We all have deep-seated desires that can never be fulfilled. It’s an essential part of being human.
There are horizons that cannot be reached, dreams that cannot be realized. But we keep moving forward through life, in that place where we find ourselves, and we never stop hoping.
I’ve published a short story concerning this. It’s titled A Distant Place.
Writing the story was painful. Those who are thoughtful might enjoy reading it.
You can read this short work of fiction by clicking here.
A wall inside the Coronado Historical Association’s fascinating museum features the stories of many Island Icons. Natives and long-time residents of Coronado have been interviewed by volunteers of the historical association, to preserve important oral histories for posterity.
I discovered this wall during my recent visit to the Coronado Historical Association’s museum on Orange Avenue. If you’d like to see it, too, venture into their auditorium, where an hour-long documentary film regarding the history of Coronado is shown on a continuous loop. (The film is outstanding and well worth viewing.)
The Island Icons archival project began in 2020. Every month, a new addition to these recorded memories is featured in the Coronado Eagle & Journal’s Coronado Magazine, and added to this wall in the museum.
Reading these words, you’ll be magically transported back in time. You’ll visit the Hotel Del Coronado and ride the ferry many decades ago, when the town was smaller and more intimate.
You’ll ride the old Coronado Beach Railroad streetcars, have fun at one of the two long-vanished bowling alleys, or perhaps at the long-vanished miniature golf course. You’ll walk and ride bikes and play on streets with no traffic lights, before the bridge to San Diego opened in 1969, changing everything.
You’ll read stories about life during the Great Depression and World War II.
If you know someone who has interesting stories about their life in Coronado, you can nominate them for an interview here!
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Tierra Central in City Heights is a special place filled with life.
Outdoor sculptures abound, created by community members and local artists. The Fern Street Circus performs and teaches students under their big tent. Fun events can be enjoyed here throughout the year.
I’ve been to several such events in the past. Here and here and here.
It had been a while since I walked past Tierra Central. Last time I don’t believe it had that name. But it did have many sculptures.
Yesterday I noticed at least three new sculptures have appeared, and there was artwork on the surrounding fence that I hadn’t seen previously. The dynamism in this creative space is unstoppable!
Please enjoy a few photographs taken from the sidewalk.
Tierra Central is located on University Avenue just east of Interstate 15. I’ve been told that one day this lot will be developed into affordable housing, situated right next to the City Heights Transit Plaza.
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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.
You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!
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!
Check out this awesome mural in Barrio Logan!
The symbolic artwork was painted on a wooden fence on Logan Avenue south of Evans Street. I spotted it yesterday.
The local artist is Jessica Petrikowski (@artbypetrikowski). Very colorful Aztec imagery is accompanied by two hummingbirds. I believe that’s Quetzalcoatl on the left and his rival “opposite” Tezcatlipoca. The pair of touching hummingbirds are of the same two colors. Throughout the mural, sprouting green life rises from the earth.
This mural was painted a little over year ago. The spray paint art that previously decorated this same fence was also by Jessica. You can see a photo of that old mural among others in this blog post.
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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.
You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!
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 thought-provoking sculpture can be found at Liberty Station in Point Loma. Created by San Diego artist Trevor Amery in 2021, the wood sculpture, Archive and Witness, stands in front of the Dick Laub NTC Command Center.
A nearby sign explains that Archive and Witness takes the form of…a fallen tree in a forest…Through…decomposition and decay, it…provides a home to animals and insects…The fallen tree is not the end of a life cycle; it is a transformation as well as a beginning…
The slab from the dead tree, whose tree rings represent a finished life, seems to pulse outward with abstract rings symbolizing future life. At least, that’s the way I see it.
It was interesting to read that artist Trevor Amery’s father was stationed at the old Naval Training Center San Diego here years ago. The human world, like a forest, is interconnected in surprising ways.
Archive and Witness stands where the Mingei International Museum’s Nikigator sculpture stood while that Balboa Park museum was undergoing its renovation a couple years ago.
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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.
You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!
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!
In San Diego, as in any city, the only true constant is change.
