory in the Valley

Reverse Ladybug on My Shoulder

Coming Soon to a Chimney Near You!

20 Days to Santa!

Buses and Trucks

Loading post-Trans-Siberian Orchestra Concert.

Whole Lotta Hot

Another harvest of scorpion peppers, ghost peppers and cayenne peppers.  That's a spicy... fishball?

Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Another amazing performance!

Yea! December 1!

When Will Pigs Fly?

Perhaps Wednesday.  Until then, they'll just be milling about.

They are good at it though.

"Helping"

Straight No Chaser

The concert was amazing, the gents gracious and interesting after the show.  Unfortunately, the quality of the photos don't match the quality of the music.

Did Black Friday Flutterby?

Black Friday Activities

Happy Thanksgiving!

Turkey on the grill - traditional So Cal Turkey Day dinner!

A Good Place to Blow Off Some Steam

Something to Say

Autumn Sky

Orfila Afternoon

Beautiful afternoon at the winery!

In Flight

I Think Being a Seagull Would Be Fun

One Week Until Turkey Day

Do Spiders Like Rain?

A Rose By Any Other Name

One of Shakespeare's many famous lines.


Juliet:
O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet.

Romeo:
[Aside] Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?

Juliet:
'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.

Romeo:
I take thee at thy word:
Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized;
Henceforth I never will be Romeo.

Naptime

Veteran's Day - Air Force Academy Drum and Bugle Corps

Today we remember those who have given their lives to protect our freedom.  We honor those who have spent their careers defending our liberty.  And we thank those, like the young men and women here, who have promised to keep our future free.

God bless our veterans, and God bless America.

For A Rainy Day

November Flower

November Theme Day: The Water's Edge

Today is Theme Day for our City Daily Photo community, do visit CityDailyPhoto.org, or go directly to the theme day page and see for yourself.

Sunflower Fit for the Day

Happy Halloween!

Staff at San Diego Daily Photo?

Does Anyone Recognize These Folks?

Jeremy, Richard and James atTop Gear Live - Birmingham!

Back to San Diego Daily Photos tomorrow!

The Moon and...

... surely someone recognizes this building...

Two Birds...

... atop what iconic structure?

From the Parthenon ...

... does this give you a clue as to where San Diego Daily Photo flew off to?

World Record Attempted...

Do you think it was successful?  What do you think it was?

5 Captains, One Stage...

... any idea where we are?

San Diego Daily Photo Hops Across the Pond