What was Santa Claus doing in San Diego this morning? Good question!
As I waited at the Fashion Valley Transit Center for a bus, I spied Santa on the side of a box truck in the mall parking lot. So of course I had to walk over and investigate!
Turns out I had discovered a wonderful charity.
CHiPs for Kids sponsors an annual holiday season toy drive by the California Highway Patrol. The toy drive typically begins in mid-November and runs through mid-December, just in time for Christmas.
CHP area offices around California are where the unwrapped and unused toys are collected. The donated toys are distributed to families who are in need.
Santa on the side of a truck and the promised delivery of holiday cheer!
In late April!
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Today is Arbor Day. It’s a day when we think about the future and plant trees.
Early last year I published a very short story that mentions Arbor Day. Dale’s Tree is the title. You might enjoy this touching, slightly philosophical tale.
Have an excellent weekend, and stay tuned for more photographs from walks all around San Diego!
(The above photograph was taken in Balboa Park, as I walked down a path from Golden Hill into the Bennington Memorial Oak Grove. The place inspired my story.)
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
A new exhibit is being readied at the San Diego Central Library. Voices on the Inside presents the written words of women who’ve been incarcerated.
The exhibit is created by Poetic Justice, an organization that provides writing workshops for women serving time in prisons and jails, including the Las Colinas Detention Facility in San Diego.
As their website explains: Poetic Justice’s in-person writing workshops are typically offered for 6-10 week sessions…the participants explore therapeutic writing prompts and community building activities. At the end of a session, the participants graduate and receive an anthology of their writing and a graduation certificate.
Many of the women share their innermost thoughts, filled with humanity and new wisdom and hope that otherwise might be ignored or dismissed. The exhibit will be filled with examples of what they’ve written.
The opening reception for Voices on the Inside will be held at San Diego Central Library on Sunday, May 5, 2024 at 2 pm. Learn more by visiting the Instagram page @capoeticjustice.
To see this new exhibit, simply walk into the Central Library and turn right when you reach the main elevators. Many faces and words await you.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
The Coronado Public Library occupies a 40,000 square feet building that serves as the community’s cultural center. The library contains a large public meeting room and smaller conference room, a separate Children’s Library and Teen area, an Exhibit Gallery, plus an employee work area and used bookstore.
Back in 1909, however, when the original Coronado Public Library first opened, it measured a modest 1,700 square feet. You can see the front of the historic building with its stately columns in the above photograph.
Last month I learned the history of this original “Spreckels Building” during the San Diego Architectural Foundation’s Open House event. John D. Spreckels was owner of the nearby Hotel del Coronado in the early part of the 20th century.
An informative handout included: On February 17, 1908, the Library Board boldly voted to “request Mr. Spreckels to make a gift of a new library building”…public park land set aside by the Coronado Beach Company known as West Plaza was chosen for the location…Spreckels donated the services of his favorite architect, Harrison Albright…(His) design, in the style of the classic revival…was built at a cost of $10,000. It was one of the first California buildings built of reinforced concrete. It was designed to hold 5,000 books…
The following graphic depicts major additions that were made to the library over the years:
The next two photos demonstrate how the original building was cleverly joined to the glassy 2005 addition. (The 1974 addition demolished and replaced a hodgepodge of add-ons and wings that had been attached to the original building during the preceding decades.)
Today the original little library–the Spreckels Building–serves as a cozy, very elegant Reading Room!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
Two plaques can be found at an ocean overlook in La Jolla, midway between La Jolla Cove and the Children’s Pool.
After viewing the beautiful surf and rocks below, eyes might read the wise quotes on these plaques, which are embedded in the low stone and abalone shell wall.
Treat Earth well. It was not given to you by your parents. It was lent to you by your children. –AnonymousWe make a living by what we get but we make a life by what we give. –Winston Churchill
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
Four beautiful murals are part of a fence at the Second Chance Youth Garden in San Diego’s Encanto neighborhood. I spotted the artwork about a week ago during my walk down Imperial Avenue.
Second Chance Youth Garden describes itself as an 8-week program combining hands-on urban farming & classroom learning for low-income youth in San Diego.
These colorful murals are amazing! If you have more information concerning them, please leave a comment.
Enjoy a few photographs…
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
A good sized crowd came out today to Balboa Park’s WorldBeat Cultural Center. The public was invited to take part in the 32nd Annual Multi-Cultural Earth Day!
