I believe all these photos are of orchids. Unfortunately, I’m not an expert when it comes to plants or flowers. Heck, I hardly even rank as an amateur. But I do recognize exquisite beauty. And you’ll find it just inside the left door of Balboa Park’s amazing Botanical Building!
I don’t know the types or names of these orchids. I looked for signs, but saw none. If you recognize anything, leave a comment!
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As you can see, I saw a lot of fun stuff today in Balboa Park. Included in the mix was the annual rhizome sale put on by the San Diego Iris Society. The folks I met were very friendly and eager to impart information about their fascinating, uniquely fulfilling hobby. After about ten minutes, I’d learned so much about irises my head almost popped!
The Iris Society has many members from around San Diego County, and features loads of fun events throughout the year. If you enjoy gardening, and irises in particular, check out their website! In May they’ll have their big flower exhibition in Balboa Park’s Casa del Prado, where spectacular blooms and arrangements will be on display for the general public. I recall walking through the free event in past years, and it’s spectacular!
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Today is Coastal Cleanup Day! This huge environmental undertaking, involving thousands of energetic volunteers, is I Love A Clean San Diego’s biggest event of the year!
Over 7,600 people participated in San Diego County last year. Over a hundred tons of nasty garbage was removed from our beaches, bays and inland waterways!
This year, in Ocean Beach, a small army of volunteers fanned out along the shore looking for litter and other debris. The items they collected were carefully recorded. I saw many families, organizations and community-minded businesses participating. Everyone was having a great time.
San Diegans, who feel fortunate to live in such a beautiful corner of the world, are very keen on maintaining a clean environment. What’s good for Mother Earth is good for us, as well!
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Early this afternoon I managed to capture some elusive living colors. I caught them with my camera, during a leisurely visit to Balboa Park’s beautiful Zoro Butterfly Garden.
Created in 1915 for the Panama-California Exposition, the unique amphitheatre-like stone grotto features meandering paths tucked beneath some shady trees. An easy stroll down into the hollow reveals a lush garden full of flowers specifically planted to attract butterflies. That wasn’t always the case. In 1935, during the California Pacific International Exposition in Balboa Park, this partially hidden area was called the Zoro Garden Nudist Colony!
In this peaceful garden you’ll experience monarch, sulfur and swallowtail butterflies, fluttering quickly past your astonished eyes. Most of the time, my old camera finger reacted much too slowly! But I got a few pics!
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This world might be small, but it’s overflowing with beauty. I see it on every walk. Every day.
So I thought I’d start a new blog called A Small World Full of Beauty. Click the link!
My new blog will concentrate on two of my favorite things–photography and writing. I hope that it will inspire you.
Come along! I’m about to go outside! What will I find?
The 2015 Festival of Sail is underway! The cool event runs through Labor Day and takes place on the Embarcadero at the Maritime Museum of San Diego. This morning I got some photos!
The popular festival, which is held every year in late summer, features a large gathering of beautiful tall ships. A few belong to the museum; others are visiting San Diego for this very special occasion.
Last year I wrote several detailed blogs and covered many of the tall ships which I saw again today. So this year I figured I’d just mosey from ship to ship, taking random photos, not worrying too much about jotting down gobs of information. Here’s the result…
A special thank you to everyone following Cool San Diego Sights. You all are the greatest! I just wanted to say that.
Where will we go next? I don’t know! Life is an adventure!
At the west end of Shelter Island, which lies near the entrance to San Diego Bay, you’ll find a testament to the enduring friendship that has been established between two sister cities. San Diego and Yokohama are located on opposite sides of the wide Pacific Ocean, yet these two beautiful cities are closely connected.
In 1958 a large bronze traditional Japanese bell was dedicated on Shelter Island with great ceremony. It’s located in a prominent spot; ships from countries throughout the world pass it every day. The bell, created by Masahiko Katori, one of Japan’s living National Treasures, was presented during a Centennial Celebration which marked a hundred years of formal relations between the United States and Japan. The bell hangs in a pavilion surrounded by a narrow moat of water and a space of green grass.
The Bell of Friendship, which is six feet high and almost two and half tons, is seldom rung; but on New Year’s Eve the ram strikes the heavy bronze, resonating deeply–many say spiritually–welcoming a hopeful future.
At the front of the simple pavilion stands a three foot tall sculpture of a young girl. “The Girl in Red Shoes” by Japanese artist Munehiro Komeno debuted in 2010 and represents the friendship between the ports of San Diego and Yokohama. The sculpture portrays Kimi, a Japanese orphan who was adopted by a loving American couple in the 1920s. The girl was later diagnosed with tuberculosis and couldn’t leave Japan. The touching story has been told many times, and has become a symbol of the goodwill that exists between our two nations. Kimi holds a rose and carnation. The rose symbolizes Yokohama; the carnation is San Diego.
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Please enjoy the following photographs. They were taken today at the Japanese Friendship Garden in San Diego’s wonderful Balboa Park. As you can plainly see, natural beauty is abundant in this amazing garden. I hope you have a chance to visit.
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I was struck by the strange beauty of these two photographs. Both had been forgotten. They’re just small glimpses of the world that were stored in my computer; I don’t recall where or when I took them.
What is perfection? To be perfect is to exactly match a defined ideal. So it’s illuminating that in a world where almost nothing is considered perfect, beauty can be seen everywhere. At every moment, throughout life. Age, wear, a wrinkle, a missing petal: and the beauty persists, flourishes. For beauty to be seen, just open eyes. Open them wide. This world’s beauty is even more simple than a lifeless ideal. And more substantial.
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San Diego’s top tourist attraction in 1907 wasn’t a zoo, a park, a popular building or location. It was an amazing clock. Word traveled far and wide about the elegant, beautiful, one-of-a-kind Jessop’s Street Clock, which debuted that year in downtown San Diego. San Diego at the time was a very small town. The large clock stood on the sidewalk in front of the J. Jessop and Sons jewelry store at 952 Fifth Avenue.
The idea for this street clock sprang from the imagination of Joseph Jessop, a jeweler who immigrated to America from England. He’d seen many beautiful public clocks in Europe. especially in Switzerland. Joseph hired mechanic Claude D. Ledger to build the complex clock, which took fifteen months of meticulous, precise work to complete. The fine clock has almost never stopped working. One memorable day the clock did mysteriously stop–the same day that Claude died.
The Jessop’s Street Clock was first displayed at the 1907 Sacramento State Fair, where it was awarded a gold medal. (The large medal of real gold was stolen, and so was the first bronze replacement!) Since then the clock has occupied several different spots in San Diego. The clock stands 22 feet tall and features 20 separate dials and 300 moving parts. It has an estimated worth of several million dollars. Much of the shining movement is gold-plated. The elegant clock contains tourmaline, agate, topaz and jade, local gems extracted from the Jessop Mine on Mount Palomar.
Today the historic clock occupies a prominent position near the center of Horton Plaza, where many shoppers breeze by with hardly a glance. I suppose very few people realize the importance of this clock, and how at one time, over a century ago, it was one of San Diego’s most well-known landmarks.
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Cool San Diego Sights! 