Tag: nature

The new San Diego River mural in Mission Valley.

In mid-April, community volunteers and members of the San Diego River Park Foundation celebrated Earth Day by creating another beautiful mural in Mission Valley!

A wall along the San Diego River Bikeway at Cottonwood Grove, a very short walk west of the Sefton Park Baseball Fields, was painted with colorful flowers and butterflies.

The easiest way to visit the mural is to park at the Sefton Baseball Fields (2508 Hotel Circle Place), which are visible from Interstate 8 at the west end of Mission Valley. A trailhead is located at the west end of the Little League ballfields. The long mural can be spied beyond the sign for Cottonwood Grove. It decorates a low wall that parallels the freeway.

Cottonwood Grove is part of Mission Valley Preserve, whose protected riparian environment is surrounded by sprawling urban development. Here one can find wild natural beauty. Sadly, it’s also a place where one encounters trash and graffiti (including some on the new mural that I didn’t photograph). I also observed evidence of drug activity, so use common sense and be alert if you walk this way.

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Sensuous Environment at the San Diego History Center.

A new exhibit recently opened at the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park. It’s titled The Sensuous Environment – Sim Bruce Richards, Architect.

San Diego architect Sim Bruce Richards is best known for designing houses that appeal not only to the eyes, but to other human senses as well. The museum exhibit, with its many photographs and drawings, celebrates the unique vision of an architect whose creations feel both rustic and modern. It’s an aesthetic that appeals to an essential human connection with nature.

His houses are truly homes. They are warm and welcoming. They contain natural, textured materials that are pleasant to the senses, like stone, adobe, and beautiful woods, including mahogany, redwood and aromatic cedar. Fireplaces are centerpieces where life gathers. Natural outdoor light shines through large windows. As one display explains: Richards took inspiration from his Cherokee heritage, his apprenticeship with Frank Lloyd Wright, and fondness for the work of San Diegan Irving Gill and other early twentieth century architects…

Reading the fascinating displays, I learned he often collaborated with noted San Diego artist James Hubbell.

Richards also designed commercial and church buildings using the same aesthetic. Did you know the Morley Field Tennis Club building in Balboa Park was one of his projects?

Beautifully inviting furniture that he designed is also part of the exhibit.

The Sensuous Environment – Sim Bruce Richards, Architect presents material from the archives of the San Diego History Center and UC Santa Barbara’s Art, Architecture and Design Museum.

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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 Twitter!

Let’s Get Strainge on a San Diego sidewalk!

Carnivorous plants drooling on a San Diego sidewalk? I suppose that’s what happens when we heed the words: Let’s Get Strainge!

I saw this fun street art today on the side of San Diego Made Factory – Creative Event Space, which is located on Commercial Street east of downtown San Diego.

I was about to enter the building for an Our Walls Speak event (celebrating outdoor murals!) when my attention was grabbed by this spray painted artwork. It’s by Encinitas artist Skye Walker. Apparently the mural, filled with ocean surf and images from nature, promotes Strainge Beast Hard Kombucha. It was painted in 2022.

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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 Twitter!

Beautiful blooms at San Diego Iris Society show.

I took a bunch of flower photographs today at the San Diego Iris Society’s show and sale in Balboa Park. Some of the blooms were beginning to dry out after a full weekend, but that is the eventual fate of any beautiful flower.

In my last blog post, I quoted Frida Kahlo: “I paint flowers so they will not die.” Well, perhaps by taking photographs, the same immortality can be achieved!

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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 Twitter!

Earth Day pledges on C Street.

Today I spotted these Earth Day pledges in downtown San Diego while riding the trolley down C Street. I jumped off to take photos.

Help clean the local communities…

Replenish landscapes with native plants…

Composting and building raised planter beds…

Use less plastic…pick up trash…

Recycle at home…

Enhance the beauty of the environment…

Love life.

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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 Twitter!

Spring blooms in Land of the First People.

It’s springtime!

Days are longer. The air is warmer. Flowers are blooming in the Land of the First People in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park!

