While the fires rage in the Cleveland National Forest, Southeast of the Los Angeles area, the offshore upper airflow carries the smoke seaward. The smoke cloud, seen spanning from horizon to horizon, obscures the sky and rains fine white ash all over the area beneath. I snapped this picture of the sun partially obscured in the smoke cloud overhead from Redondo Beach, CA. on my way home this evening.
We pray for the safety of the firefighters and for a quick containment of the blazes.
The San Andreas Fault isn’t the only defining coastal fracture zone in California. Check out the demographic depiction below. Is it something in the seawater that makes coastal residents politically stupid? Thank God that some of us are immune to whatever might be causing the insanity, even though we are only a few miles from the beach.
Excerpt from the Sacramento Bee:
California – Voters reveal true colors: Coastal blue, inland red – sacbee.com
It may not be a seismic split akin to the San Andreas Fault. But politically, it may as well be.California is increasingly divided between a coastal “blue” state and an inland “red” state, according to a recent study by the Field Poll on state election trends.
And Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger may want to think twice about spending too much time campaigning among his Hollywood friends. The study suggests he might first work to shore up his Republican base throughout much of the Central Valley.
Coastal voters – in 20 counties from San Diego to Del Norte – favor Democratic candidates by sweeping margins. Meanwhile, California’s 38 inland counties overwhelmingly favor Republicans, according to the Field study, which analyzed 15 years of state political trends.
The coastal-inland divide was demonstrated in the 2004 presidential election, when Democratic candidate John Kerry outpolled President Bush, 59 percent to 40 percent, among coastal voters while Bush led, 57 percent to 42 percent, among inland voters.
Differences between coastal and inland voters don’t end at the ballot box, the study found.
[more]
Read the entire article for some interesting demographics. Also, see the expanded graphic page.
A fake waterfall that is. This would look great in our backyard, but alas, it’s property of our local home and garden shop. This is actually one of two places in the fountain where water cascades down to the pool below.
We were out running errands today, taking the dogs to the dogwash, one of the cars in for service, and a stop at the home shop for some supplies. No real blogging, but we did get a lot of chores done.
When the weather warms up, our Indian Hawthorne bushes sprout these nice pink flowers.
Bright red and yellow primroses glistening with dew in the morning sunlight.
Today we were at our local garden emporium and found dozens of orchids blooming in the hothouse section. I just had to get pictures of some of these most beautiful and exotic flowers. This is one of the prettiest of so many varieties. This photo shows several aspects of the flowers: face on, profile and oblique views.
On a recent trip along Interstate 10 through Cabazon and Whitewater, CA, we got some shots of a few of the windmills in an area with immense fields filled with them. They would have driven Don Quixote absolutely nuts!
From the American Wind Energy Association:
24 January 2006 – The U.S. wind energy industry easily broke earlier annual installed capacity records in 2005, installing nearly 2,500 megawatts (MW) or over $3 billion worth of new generating equipment in 22 states, according to the Washington, D.C.-based American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). Instead of the slow year that has previously followed boom years for the industry, 2006 is expected to be even bigger, with installations topping 3,000 MW.
