A young lady is about to get a surprise during a fun magic show in Balboa Park.
I observed many emotions today. These emotions were expressed in the eyes and faces of people I encountered during a walk through wonderful Balboa Park.
Balboa Park is like a small slice of some ideal world: so many people coming together, sharing dreams and happy visions. A walk through the park is like all the good things in human life stirred into one potent elixir, with smiles, freedom, friendship, rampant creativity on every side, and much sunlight. And, of course, memories of special moments and of past loved ones–and, sometimes, sadness.
Kenny Shelton juggles in between magic acts. Today he tossed dizzy feelings of joy toward hundreds of people on El Prado.
Kenny seems like a great guy. He’s definitely funny and a crowd-pleaser! Need some entertainment in San Diego? Find him here!
The San Diego Harmony Ringers conjure bright, cheerful music in Balboa Park.Intense sadness near the Museum of Man, as people remember the Sewol ferry disaster in South Korea, which happened 1000 days ago. The victims’ families are still searching for answers.A belly dancer and musicians draw a large crowd near the Botanical Building. The audience is spellbound.A group prays under a beautiful tree. Human hope, pain, love . . . among the dropping leaves.Creating a labyrinth in Balboa Park’s Zoro Garden. This gentleman created a similar labyrinth which I photographed near the Botanical Building some time ago.I’m shown a notebook. A Native American basket on the left depicts a radiating labyrinth. Labyrinths are a very ancient human expression, filled with spiritual meaning.
To learn more about his fascinating labyrinths, please visit this Facebook page.
A canvas on El Prado asks random passersby to Paint On Me.Dogs and people mingle freely. Sheer happiness at Balboa Park’s busy Nate’s Point Dog Park.This musician was so positive and so alive, he lit up countless hearts in wonderful Balboa Park. Joy conquers.
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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!
Visitors to Balboa Park walk the meandering single path of a labyrinth near the Botanical Building.
Life is a bit like walking a labyrinth. We navigate twists and turns on our forward path.
Yesterday I saw a cool labyrinth set up on a lawn in Balboa Park, right next to the Botanical Building. String was laid on the grass, creating boundaries defining the path.
A labyrinth is not a maze. The walk is peaceful, the sudden smooth turns reorient one’s vision, there is no hurry. Many use labyrinth walking for meditation. It also looks like fun exercise!
Walking through a curving labyrinth can enhance meditation, bringing together body, mind and spirit. Everyone is on their own path through life. (Click image to read.)It’s a beautiful December weekend in Balboa Park. There is much to do, much to see. Our walk through life takes many turns.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! Navigating downtown streets can be like moving through a labyrinth! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
A very special Sunday organ concert in Balboa Park. Today ordinary residents of San Diego and random visitors from around the world joined together to sing Christmas carols!
I wish you could have been there. At the Spreckels Organ Pavilion, this afternoon at 2:00. Your heart would’ve been warmed by the most amazing spectacle.
Young and old, residents of San Diego and random tourists visiting Balboa Park from around the world–all came together spontaneously to sing beloved Christmas carols. Right up on the stage, all together, as one.
What a sight. What a wonderful yearly tradition.
There is hope for this old world.
The holiday season at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion includes candy canes, Christmas cookies and gingerbread men.The free organ concert in Balboa Park this afternoon began with classical and unique organ music composed over the years for Christmas.Spreckels Organ Curator Dale Sorenson smiles as he turns pages for San Diego Civic Organist Emeritus Robert Plimpton.The more fancy organ playing is over. Time for the public to come up on stage to sing familiar Christmas carols!A crowd heads up onto the Spreckels Organ Pavilion stage. Anybody could join in the happy singing.A heartwarming San Diego tradition in Balboa Park. Young and old, everyone and anyone–together people sing many beloved Christmas songs.Ross Porter, Executive Director of the Spreckels Organ Society, leads the proceedings with unabashed zest.A small random sample of humanity singing Christmas carols with joy.
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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!
I wish you all Happy Holidays and best wishes in this coming New Year!
Sunshine and the sounds of summer linger on a building in downtown San Diego.
Yes, San Diego has sunny, temperate weather for most of the year–many say our city has the best weather in the whole wide world. But, you know, these mornings in December can seem a bit chilly. At least to me. So I was thankful to spot some warm art this morning at the corner of Fourth Avenue and C Street.
Memories of summer linger on . . .
