Today I thought I’d go through thousands of old photos and find examples of street art that include the words “Thank you” or whose central theme is gratitude.
I found almost none.
Many of the beautiful murals and painted electrical boxes I’ve photographed over the years encourage the viewer to be or do something. Be kind, be brave, be inspired, be strong, fight for a cause, love, hope, laugh, smile, be yourself…
Only a small handful of messages concern gratitude, or directly say thank you.
And these tend to be written in chalk or very simply.
Why is this?
I do know that to acknowledge indebtedness to others requires humility.
I fell a far distance – You caught me many, many Times – Awoken revived thankful to be alive – Living is a privilege Take care – See the life you’ve been given – Cherish it
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
A bit of familiar holiday magic has returned to Balboa Park!
On Sunday the Old Globe had a virtual online event for the annual lighting of their Christmas Tree. Tonight, shortly after sunset, I walked from Bankers Hill into Balboa Park to see if the “Grinchmas Tree” was lit.
It was!
Fewer people than usual were walking about the park in the early evening. It’s the year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Later in the night the recently enacted curfew would begin.
As I continued walking down El Prado I saw no other holiday lights in the park, but I’m sure that will change during this year’s “drive-through” December Nights event.
Balboa Park might seem strangely quiet this holiday season, but in front of the Old Globe bright magic has reappeared!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
It’s not even Thanksgiving, and holiday decorations are springing up all over downtown San Diego!
Yes, many of us express dismay when wreaths, ribbons and Christmas trees appear in shops, windows and everywhere you turn well before December. It happens every year.
But 2020 has been more chaotic and stressful than usual. Perhaps starting early with holiday cheerfulness and a message of hope is a good thing.
I took these photos in both the morning and the evening after dark. I’m sure many more holiday decorations will be materializing throughout the city in the days ahead!
The following three photos were taken at The Westgate Hotel, one of the city’s most elegant hotels.
I was walking down the sidewalk, taking photos of the hotel’s bright new outdoor holiday decorations, when a friendly lady who works there offered to show me the grand Christmas tree inside their lobby.
If you love French elegance, The Westgate Hotel is where you want to be!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
During my Saturday walk through Imperial Beach I discovered these funny murals!
Not only does Mason’s Auto Clinic have a cool mural painted near the sidewalk showing off-road desert racers, but there are three images decorating the bay doors that made me laugh!
It seems the intrepid mechanics at this car repair shop deal not only with broken alternators and blown gaskets, but with Darth Vader, gremlins and gigantic apes!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Without a doubt, the most scenic public bus route in the San Diego region is North County Transit District’s Route 101. It runs up the California coast north of San Diego.
Riders on bus Route 101 are treated to views of La Jolla (beautiful Torrey Pines), Del Mar, Solana Beach, Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Encinitas, Leucadia, Carlsbad and Oceanside.
It’s a long run with many stops–almost 30 miles and, depending on traffic, somewhere between one and a half to two hours–but you pass beach after beach, and you travel along historic Coast Highway 101 through some of Southern California’s most amazing and colorful beach cities.
Near the end of my last adventure in North County, I rode the bus south from the Oceanside Transit Center late in the afternoon. I was fortunate to have an “ocean side” seat with a window that cracked open a few inches. And my camera’s battery had some life left in it!
It’s hard to get good photographs through a barely cracked open window on a rapidly moving bus, but I got a few decent shots. They provide a brief glimpse of all I saw.
What follows are images taken as I rode from Oceanside to Encinitas. After the last photograph near the Golden Lotus Towers of the Self-Realization Fellowship ashram in Encinitas, my camera’s battery was exhausted.
If you ever plan to travel along San Diego’s beautiful northern coast, are in no big hurry, and would like to experience what the happy, laid-back, sometimes nostalgic Southern California beach scene is all about, consider riding bus Route 101.
You can meet some rather interesting people, too!
(There’s usually a surfboard or two in the aisle!)
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There’s a beautiful pond in San Diego’s South Bay that few seem to know about. It’s called Hollister Pond. It’s located near the west end of the large Otay Valley Regional Park.
I walked down a dirt trail to this hidden pond yesterday.
