Pelican Cove, just past the point with the lighthouse

Pelican Cove, just past the point with the lighthouse. Unlike other parts of the preserve, there’s a trail here that lets you hike down to the (rocky) beach. Of course then you have to hike back up again.

I don’t know what kind of rock this is or why it looks like layers of thin pastry (or maybe a sponge), but it certainly looked interesting!

#cove #ocean #nature #california #rocks #photo #gloomy

Jagged rocks out in the smooth ocean, not far from a rocky cliff, on a gloomy day.

A cove on a gloomy day with rocky shore, high bluffs, and a few rocks out in the sea.

A large rock at the top of a cliff, looking down to the ocean, that looks like a stack of really thin layers that have been scrunched and folded and eroded differently.

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Picked out the best shots of the Point Vicente bluffs.

Picked out the best shots of the #PointVicente bluffs. I got there mid-afternoon & took some photos of the #cove with the historic #lighthouse (and could actually see Catalina Island in the distance!)

Then I walked along the blufftop path along the nature reserve for a while, before turning back to reach the lighthouse area by sunset.

#photo #ocean #california #PalosVerdes #coast

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On the way to and from Point Vicente, I stopped at Bluff Cove

On the way to and from Point Vicente, I stopped at Bluff Cove (also on the Palos Verdes peninsula). I was surprised to find that I could plainly see the skyscrapers of downtown Los Angeles in the distance. I guess I’d never been there on a clear enough day before.

There were more people than I expected, but everyone was maintaining distance and most of them were masked up.

Really wish I’d had a tripod for the evening shot, though

#photo #coast #California #LosAngeles #cove #ocean #PalosVerdes

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Thinking back to the last “normal” weekend in southern California

Thinking back to the last “normal” weekend in southern California before it became clear that covid-19 was spreading locally & closures started.

After a busy Saturday & Sunday morning, I went out for a calming photo walk at the beach.

Not many people were there. I’m not sure if it was just not warm enough yet, or people were starting to keep their distance already, or if they were just all at the other end where there was a kite festival.

#photo #beach #SocialDistancing #california

kelsonv: Thinking back to the

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One of at least three sea otters I saw during a few minutes…

One of at least three sea otters I saw during a few minutes walking along the shoreline of Monterey Bay near Old Fisherman's Wharf last weekend. #animals #nature #otters #ocean #Monterey #California

One of at least three sea otters I saw during a few minutes walking along the shoreline of Monterey Bay near Old Fisherman’s Wharf last weekend.

#animals #nature #otters #ocean #Monterey #California

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A flock of birds over sailboats on Monterey Bay. It was raining for most of …

A flock of birds over sailboats on Monterey Bay. It was raining for most of the road trip, but Friday had some nice sunny weather in between storms, and I got to walk along the shore for a bit.

#MontereyBay #California #Birds #Sailboats #ocean #photo

A flock of birds over sailboats on Monterey Bay. It was raining for most of ...

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Plane Hopping

Line of rabbits along the ground, silhouetted against some old-looking airplanes and trees in the distance.

When wild jackrabbits roamed the fields of LAX. (Los Angeles Times)

From time to time passengers in giant air liners are amused when giant jacks race the plane on take-off. Until now, none of the rabbits has left the ground.

Apparently they were eventually wiped out by foxes, who have since disappeared as well. (Also, most – but not all – of the area has been paved.)

It reminds me of all the rabbits we used to see near UCI in the 90s, especially out in the housing complexes on the edge. A lot of that open space has been filled in since then. I wonder if they still have much in the way of rabbits. # According to Nentuaby on Mastodon, “Campus was still plastered in ’em at least as late as 2010.”

Back to the LA Times:

The jackrabbit photo by Art Rogers was published as a double-page spread in the Dec. 2, 1946, edition of Life magazine.

Wait, *is* that a trail?

Steep dirt path up a hillside

Wait, *is* that a trail? There are a lot of branching trails in #HahnPark, and I took one that was steeper than the others because I wanted to make sure I had as much time as possible on top of the ridge before sunset. But after a while I started to wonder. By the time I got here, footing was tricky, and there was one point where I needed to use a hand to brace myself.

It wasn't a problem going uphill in daylight, but when I came back down after sunset, I made sure to take the shallower switchback trails instead!

#hiking #trail #steep #nature #hillside #California #LosAngeles

Point Vicente: Rock Wren, Lighthouse and Sailboat

At #PointVicente, California: A wren(?) on the side of the cliffs, the iconic view of the cove and the historic #lighthouse, and a #sailboat alone on the sea.

#photo #california #coast

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iNat has suggested the bird is a rock wren.