Musical notes and birds fly among palm trees. As winter nears, an image on a utility box warms the heart of the city.
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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!
Bronze sculpture of young girl dipping finger into shallow basin of water. The Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial is located at the La Jolla Recreation Center.
During my recent walk around La Jolla, I paused for a bit to admire a beautiful bronze sculpture at the La Jolla Recreation Center. The life-size likeness of a girl dipping a finger into a basin of water is officially called the Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial. Created by artist Mary Buckman and dedicated in 1997, the gentle artwork remembers a very important figure in San Diego history: Ellen Browning Scripps.
If you live in San Diego, you surely recognize the name Ellen Browning Scripps. She and her brother created a vast business empire as newspaper publishers. During her life she gave most of her wealth away to good causes. She spent much of her life in La Jolla. Indeed, she lived right across Prospect Street from the present-day sculpture; her old residence is now home to the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in La Jolla.
This sculpture by Mary Buckman is dedicated to the memory of Ellen Browning Scripps. June 28, 1997. A beloved sculpture by James Tank Porter occupied this site from 1926 until its disappearance in 1996.People enjoy a nearby bench at the La Jolla Recreation Center on a sunny December day.Inscription on the bench is from Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses. I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings.A beautiful work of art remembers San Diego journalist and philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps.
Here are several photos I took at a later time…
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I wrote a short story about a girl gazing into a fountain. Would you like to read it? To feel a mixture of joy and sadness, click here.
A merry sight along the La Jolla Christmas Parade route!
Today I enjoyed watching the annual La Jolla Christmas Parade! After walking a bit around La Jolla, I settled onto the curb and watched Christmas-themed floats, vintage cars and marching bands celebrate the merry season.
It’s a wonderful parade that I hadn’t seen before. Very glad I did this year!
Here are my best photos. Read the captions to follow along.
The Community Christmas Tree is hung with lights and ornaments at the La Jolla Recreation Center park. A festival would be held here at the Christmas Parade’s conclusion.This Community Christmas Tree is dedicated to the people of La Jolla this day, October 27, 1984, by the La Jolla Sunrise Rotary Club.As I walked before the parade down Girard Avenue, I spied some colorful Christmas cookies in a shop window!In the parade staging area, various floats and groups were assembling before the scheduled early afternoon start.A kid checks out the bright red OMBAC Fire Department engine, which is seen in many San Diego area parades.The participants are getting ready for the big Christmas parade in La Jolla!I saw these folks driving a vintage car to the staging area while I walked back to the parade viewing area.In 2016, the theme of the La Jolla Christmas Parade is Christmas in the Future. A special newspaper was printed up for the event by the La Jolla Village News.While people gathered along the parade route, these four guys in Santa hats came strolling along. They were singers!A musical quartet belonging to the Pacific Coast Harmony of La Jolla serenades people along the parade route! Great voices!Pre-parade entertainment included some lion dancers coming down Prospect Street.Residents revel in a time-honored tradition. 2016 is the 59th year of the La Jolla Annual Christmas Parade!Just before the parade started, restored old biplanes flew overhead. They were billed as the Antique Aircraft Flyover.The La Jolla Christmas Parade gets started! It is sponsored by The Dr. Seuss Foundation. The popular children’s author lived in La Jolla.Cool aircraft continue to pass overhead as enthusiastic parade groups march and dance on by.Here come the costumed Sons of the American Revolution parading down Prospect Street!The Stella Maris Academy won Best Overall award. Their float featured an astronaut, a Christmas nativity scene and music lyrics. We believe the children are our future…The La Jolla Presbyterian Church had Joseph, Mary, shepherds, an angel, and two live camels!A young elf hands out Christmas candies to people watching La Jolla’s joyful holiday parade.A horse and carriage and folks dressed in Victorian garb for Christmas.Every parade must have marching bands!Here comes a Girl Scout Troop and a friendly dog.I guess metallic robots will celebrate Christmas in the future! Or wait. It just occurred to me those might be gift-wrapped boxes.Here come the Sweetwater High School Red Devils!The Red Devils band marches by playing Christmas tunes!Just a fun float featuring a surfboard and Dr. Seuss characters. Like many, it was created by a local business. I’ve photographed the guy in the crazy Darth Vader outfit at other cool San Diego events!The La Jolla Sunrise Rotary Club was spraying snow onto the onlookers with their Christmas stocking-covered fire truck!There goes The San Diego Golden Retriever Meetup Group with lots of canine pals!Another cool sight at the annual La Jolla Christmas Parade.Merry Christmas!
