The Master Gardener Association of San Diego County had their very popular Fall Plant Sale today in Balboa Park!
A small army of smiling Master Gardeners took over the Casa del Prado, both Room 101 and the two courtyard patios. The public could check out thousands of plants for sale, plus an art and crafts marketplace, educational booths and several master gardener speakers.
Plant purchases today would help fund many worthy projects around San Diego, including community gardens, public education and school gardens. Very cool!
I took these photos and have included some captions with a little more information!
Plants and more plants, and beautiful pots, crafts and more!Kids could learn how to plant seeds.Educational displays concerning plants and gardens could be found at many tables.A smile!The Master Gardener Association of San Diego County has a program for public education with the University of California Cooperative Extension.A Guide for School Gardens.Two-time Paralympian Stephen Cantu teaches Friendly Inclusive Gardening. He designs wheelchair accessible gardens. Watch his video here.Visitors to the Master Gardener Plant Show could check out this Compost Demo.Rita Perwich presents KISS In Your Rose Garden–Keep It Simple and Sane.Some bugs are nasty, some are helpful!Mother Earth among many colorful butterflies!So many plants for sale in Room 101.A long line of happy customers!
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The 2024 San Diego Heart & Stroke Walk was held this morning in Balboa Park. Participants raised over one million dollars this year, supporting the American Heart Association and its many important programs!
I visited the event and took these inspiring photographs. Teams walking through the park and past the finish line were being encouraged by students from San Diego State University. There was a fun dog costume contest, a photo booth, roses for participants, a community board showing who walkers walk for, a small farmers market, and more. Heart disease and stroke survivors could ring a bell to celebrate life!
The American Heart Association supports medical research and educational programs. Projects, according to their website, include:
Up-to-the-minute research into doctors’ hands so they can better prevent and treat heart disease among patients. Groundbreaking pediatric heart and stroke research that is key to saving babies’ lives. Providing life-saving information that can save a life – like how to eat better, how to recognize the warning signs of heart attack, and how to talk to a doctor about critical health choices.
If you’d like to support the American Heart Association with a donation, or if you’d like to participate in a future walk, click here!
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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!
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Stargazer is the title of a sculpture located in San Diego State University’s Campanile Mall, not far from the Koester Memorial Sundial. Which seems appropriate. Our sun is the nearest star.
The sculpture was created by artist Johnny Bear Contreras, who is a tribal member of the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians in northeastern San Diego County. Through his award-winning art he is dedicated to keeping the Kumeyaay heritage alive and thriving. The Kumeyaay people have lived throughout the San Diego region for many thousands of years.
On the Stargazer plaque, Johnny Bear Contreras speaks the words: “Come listen with us, there are stories to be heard. Come and gaze at the stars with me, they are always there.” The word Stargazer, in the Kumeyaay language, is Uwiiu kwellyap kurr.
The public art is part of the SDSU Kumeyaay Living Land Acknowledgment project, which seeks to instill a deeper appreciation and celebration of Kumeyaay history, art and culture.
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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.
Those working inside Old Town San Diego State Historic Park’s blacksmith shop forge all sort of interesting objects: nails, knives, different decorative objects… The other day I and several other visitors learned how leaves like the ones you see above are made!
Old Town’s friendly blacksmiths are always happy to provide demonstrations of what they do. Hopefully my understanding and simplistic description is fairly accurate…
When heated iron turns orange yellow, the perfect temperature is achieved. The metal you are working becomes plastic and shapeable. Too hot, and you will “burn” the metal, making it useless for the purposes of forging.
The following photograph shows the progression of a new leaf.
You begin with the rod-like piece that you see on the right. Next, to its left, you can see how a mass was produced by the smith’s hammer at one end of the iron piece. Next, sharp edges are rounded and the mass is flattened and formed until it assumes the shape of a leaf.
