HPR Knights first lawn program in Balboa Park!

In San Diego, young Knights gather together in Balboa Park. Today they put on their first ever lawn program at the International Cottages!

The HPR Knights is a relatively new group of young men who represent the diverse nations belonging to the House of Pacific Relations. The group was founded in 2024. This is the HPR Knights website.

Their description: We are a San Diego based, all-male organization dedicated to serving the greater San Diego community. We strive to represent all cultures and encourage the youth to participate in the House of Pacific Relations community at Balboa Park.

At their inaugural lawn program these young men impressed everyone. Several spoke of how the group encourages brotherhood, mutual respect, self-confidence and leadership.

I learned about their community service, including how they’ve worked at Mission Trails Regional Park to remove invasive vegetation and reintroduce native plants. They also help around the International Cottages, representing many cultures, promoting education and friendship.

After the speeches came a variety of performances! I got a photo of Bollywood breakdancing on the stage by young members of the House of India!

Do you know anyone who might like to join the group? Visit their website!

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Celebration of Spring at the Old Globe!

The coming of Spring was celebrated at the Old Globe today in Balboa Park!

AXIS, a community engagement program of the Old Globe, presented Celebration of Spring. The free, family-friendly event celebrated and honored local indigenous culture, their language and traditions. Front and center in the Old Globe’s outdoor Copley Plaza there was dance, singing, poetry and storytelling!

After wandering past the canopies of several vendors and organizations, I enjoyed the first part of the program, which featured dance performances by Bearpaw Native Dancers and Talent.

The above photo is of a fancy shawl butterfly dance!

A friendly greeting from folks representing AXIS!

Youthful smiles at a table featuring Our Past, Present, and Future comic books.

These optimistic, inspiring comic books were co-written by San Diego State University professor Ethan Banegas (@Ethan-Banegas), a member of the Barona Band of Mission Indians. Several creators helped to put it together!

The House of Mexico was at the event, too. I purchased a bottle of cold water. Hot again today!

An audience filled the tables at Copley Plaza as the cultural performances continued.

Those present were invited to join a Round Dance honoring mothers. The percussion simulated the heartbeat you heard before birth inside your mother.

In spring the life of the world is reborn.

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Art contest, exhibit for San Diego seniors!

Are you a senior in San Diego who loves creating art? Do you know a senior who fits that description? Heads up!

Seniors age 60 or better are invited to enter the AgeWell Services Art Contest & Exhibit!

AgeWell is a program of the City of San Diego. Their services can be enjoyed at several community centers, including the Balboa Park Senior Lounge.

The Senior Lounge is where I saw this art contest notice today. (Thank you Mark for pointing it out on the bulletin board!)

Entries will be accepted May 1 to May 11, 2026 at the locations indicated on the notice. You can enlarge my photograph to read it. A public Art Exhibit including the contest entries will be on display at Park de la Cruz from May 18 to June 22.

For more info you can call AgeWell Services at 619-525-8247. Or email cool guy Skyler at SLemire@sandiego.gov!

Keep on creating!

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Baseball exhibit at San Diego History Center!

With less than a week to go until Major League Baseball returns, it was fun to see the San Diego History Center had a pop-up baseball exhibit in their atrium today. Most of the displays concerned the San Diego Padres. (The team’s Home Opener is at Petco Park next Thursday!)

All sorts of historical photographs and artifacts could be viewed by visitors. There was a fun quiz (I got 3 of 3 questions correct and a high five), plus creative activities for kids.

It was fun to see old photos of Ted Williams, Tony Gwynn and the San Diego Chicken.

I remember listening to Jerry Coleman and Dave Campbell on the radio during the Padres amazing 1984 season. I was a young man way back then. I also enjoyed years of listening to Ted Leitner, and going to games now and then. So many good memories…

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Padres banners appear for 2026 season!

The 2026 Major League Baseball season is about to begin! The Home Opener for the San Diego Padres is next Thursday!

I noticed, while walking near Petco Park today, that the latest set of Padres player banners have been put up on street lamps in East Village.

This year there’s a huge addition: Mason Miller! He’s arguably the best closer in all of baseball. Did you watch him pitching for Team USA during the World Baseball Classic? He’s got a flamethrower arm. Wow!

Go Pads! Let’s make the playoffs again this year, and go all the way!

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San Diego goes bananas . . . again!

This weekend, San Diego is going bananas . . . again! The Savannah Bananas have returned to Petco Park, to play two banana ball games against one of their rivals, the Loco Beach Coconuts!

The Savannah Bananas’ popularity continues to grow, with their crazy, kid-friendly on-field antics during “banana ball” games and between innings. It’s like a non-stop circus, all the while playing a baseball game with unusual rules, that include fan participation. (If you catch a foul ball, the batter is out!)

