Newly added to our garden is this Zinnia. According to the tag, it is a ‘zinnia elegans.’ I looked up this variety on Floridata (see below the photo).
California
A Piece of the Wall
A little over a year ago, Damsel and I visited the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. One of the exhibits that most impressed us was the huge chunk of the Berlin Wall in the garden west of the library building. Since this is the twentieth anniversary of President Reagan’s famous “Tear Down This Wall” speech, we will post this photo that Damsel snapped of the wall during our visit and an excerpt from the speech given by the best President of the twentieth century.
Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall!
And now the Soviets themselves may, in a limited way, be coming to understand the importance of freedom. We hear much from Moscow about a new policy of reform and openness. Some political prisoners have been released. Certain foreign news broadcasts are no longer being jammed. Some economic enterprises have been permitted to operate with greater freedom from state control.
Are these the beginnings of profound changes in the Soviet state? Or are they token gestures, intended to raise false hopes in the West, or to strengthen the Soviet system without changing it? We welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace.
General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! (Click to read the entire speech.)
The Next Cactus Flowers
Late last night, just before bed, we stepped out into the patio and were greeted by two fully-open cactus flowers. I grabbed the camera and took several shots. This flower is fully open with another to the right that will open later in the night or, at the latest, tomorrow evening. It has been almost two weeks since our first flower of the season, but there will be a flurry of them over the next several days.
Catalina Island Thanks the Firefighters
The Catalina Island Chamber of Commerce reports that there was no damage done to the city of Avalon in last month’s near-disastrous wildfires. They also report that things are mostly back to normal and encourage a resumption of tourism to the island. In a tribute area on their website, the Chamber posted a photographic tribute to the Firefighters that beat back the flames in mid-May.
As a family that enjoys our Catalina visits (we were married in Avalon and go back often), we thank the firefighters also.
Red Epiphyllum Flower
A couple of days ago, I posted a photo of our first cactus blossom of the year. Now, here’s our first Epiphyllum flower of the season. We’ve been at the gun show all day, so enjoy this beautiful flower that you wish was in your yard.
First Cactus Flower of the Season
This is the first bloom this year from one of our cereus cactus plants. This one was still opening when I got this shot last night. Its the first of many more to come on this cactus (one stalk has five flower pods, another three and most others with one or two pods. More photos will come later, I’m sure.
Alligators in the Sewers – The Epilogue
For a couple of years, we have been posting about Reggie, the alligator. Now, it appears that he has been relocated to the Los Angeles Zoo. Before the capture, one of my colleagues took this shot of Reggie floating serenely on Lake Machado in the Harbor City District of Los Angeles.
Photo credit & © Des Wong (used by permission)
Life was getting good for Reggie the alligator.
The scaly, 7-foot-long abandoned pet had basked in his own legend on the shores of Machado Lake for nearly two years.
Sightseers by the hundreds came to get a glimpse of the creature that had eluded professional gator wranglers over the months.
But about 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Reggie’s luck simply ran out.
Read the rest of the story about Reggie’s capture (South Bay Breeze):