Leaf veins are produced with a chisel-like instrument with a straight edge (see my first photo). A stroke or two with the blacksmith’s hammer and voila!
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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.
Sunspots on the surface of the sun were clearly visible today in San Diego! A sense of wonder filled me when I viewed the distant phenomenon from Balboa Park.
Today the Fleet Science Center had Sunspotter Solar Telescopes, solar binoculars and other instruments related to astronomy outside and ready for use.
I had stumbled upon a special event at the Fleet Science Center. They were hosting the NASA Community College Symposium, which would feature a planetarium show, educational talks, panels, and a variety of space-themed activities.
A recent graduate of SDSU’s Astronomy master’s program operated the solar telescope, and I tried to capture the tiny dark sunspots with my camera. (For my final photo, the image contrast was radically increased, bringing out the spots.)
What appear to be small spots on the sun’s surface can be up to 100,000 miles in diameter! The sun itself is about 93 million miles from where you stand!
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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.
Bus stop shelters around the city now feature art created by students from throughout the San Diego Unified School District. I’ve noticed a few of these displays in the past couple weeks, and I discovered another fun example today at the SDSU Transit Center.
The digital doodles in these photographs were created by students from Encanto Elementary and Hardy Elementary. The kids were given two themes: What makes San Diego your home? and How do you connect with San Diego?
According to the shelter poster, over 12 schools and hundreds of students participated in the “I am San Diego” project. The project was launched by Far South Border North, a City of San Diego-led regional collaborative that supports artists and cultural practitioners working in service of the health and well-being of communities in San Diego and Imperial counties.
Next time you find yourself walking down the sidewalk near an MTS public bus shelter, take a closer look!
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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.
People in San Diego could experience the thrill of a lifetime today! The annual fundraising Over The Edge event was held downtown, on the vertical side of the Manchester Grand Hyatt hotel tower!
People who raised a certain amount of money for Reality Changers could rappel 34 stories straight down! I stood at ground level in front of the hotel and zoomed my camera lens to capture a bit of the action.
Reality Changers helps disadvantaged high school students go to college. They prepare youth to become first-generation college graduates and agents of change in their community. You can donate to this worthy cause by visiting the Reality Changers website here.
That’s rather high, don’t you think? Looks scary! But these events, running for many years now, have never had an accident. Safety is the first priority.
Why don’t you consider participating next year?
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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.
Walk into The Old Globe theatre complex in Balboa Park and you’ll observe the sculpture of a golden crown. You’ll also pass rows of festive banners and signs. Their colorful graphics tell the story of The Old Globe’s special Henry 6 Project.
The Henry 6 Project has engaged the people of San Diego with groundbreaking community outreach. Not only can the public enjoy a new adaptation of Shakespeare’s several Henry VI plays, but as one of the graphics explains: The Globe’s radically inclusive vision opened every step of the creative process to the citizens of San Diego, weaving them into the fabric of the production not only with performance opportunities, but also through innovative, direct collaborations on nearly all elements of the production design.
Last week I photographed some of these signs and banners. Read the photo captions to learn a little more about the Henry 6 Project. Better yet, head over to beautiful Balboa Park and see all of this for yourself!
The world premiere of Henry 6 at The Old Globe is a two-part adaptation of Henry VI, titled One: Flowers and France and Two: Riot and Reckoning.
To read about this unique production on The Old Globe’s website, click here!
Director Barry Edelstein’s adaptation, Henry 6, is made by, with, and for the community of San Diego.The Old Globe’s Reflecting Shakespeare program works with individuals who are incarcerated, formerly incarcerated, or justice-involved, and provides a vehicle for healthy interaction, reflection, creativity, and personal growth…Community workshops explore scenic design. Other workshops and activities concern sound, lighting and costume design and music. Nearly 200 individuals were filmed for crowd scenes projected in the production of Henry 6.38 plays over 89 years. With this summer’s production of Henry 6, The Old Globe completes the Shakespeare canon…and (has) joined a small and select list of American companies to have achieved this feat…The Globe For All Shakespeare tour was designed for on-the-road performances to be enjoyed by audiences throughout San Diego County and in Tijuana. Performed free of charge in non-theatrical venues…these productions give audiences an intimate and compelling professional theatrical experience.
