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.
During the medieval era of chivalry, the names of English maidens and bachelors were put into boxes and drawn out in pairs. Each couple exchanged gifts and the girl became the man’s sweetheart for a year. He wore her name on his sleeve and was bound by duty to attend and protect her (the accepted origin of the phrase, “to wear one’s heart on one’s sleeve”). This old custom of drawing names was considered a good omen for love and often foretold a wedding. In 1537, King Henry VIII declared, by Royal Charter, that all England would celebrate February 14 as “Saint Valentine’s Day” and with the passage of time, February 14 became the traditional date for exchanging love messages and simple gifts (such as flowers or candy), with Saint Valentine becoming the accepted Patron Saint of Lovers.
St. Valentine was a Priest, martyred in 269 at Rome and was buried on the Flaminian Way. He is the Patron Saint of affianced couples, bee keepers, engaged couples, epilepsy, fainting, greetings, happy marriages, love, lovers, plague, travelers, young people. He is represented in pictures with birds and roses.
When the flower stem started upwards from the bulb on this Amaryllis, it didn’t rise straight up like I’m used to seeing with these. Wanting to prop it upright, I put an orchid stick in the pot and got some bag ties to hold the stem to the stick. As soon as I stood it up, though, the stem snapped – almost in two! See the inset for the damaged stem.