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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!
This might be Santa and Mrs. Claus walking happily through Balboa Park during 2016 December Nights. At least, there’s a good chance. Right?
I went to December Nights this afternoon hoping to photograph Santa Claus. December Nights is one of the largest festivals in the United States that celebrates the holiday season, so one would suppose Old Saint Nick might drop on by. This year I headed home before dark, before the glittering Christmas lights turned on, and before the really huge crowds!
Because I left before nightfall, I missed seeing jolly Bill “Santa” Swank spreading good cheer at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion. Check out his book Christmas in San Diego! It’s all about the history of Christmas in our fair city. I feel very honored that Cool San Diego Sights has a bunch of photos in it!
Now, did I have any success locating the real, actual, honest-to-goodness Santa Claus this afternoon at December Nights? You be the judge!
Over 300,000 people are attending December Nights this year. Surely good old Santa Claus is present somewhere in this crowd.Look! Over there! I think I see Santa wearing sunglasses! Oops. Just a vendor selling treats during December Nights.These fun (but sadly inanimate) Santas are made of beads!You guys aren’t Santa. You can’t fool me! You’re elves from the North Pole.With so many Santa ornaments and gifts everywhere, one might conclude that Old Saint Nick is actually a very astute businessman.Oh, goodness gracious! A “fan man” Santa Claus waving his arms like a silly goof! Nothing is sacred anymore.I see the image of Kris Kringle toting a sack of presents just about everywhere. So, logically, the actual guy has to be around here somewhere.I’ve seen this Santa before. He hangs out in Balboa Park every holiday season. But his sled doesn’t actually fly. It’s all a complete fake. Impostor!Tried to fool me again! That isn’t Father Christmas! It’s Snoopy!Now if Santa Claus actually looks like this, I’d really like to meet him. That would be quite an amazing experience!Multiple possible Santas! Oh, wait. They’re all cloggers, waiting to perform at December Nights. Santa only clogs chimneys.I might not spot the actual real Santa, but this December Nights is rather fun. These folks are singing their hearts out in front of the Spreckels Organ Pavilion’s annual Christmas tree. When the lights come on at night, Balboa Park becomes a magical wonderland!If Santa had a dog, it would probably dress like this. It gets chilly up north.Perhaps this is why I haven’t positively identified the real Santa Claus. He’s probably kicking back at a San Diego beach getting some sun.I’ll just have to make do with Santa Mouse.Wait! I found him! There he is! Santa!
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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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Marines stand at pedestrian entrance to Navy Pier, welcoming people to the Toys For Tots event by the USS Midway Museum.
Most of you reading Cool San Diego Sights probably can’t make it out to the Toys for Tots event today. It’s being held in downtown San Diego, on the pier next to the USS Midway Museum. But if you’d like to make a charitable donation to the cause, please go the Toys for Tots website.
I headed on down to Navy Pier for a few minutes to see what was going on. Not only did I spy Santa and Mrs. Claus, but a dancing green elf, and some very generous people. Toys collected (and donations made) help less fortunate children to have a Merry Christmas. Thank you United States Marine Corps!
Toys and donations are being collected by San Diego Marines next to the USS Midway. Santa will be parachuting onto the aircraft carrier throughout the day!This funky elf is present to lend a helping hand and a laugh or two!Donated toys will fill this United States Marine Corps truck. A banner on its side commemorates the Marine Corps Reserve Centennial.Santa and Mrs. Claus are visiting again for the toy drive! I saw them here a year ago!San Diego Marines collect toys for the less fortunate, to be distributed by charitable organizations during Christmas.
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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!
What are you grateful for? Random people in Balboa Park write their thoughts. They are grateful for life, family, school, warm socks, waking up to sunrises, and people who smile for no reason.
I stumbled upon a heartwarming sight in Balboa Park–just a few days before Thanksgiving.
A couple named Gratitude Gal and Gratitude Guy were greeting people who were walking down El Prado. The smiling pair carried a dry-erase board. People were invited to write down a few things in life for which they were grateful. Many of those random people did.
Thanksgiving is three days away. But it seems to me that every single day is an appropriate time to give thanks. Happiness is a choice.
A random person walking along happily writes down a few reasons why they are thankful.Gratitude Gal and Gratitude Guy collect messages of thanksgiving on a dry erase board in Balboa Park.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
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