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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.
The House of USA hosted a special program today in San Diego’s always amazing Balboa Park. Independence Day was celebrated at the International Cottages!
The Sons of the American Revolution and the National Society of the Children of the American Revolution were a big part of the patriotic event. Members in colonial attire were eager to educate the public about our nation’s early history.
I learned how the Children of the American Revolution is the nation’s oldest and largest patriotic youth organization. Members are under the age of 22, and have descended from an individual who provided military of civil service or gave material support to the cause of independence during the American Revolution. Their mission is to train future leaders and promote love of the United States and its heritage among youth. The young members I met were fine, well-spoken representatives of the organization.
The event included inspiring verbal presentations concerning the women of the American Revolution. Speakers represented historical personalities, including groundbreaking African American poet Phillis Wheatley; activist, author and Bill of Rights advocate Mercy Otis Warren; Deborah Sampson who disguised herself as a man to join the Patriot forces; and Lydia Darragh, who hid in a closet to eavesdrop on a secret meeting, learning about a surprise attack by the British on Washington’s troops.
The speakers were followed by several dances that would be typical during this era of American history. The Folk Dancers of Balboa Park danced to She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain, the Virginia reel and other familiar tunes.
Then the San Diego City Guard Band, which was founded way back in 1880, took to the stage and performed music fit for the occasion, starting with America the Beautiful.
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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.
A very fun and informative Garden Fair was held today outside the San Diego Natural History Museum in Balboa Park. The event coincides with the recent opening of the nature trail that now encircles the museum.
The interpretive nature trail, which leads visitors past a wide variety of native Southern California plants, is a cornerstone of the San Diego Natural History Museum’s 150 year anniversary celebration!
All sorts of booths were set up on both the south and north sides of the museum. Organizations who care about protecting our natural environment provided information for curious passersby. I took these photographs…
Smiles from Forever Balboa Park. They are working to revitalize Balboa Park’s Botanical Building and gardens.The California Native Plant Society was educating the public about conserving our local flora.Activity at the Master Gardener table.Poster provides suggestions for native plants in your garden.Lots of sunshine and smiles today in Balboa Park!Table features seeds for native plants.Kids learn about bees and other pollinators.
Balboa Park Alive! has a cool app in the beta stage, developed by smiling folks from the Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination at UC San Diego.
The augmented reality mobile app transforms Balboa Park into an interactive biodiversity adventure. On your smartphone, you can plant virtual flora, release butterflies, and simulate pollinator behavior. I was told that so far you can explore Balboa Park’s Zoro Garden and the Natural History Museum’s new nature trail. Very cool!
Learn more about Balboa Park Alive! by clicking here.
Technology helps bring nature in Balboa Park to life.More booths for the Garden Fair, along the new nature trail on the north side of the San Diego Natural History Museum.Member of the NAT Garden Corps tells me various facts concerning the cactus wren and prickly pear. While she spoke a hummingbird came by.How cool! Moth Week 2024 has a night party outside the museum on Friday, July 26, after 8 pm. A naturalist will attract moths near the Moreton Bay Fig for photography.San Diego Canyonlands focuses on the canyons in City Heights around Azalea Park. They support youth education and environmental job training in underserved communities. They also have an urban hike-a-thon event.Smiles from some San Diego Natural History Museum Canyoneers. They offer free guided hikes throughout the county. Enjoy nature and become a citizen scientist!The San Diego Habitat Conservancy currently manages 33 open space preserves in Southern California.The Climate Science Alliance mission is to safeguard natural and human communities in the face of a changing climate.
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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.
Cool San Diego Sights! 