I started from Hollister Street, a short distance north of where it crosses the Otay River. The Otay River Trail heads west and soon reaches a small observation platform at the north edge of the pond.
I saw nobody else on the trail on a sunny Saturday morning. Profuse litter and graffiti seem to indicate the presence of homeless people and perhaps gang activity in the area. So if you choose to walk here, be advised. But the hike is very easy and you will be rewarded by seeing hundreds of ducks, herons and other birds out on the water.
According to an information sign at the observation platform, Hollister Pond, like many other ponds along the Otay River valley, is actually a water-filled abandoned quarry, where sand and gravel was commercially mined. Wildlife one can find on or around the pond include the Snowy Egret, Mallard Duck and Baja California Tree Frog.
After taking in the sparkling scenery, I continued west on the Otay River Trail, which passes through the darkness underneath Interstate 5, then passes a sign concerning preventable urban pollution. Unfortunately, hundreds of toxic spray paint cans are tossed along the river by those vandalizing the park with graffiti.
The trail then turns south and crosses over the Otay River bed. It’s a spot that likely becomes impassable after a good rain.
As I walked I took photographs of trees and native plants in the warm sunlight.
The trail eventually reaches a small parking lot behind a Home Depot at the north end of Saturn Boulevard in Imperial Beach. The area features a kiosk, picnic table, and several people who appeared to be using drugs, whom I avoided.
If you’d like to go on a small daytime adventure in the South Bay, consider a visit to Hollister Pond! Google Maps shows the “Walking Path” that leads to it.
But please be careful and safe.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
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People driving west down Palm Avenue through Imperial Beach will probably spot several murals depicting local sea life. One fantastic mural painted this year can be found on the side of the California American Water building.
This beautiful public art features a sea turtle, several rays, leopard sharks and a sea lion swimming inside a watery kelp forest. It was painted by San Diego artist Carly Ealey.
Does that leopard shark coming straight toward you seem familiar? It’s on the San Diego Zoo kids website here!
You can enjoy photographs of a similar mural in Imperial Beach by the same artist here.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
If you walk to the northwest corner of Chicano Park and cross the intersection of Cesar E. Chavez Parkway and Logan Avenue, you’ll see what appears to be a statue on a checkerboard. Move closer and you’ll discover a golden sculpted head on a white pedestal. The bust is of Mexican national hero, Benito Juárez.
A plaque in Spanish at its base begins: “El respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz,” which translates into English as: “Respect for the rights of others is peace.” The full quote by Juárez, who is remembered for modernizing Mexico with liberal reforms, is: “Among individuals, as among nations, respect for the rights of others is peace.”
According to the plaque, the bust was unveiled on June 25, 2005. It appears to have been placed here by Gran Logia Mexico, Americana San Diego California. I believe the organization is a local Mexican Freemasonry group. I can find nothing about this public artwork on the internet.
Another sculpture of Benito Juárez can be found in downtown San Diego’s Pantoja Park.
That less mysterious public art was a gift from Mexico. I once took a photograph of the fine bronze statue and posted it here.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
I recently came across an article about a newly painted mural in Chicano Park. So I headed to Barrio Logan today to see it up close.
The colorful, symbolic mural celebrates the Native American Kumeyaay story of Creation. It was designed by artist Carmen Linares Kalo. The painting was completed with the help of many artists. (You can see their names in some of the following photos.)
All of the murals inside Chicano Park are bold and vibrant, but I must say the imagery in this one is exceptionally powerful.
The Kumeyaay people lived on this land thousands of years before the existence of a United States or a Mexico or a Spain, and their spiritual connection to nature is beautifully conveyed. Different native animals represent different people in the story of Creation.
Sadly, one person in this world that we all share, when I approached the mural, was buried among painted flowers, homeless.
If you want to learn more about this mural, and its special dedication event a couple months ago, check out the article here.
If you’d like to read Kumeyaay stories concerning their world, its ancient creation and unending life, visit the web page Kumeyaay Religions and Legends and follow the links!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
I was standing in front of the Santa Fe Depot waiting for a bus, gazing across the street at America Plaza and its trolley station, watching people and their movement, seeing strange reflections on nearby buildings–life and light dancing mysteriously–when I lifted my camera…
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
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