Trucks load and unload. Buildings fall and rise. Cars turn corners. People from every walk of life funnel through crosswalks. Lives intersect.
We travel down countless paths to futures unknown.
To curious eyes, the city reveals infinite complexity. And infinite mystery.
I took most of these photographs very recently.
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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 plaque by the Mission Bay boardwalk honors the legacy of a man who was an inspiration to many.
Ken “SAWMAN” Sawyer III is remembered as one who lived life to the fullest and left us a legacy of laughter, love and compassion…
I noticed this memorial plaque last weekend while walking near the boat rental dock of the San Diego Mission Bay Resort.
May we all be remembered for having such a positive influence.
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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 memorial to a beloved Ocean Beach man now appears on the small building where he repaired and polished shoes for decades. William L. Washington “Shoeshine Willie” passed away early this year. The memorial contains two short poems written by Aaron Bryant.
Years ago I remember seeing Shoeshine Willie working in his modest shed next a parking lot and Ocean Beach bus stop. At the time I thought it was unusual for a shoeshiner to be active in a day and age when the profession has all but disappeared. I now wish I had spoken to him.
If you’d like to see this touching memorial, head over to the corner of Newport Avenue and Cable Street. I noticed it during my last walk in OB.
Here’s an article concerning William Washington and what he meant to the community.
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The COVID-19 pandemic was difficult for all of us. Tragically, many would not live through it.
We all remember the long days of uncertainty, fear, loneliness, forced isolation.
If you head to Balboa Park today, you need to stop by the San Diego Museum of Art to experience Paintings from the Confinement. Today is the final day of this emotionally moving exhibition.
I viewed the small egg tempera paintings, created by San Diego artist Marianela de la Hoz, at the urging of my museum docent friend Catherine.
The images are symbolic, spare, often grim. There is darkness. There are claustrophobic spaces. There is flat human life on small cold screens. But there are a few rays of hope beyond the confining walls. Thank goodness those walls have now mostly come down.
The artist found it hard to honestly paint her many feelings. In particular, it was very hard to portray death.
In her statement, Marianela de la Hoz explains the only treasures I have are my loved ones, family, friends, and art; everything else remained as non-essential.
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A big celebration of life is taking place this week in San Diego. People from around the United States have gathered at the San Diego Convention Center for the 2022 Transplant Games!
Organ transplant recipients and living donors are participating in a variety of fun sports competitions. As you can see in the above photograph, cycling 5 km and 20 km road races along Harbor Drive were part of today’s activities!
Through this Wednesday, the public is welcome to visit the Transplant Games Village and Expo, located in Exhibit Halls A and B at the convention center. There you can watch some indoor competitions, such as basketball and table tennis. For a schedule of events, click here.
Many organizations that help those in the transplant community are also present.
I met authors who’ve written books describing the whole transplant process, making it all easier to understand. Other creators have produced videos featuring loved ones who were helped, or who helped to save a life by making an organ donation.
I saw organizations that create online community, gather inspirational stories, or offer practical guidance and mental health services. Medical providers and pharmaceutical companies also had tables. All of these smiling people were there to offer critical help.
Near the entrance to the Transplant Games Village and Expo, several beautiful quilts remembered loved one.
Everywhere I turned, I observed people full of happiness, gratitude and hope, and a strengthened love of life.
I came away feeling inspired.
Smiles from The Mended Hearts. The non-profit works to inspire hope and improve the quality of life of heart patients and their families through ongoing peer-to-peer support, education, and advocacy.
Robert Horsey has written the book Gifted and is producing a video concerning the complex topic of organ donation. According to his website: Even the largest football stadium in the U.S. could not fit the number of people on the national transplant waiting list.
Many transplant stories pinned to a board, courtesy Balboa Nephrology and Evergreen Nephrology.
Author Brenda Cortez is a living kidney donor. She has written a series of Howl the Owl books making transplant and medical procedures less scary for kids.
The Joe 238 documentary celebrates the decision to donate. According to the website: Through multiple stories of grief and recovery, we learn about healthy grieving, what it means to be a donor family and plant the seed for an honest conversation about organ donation every family needs to have.
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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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