Visitors to this unique Earth Day festival were not only treated to colorful multi-cultural entertainment, but had the opportunity to learn about two issues in particular: the changing climate and food accessibility. Visitors could also support organizations and local businesses that are trying in their own unique way to improve education, sustainability, and protect the environment. Artists and more ordinary vendors were present, too.
Special activities included a seed swap, a lesson on how to create and maintain a worm farm, and compost workshops. Kids could color fun artwork, too!
For the hungry crowd gathered outside in the San Diego sunshine, ethnic and vegetarian food vendors offered their special menus to choose from.
As you can see from my photos, I watched Azteca dancers perform for the crowd. They followed an impassioned speech by a holy man who once met the Dalai Lama. We need to raise our consciousness was his message.
Inside the WorldBeat Cultural Center I watched and listened to the joyful music of San Diego Taiko. I personally love energetic taiko drumming!
Other performances during the event would include Middle Eastern belly dance, West African drum and dance, Brazilian samba, and Native American drumming.
There were also tours of the center’s lush garden. I’ll have to do that next time.
I loved these Hopi Kachina dolls, made of cottonwood. They were hand carved by Arizona-based artist Elroy Kewanyama…
The following two ladies explained how Green Pocket Forest has partnered with the WorldBeat Cultural Center to create a 320 square meters Children’s Nature Zone, designed with the innovative Miyawaki method to spotlight 1000 native plants, providing habitat for 20+ species of birds and insects. Wow!
The San Diego Audubon Society table had tons of information about their current activities, plus beautiful bird artwork and a mural coloring station. (I learned their Bird Festival this year was a big success!)
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
Yesterday, at the Chicano Park Day event in Barrio Logan, I stepped into the Turning Wheel Mobile Classroom, which was parked next to the Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center. What, I wondered, was this University of San Diego community outreach program up to?
I was greeted by Drawing/Painting teacher and Chicano Park Fellow Miss Jessi Rogawski, plus two of her exceptional Lincoln High School students!
I learned that about 70 students in Miss Jessi’s classes have learned how to create murals, inspired by poster art in the Chicano Park Day Poster Archive.
Students choose a favorite poster, analyze it, then produce their own original sketches, inspired by the poster design. Through a multi-stage process, including enlargement and color mapping, the sketches would evolve into finished murals!
What a great opportunity for young people to learn both the history of Chicano Park, activate their imagination, collaborate, and develop their creative skills!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
Paintings by many muralists on display during Chicano Park Day.
The Chicano Park Mural Restoration Project is currently underway, and many of the artists contributing to the massive effort were celebrated yesterday at the 54th Annual Chicano Park Day event in Barrio Logan.
A section of the Chicano Park Day event was dedicated to these talented creators, many of whom had their own canopies along Logan Avenue. They were showing and selling artwork, and even painting new work as people watched!
One long wall was filled with paintings by many of the participating muralists, exhibiting their diverse styles. A coloring book filled with art by fourteen of the artists was also available for creative kids.
I met a few of the muralists…
Roberto R. Pozos shows art that honors his Mexican-American heritage at 2024 Chicano Park Day.Shirish Villaseñor smiles and creates a new painting at Chicano Park Day. (You might recall seeing her artwork in front of the Hilton on the new Bay to Park Paseo.)Some of Shirish’s art.Carmen Linares-Kalo is surrounded by her spiritual art at Chicano Park Day. Her work includes a mural that honors the Kumeyaay people.Mario Torero, renowned muralist and a co-founder of Chicano Park, with a big smile. He contributed to more than 20 of the original murals and leads other artists during the restoration project.Mario Torero created this poster art over 30 years ago for 1993 Chicano Park Day. Peace in Our World. Struggle for Justice.
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
Please enjoy this collection of photographs taken today during the 54th Annual Chicano Park Day event in Barrio Logan.
For 2024, the theme of Chicano Park Day was Bringing Back the True Spirit and Energy of the Chicano Park Takeover. As I walked about, I saw that spirit and energy!
The event by all appearances is more popular than ever. A huge crowd surrounded the central Kioko to experience diverse performances, including Azteca and folklorico dancing and poetry readings. There were also speeches about the history of Chicano Park and the struggles and pride represented in its murals.
All around Chicano Park one could meet artists (including some of the renowned muralists), learn about community organizations, support local businesses, check out lowriders and other cool cars (and motorcycles and bicycles!), listen to live music, ride a fun little train for kids, and eat lots of great Mexican food.
And, of course, above all, there were the world-famous murals!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!
Cool San Diego Sights! 