I took this interesting photo while visiting Point Vicente. I liked the way that the foreground frames the lighthouse – sort of like a window.
California
Sparkling Jasmine
After some rainfall the other day, I captured this nice image of water droplets still clinging to these jasmine buds. In a week or so, there will be thousands of little white pinwheel jasmine flowers.
Flowers and Showers
A light overnight rain left sparkling drops on the flowers in the garden. I was out early with my camera to get some pictures. I think that this photo of these daffodils is one of the better ones I took today.
An Exceptionally Clear Day
Monday, we had some errands to run, but took the time to drive to Point Vicente via Del Cerro Park on the Palos Verdes peninsula. The scenic views from both places on this exceptional day were breathtaking! After enjoying nearly unlimited visibility and vistas of Santa Catalina and Santa Barbara Islands from the park, we stopped on Crest Road and looked out over the city. We could see the Hollywood Hills and the San Gabriel Mountains across the L.A. Basin. I took this image looking directly north from Crest Road.
Next, we drove to the Point Vicente Interpretive Center. From the west pathway, you can always enjoy overlooking the ocean, but seldom see the Malibu Mountains as clearly across the Santa Monica Bay. The ocean swells were in pretty good shape as well, sending foam into the air as wave after wave crashed into the rocks along the coastline. The view was beautiful and hypnotic – I could stand here for hours. But, there’s more stuff to see and more pictures to take.
As always, I took lots of pictures. Many of the shots I took yesterday were of the Point Vicente Lighthouse. This day, however, the Image of Catalina Island can be seen crisply in the background. A weak marine haze is still there, but at very low density. The lighthouse is managed by the U.S. Coast Guard. On station with the lighthouse, there is a foghorn; it was funny that they were sounding it when the visibility was over fifty miles. Every minute or so, the horn would sound a two or three second blast.
Standing on the pathway near the lighthouse, you can look back toward the visitor center where whale watchers look out to see the Pacific Grey Whales as they migrate; the whales range between Baja California in Mexico all the way north to the subarctic seas near Alaska. We didn’t see any whales today, but we’ve seen them spouting a couple of times. On the pathway leading into the visitor’s center there is a plaque that reads “Gray whales have only two natural enemies: Orca (Killer Whales) and men.”
You can click on any of the images above to see full-sized in the image viewer.
We enjoyed the beautiful scenery on a nice, balmy winter day on the peninsula. However, before the viewers of these beautiful images decide to head to California, they should keep this in mind – we’re long, long overdue for our next major seismic event.
Welcome, President Bush
President Bush will be paying a visit to Robinson Helicopter in Torrance, California tomorrow. That’s about a mile and a half from our house. We’d like to go see and hear the President, but admission is by invitation only.
Bush to visit Torrance on Wednesday
President Bush will pay a visit to Robinson Helicopter Co. in Torrance on Wednesday as he urges Congress to pass three free trade agreements.
Bush will take a tour of the company, which is the world’s largest manufacturer of civilian helicopters, and deliver remarks to employees.
Robinson Helicopter posted a record year in 2007, largely on the strength of its exports to 55 countries. Much of that success is due to the declining value of the dollar, which makes American exports less expensive to foreign customers.
“We’re an unusual story because we’re not outsourcing everything,” said Kurt Robinson, a company vice president. “I think it’s pretty exciting that we get the president here. It’s fun to show off American manufacturing.”
In his State of the Union Address on Monday night, Bush urged Congress to approve trade deals with Colombia, Panama and South Korea, which would reduce or eliminate tariffs on American-made goods.
“These agreements will level the playing field,” Bush said. “They will give us better access to nearly 100 million customers. And they will support good jobs for the finest workers in the world: those whose products say ‘Made in the USA.'”
Read the article in the South Bay Daily Breeze.
Heermann’s Gull
Today we took a detour down by the ocean on our way for the weekly grocery shopping. It was just after a rain last night and the winds were whipping. We stopped at the L.A. Harbor breakwater by Cabrillo Beach and saw a number of sea birds including sandpipers, Caspian Terns, pelicans and several varieties of seagulls. The gull in the picture is a Heermann’s Gull, characterized by its black legs and feet and its red bill. Click on the picture to see the 1024×768 version in the image viewer.
From Wikipedia:
The Heermann’s Gull (Larus heermanni) is a gull resident in the United States and Mexico. Of the current population of about 150,000 pairs, 90% nest on the island of Isla Rasa off Baja California in the Gulf of California, with smaller colonies as far north as California and as far south as Nayarit. After breeding, birds commonly disperse to central California, and less commonly north as far as British Columbia and south as far as Guatemala. They are usually found near shores or well out to sea, very rarely inland.
A Rainy Weekend by the Sea
Some of the prettiest scenery can be seen on days where the weather isn’t exactly ideal for outdoors activities. Last weekend during the rain showers on Saturday, we drove down to Palos Verdes and took some pictures of the coastline features.
On a stop at the Point Vicente fishing access, a seagull landed on the fence post and watched us while I took several pictures of him. It was between showers and there were a lot of birds in the area, including a red tail hawk, some crows, a pelican, pigeons and lots of seagulls.
I also took this picture of the Point Vicente Lighthouse and Coast Guard Station from the fishing access. The visibility wasn’t crystal clear, but on days like this, the fog adds something to the mood of the scene.
We have enjoyed visiting these colorful and unique landmarks in rain and shine, in wind and calm and in crystal clear weather to pea soup fog.
Click on the images to see full-sized in the image viewer.