The games have become so popular that there is a league of six teams traveling around playing each other. By the way, the Loco Beach Coconuts are 2-0 versus the original Savannah Bananas team so far in 2026!

Both games this weekend are sold out. Today I walked through the festival atmosphere just north of Gallagher Square, where families (often clad in yellow) were lined up for fun banana ball merchandise.

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Kumeyaay Nation plaque at La Jolla Shores.

This very beautiful plaque near the beach in La Jolla Shores is dedicated to the Kumeyaay Nation, whose people have lived in our region for thousands of years.

I took these photos of the plaque a while back, during my last walk along the boardwalk near Kellogg Park. You can find the plaque inside the Grand Canyons of La Jolla Educational Plaza.

(To learn more about the plaza, check out a blog I posted a few years ago here.)

Text on the plaque includes:

KUMEYAAY NATION

FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS WE HAVE LIVED TOGETHER AS A PEOPLE…from the shores of the Pacific Ocean ~ to the mountains and inland valleys ~ down through the deserts of Baja California Norte, Mexico.

Our cultural and historical roots can be traced throughout the greater San Diego region, dating back more than 12,000 years. La Jolla Shores has always been an integral part of our history and was a vital resource for gathering, fishing and hunting well into the early 20th Century. This area was once part of a lagoon offering a variety of plant life used for food, clothing, medicines, baskets and building materials. Our ancestors were exceptional stewards of the environment as demonstrated in their plant husbandry techniques and responsible use of land and water resources. Beginning with the Spanish invasion of 1769, the Kumeyaay were forced off ancestral lands and now live on twelve of the eighteen reservations in San Diego County. Our historical presence is visible along the shoreline as evidenced by unearthed artifacts, burial sites and remnant of ancient villages.

Offshore, submerged sites are protected by State and Federal Laws in order to keep our rich cultural heritage alive for future generations to learn from and enjoy. The Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation dedicates this plaque to honor our past and promote preservation of this unique marine environment.

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Community art: One Day in the Life on Imperial.

A special art exhibition will soon be opening in Grant Hill, across Imperial Avenue from neighboring Logan Heights. One Day in the Life on Imperial will feature works by members of the San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild. The exhibition will be open to the public beginning March 21, 2026 at the TULAROSA gallery, located at 2602 Imperial Avenue. The Opening Reception is from 4 to 7 pm.

The San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild has initiated an “Atelier” for the purpose of experimentation with conceptual art and community engagement. This exhibition is its inaugural event. The Barrio Artists Partnership is participating, too. The Atelier artists have, for three months, been walking, talking, observing and creating art based on their community centered dialogue.

Seventeen artists from diverse areas of San Diego will present their finished art as well as their concept behind the art.

Everyone is invited to drop by and see their inspired work!

After March 29 the exhibit will be moved to Gallery 21 in Balboa Park’s Spanish Village Art Center, where it will open on April 7.

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Emojis, memes and emotion in Oceanside.

Much of social media is geared toward eliciting an emotional response. Much of art serves the same purpose. An exhibition of art in Oceanside fuses the simple emojis and memes of social media with framed artistic creation.

Neon Afterlife is the title of the exhibition. It can be freely viewed in the Oceanside Museum of Art’s annex gallery inside The Seabird Ocean Resort & Spa, a short walk from the beach and Oceanside Pier.

Pieces by Southern California artists Magz Yang, Jon Savage and Evyn Hewett utilize the “language” of Gen Z and today’s digital pop culture–an increasingly illiterate culture saturated with adrenaline fueled gaming and provocative short videos.

These works of art, like many of the images on one’s phone, might arrest shortened attention spans. They produce an emotional response by using simplistic symbols and bright colors. It’s as if the small screens people endlessly scroll have been splashed onto the gallery walls.

I do love the creativity. And I smiled when I noticed fun is made of the pretentiousness of much social media.

Does an emoji or meme suffice for life’s complexity?

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Skull and crossbones created at Oceanside beach!

A hot day for mid-March. I stayed near the beach–in Oceanside. As I walked out onto the Oceanside Pier, look what I saw! Someone was digging a huge skull and crossbones into the sand!

Turns out the friendly, creative guy was David. He was working on his pirate Jolly Roger flag design in the sunshine, while people strolling along the beach would stop, look and chat.

He’s been making artwork in the sand like this for several months, he told me. He’s created perhaps a dozen such works at the beach.

He told me there’s another guy who makes cool designs using a garden rake. That sounds awesome, too. Perhaps I’ll stumble upon that one day.

Here’s what I saw around noon as I walked out on the pier:

After I ate lunch, I returned to the pier and saw this:

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