A few days ago I strolled through The Iipay ~ Tipay Kumeyaay Mut Niihepok (Land of the First People) area at the north end of the State Park, and I noticed a whole lot of color.

I’m no expert when it comes to identifying flowers and plants, but I do believe I recognized Bush Sunflower, Yarrow and Cleveland Sage, all native to the San Diego region.

I do know that what I saw is 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 Twitter!

Walking along Salt Marsh Bird View Trail.

A short, easy side trail can be enjoyed north of the San Dieguito Lagoon near Del Mar. It’s called the Salt Marsh Bird View Trail.

Those who journey through the San Dieguito River Park along the Coast to Crest Trail might see signs indicating either end of the Salt Marsh Bird View Trail. (No bicycles or horses are allowed on it.)

During my own leisurely walk heading east, I saw one of these signs just beyond the San Dieguito River Park Lagoon Ranger Station, which is located off San Andres Drive and Via de la Valle.

As the trail’s name suggests, those who move along it can observe many birds in the nearby lagoon and its marshy vegetation.

This trail also passes the beautiful Birdwing Open Air Classroom, which I blogged about here. A short path leads up to Birdwing. There hikers will find a shady place to rest and feel alive, surrounded by nature.

Well, here are my photographs. Enjoy!

Over 200 bird species have been observed at the San Dieguito Lagoon.

Its various habitats include fresh water marshes, salt marshes, riparian forests, upland coastal sage scrub and chaparral plant communities.

Four endangered bird species that inhabit this lagoon are the Belding’s subspecies of Savannah Sparrow, Ridgway’s Rail, California Gnatcatcher, and California Least Tern.

Volunteer birders conduct monthly surveys at San Dieguito Lagoon. Learn more about that 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!

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!

Nature’s beauty observed above Lake Hodges.

I took this series of photographs while walking on the David Kreitzer Lake Hodges Bicycle/Pedestrian Bridge. They show the beauty of nature in Spring after a winter that brought much needed rain to San Diego.

The trees in and around the lake were bright green with new spring leaves. This part of Lake Hodges had been dry for many years during a long drought, but as you can see water fed by the San Dieguito River now lingers below the bridge.

The 990 foot long bicycle and pedestrian bridge has some benches for sitting and is a great place for birdwatching. I observed egrets, crows and swallows during my short visit.

The bridge is also notable because it’s the longest stress ribbon bridge in the world! You can learn more about that 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!

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!

Spring green next to Interstate 15!

If you’re ever a passenger in a vehicle heading north on Interstate 15, between West Bernardo Drive and Via Rancho Parkway, look to your right and down. You might see the heads of nearby walkers and bicyclists!

A stretch of the Coast to Crest Trail follows the busy freeway right next to and about ten feet below it. On the opposite side of the trail, not far away, stand beautiful trees that line the San Dieguito River and Lake Hodges.

During the Spring these river trees turn bright green!

Today I walked from the trailhead at the south end of Sunset Drive to the place where the Coast to Crest Trail passes under Interstate 15. (And I continued on, as you’ll see in upcoming blog posts.)

The roar of freeway traffic above me to the right . . . tranquil trees, green grasses and wildflowers of the San Dieguito River Park to my left . . . and an occasional bike or two passing by . . .

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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 Twitter!

The beautiful Birdwing Open Air Classroom.

Beside the San Dieguito Lagoon wetland, near the west end of the San Dieguito River Park, you’ll find a beautiful outdoor space where one can learn about nature and soak in its goodness.

The shady, airy Birdwing Open Air Classroom was dedicated in 2014. It does indeed look a bit like a bird’s wing in flight!

Birdwing may be used as a trailside classroom by teachers, scientists and park rangers. It is also a place for walkers and hikers to relax and gaze out the nearby lagoon.

A short looping path and bridge near the structure passes through yellow bush sunflowers and other native plants. From that path I observed an osprey flying high in the sky–too small for a sharp photograph with my little camera.

The Birdwing Open Air Classroom can be accessed from the Coast to Crest Trail perhaps a quarter mile east of San Andres Drive and the ranger station.

You can learn more about the Birdwing Open Air Classroom 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!

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!