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Morrell House

The Morrell House, originally built around 1906, now restored in association with the Redondo Beach Historical Museum.

One of these days I’m actually going to go there when it’s open, instead of stopping on the way somewhere else.

I did decide that the hidden light and the old house might have some #spooky potential, and ran it through some effects filters. Not sure if I succeeded.

#photo #house #historic #California

Morrell House

Morrell House

Apparently their neighbors reported them for renting it out as Airbnb or similar (which the …

Apparently their neighbors reported them for renting it out as Airbnb or similar (which the city doesn’t allow). Then they painted the house bright pink with giant 😜 and 🤐 emoji on it. Now the neighbors are complaining about the mural, but the city says it’s on private property 🤷‍♂️

Honestly I’m surprised – it sounds like the kind of area that would mandate specific shades of beige paint.

(LA Times, paywall)

‘Emoji house’ feud erupts as frustrated residents urge Manhattan Beach to take action.
Bright pink house with screwball emoji on it.

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#EmojiHouse #weird #LosAngeles #California


(conversation includes link to The Guardian article) It made international headlines?

@OldBrushNewPaper It made international headlines?

Oh, of course it did. It’s a weird story with emoji. 🤦‍♂️ 😂

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@OldBrushNewPaper It’s not really the kind of area where people would respond with better murals, though. I could see that happening in neighboring Hermosa Beach, but Manhattan Beach is…how should I say this…stuffier?

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Wow, I should have gone looking for the Easy Reader to begin with. (It’s one of the two local papers in the area.) The owner comes off a *lot* worse with the additional background of how she allegedly treated the last long-term tenants.

More detailed article on the Emoji house from a more local paper.
The Emoji House war: A neighborhood feud erupts in El Porto

Susan Wieland had been away for a work conference since the end of May, but neighbors sent her the photo. Even so, upon returning to her home in the El Porto neighborhood of Manhattan Beach on the night of June 8, she wept when she actually saw her neighbor’s house. The house, a two-level…

– Easy Reader News

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I don’t think there’s *quite* enough detail on the seagull here to identify the species!

I found this while looking for old pictures to submit to iNaturalist. I don’t think there’s *quite* enough detail on the seagull here to identify the species!

The ship, incidentally, is the Queen Mary, launched in the 1930s as a transatlantic liner. It’s been permanently docked in Long Beach, California for several decades and is now run as a hotel.

#FotoFails #Seagull #ship #QueenMary #California

Queen Mary (ship) and Blurry Seagull.

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Follow-up regarding the dome

A history of maps showing California as an island…

A #history of #maps showing #california as an island…which apparently persisted long beyond the point that expeditions had confirmed it was part of the mainland.

California, an island? Meet cartography’s most persistent mistake

The Glen McLaughlin Collection brings together more than 700 historical examples of ‘California as an island’.

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And now I’m thinking of the idea of “soft places” in Sandman, where geography remains fluid until an area is thoroughly mapped.

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Fly away!

Fly away! This crane was standing on the road around, swaying back and forth and looking upward like it was dancing or something, until it finally decided to fly off

Photo taken at: Madrona Marsh Preserve and Nature Center

Fly away! This crane egret was standing on the road around #MadronaMarsh, swaying back and forth and looking upward like it was dancing or something, until it finally decided to fly off.

#EarthDay #birds #nature #wings #california #marsh

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Snow in the mountains above Los Angeles, after last week’s rainstorm.

Snow in the mountains above Los Angeles, after last week’s rainstorm.

Snow in the mountains above Los Angeles, after last week’s rainstorm.

Most winters there’s at least one snowfall in the mountains by December. Last winter, the first one didn’t hit until March. Here’s hoping we’ll see more water, both liquid and solid, this coming year!

#LosAngeles #winter #mountains #california

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A few scenic shots taken around the Long Beach Convention Center during Long Beach Comic Con…

A few scenic shots taken around the Long Beach Convention Center during Long Beach Comic Con over the past weekend.

The first is a new walkway that connects the main entrance to the convention center with a theater around the far side.

The second is a building lit up by the sunset reflecting off a building behind me.

The third is a mural on the side of the convention center *under* the theater.

#photography #LongBeach #California #City #LBCC2018

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This is a park at the top of a hill rising up from the Pacific …

This is a park at the top of a hill rising up from the Pacific Ocean. Today there were a zillion crows riding the air currents and occasionally alighting on the fence that separates the park from the steep drop-off.

I liked the idea that the crow might be bristling at the prohibition. But I miss the old signs they used to have on the fence. They had a bit more personality.

#photography #california


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