Another perfect Sunday in San Diego. Another amazing ikebana Japanese flower arrangement show in Balboa Park!
The 57th Annual Spring Exhibition “Nature in Balance” by Ikebana International San Diego Chapter #119 was held this weekend in Balboa Park’s Casa del Prado. Even though I’ve been to many of these shows, I couldn’t resist walking into Room 101 to experience exquisite beauty that never grows old.
I’ve said it before. Every single ikebana flower arrangement is a visual poem.
If you didn’t make the show this year, go to the organization’s website and see what free exhibitions are coming up. Or become a member!
Here are a few photos…
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Today the Nature Trail at the San Diego Natural History Museum became much more lush and biodiverse. 660 plants native to the San Diego and Baja California region were added to the outdoor garden surrounding the museum!
I saw dozens of workers and volunteers this morning at work putting in the native plants. I learned that many new species (many of them pollinators) will now grow along this nature trail in the heart of Balboa Park.
This greatly increased diversity of plant life is fitting for a world-class natural history museum. I was told many more educational signs will be appearing, providing information about the new plants.
Wow! Look at my photos! The NAT has many helpers and volunteers!
According to one online description anticipating today’s event, experts from the Barona Cultural Society Museum, Tree of Life Nursery, Native West Nursery, City Farmers Nursery, and the California Native Plant Society (CNPS) will provide step-by-step guidance on proper planting techniques and native plant care.
I walked along the nature trail in the afternoon after the work was completed, and all the new plantings are amazing!
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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 work of award-winning digital artist Clay Harris will be on exhibit for the next two weeks in San Diego.
Clay’s stunning artwork can be viewed beginning tomorrow (Tuesday, February 25, 2025) in Gallery 21, at the Spanish Village Art Center in Balboa Park. The exhibition is titled Images from the mind of a Mind Voyager! It will run through March 10.
I stumbled upon Clay today as he was setting up the exhibition. He’s the coolest guy you could ever hope to meet.
After checking out his fantastic images of birds, turtles and other marine life, I paused to learn about his art. The high quality digital art is printed on aluminum, and the process creates an uncanny sense of depth. The pieces I observed shine as if light is being reflected from water.
Clay Harris over the years has had his art displayed at many festivals and in many galleries. So many people have asked that he create large pieces for their homes.
I encourage everyone to head down to Balboa Park and check out this special exhibition. And meet an award-winning artist who will make you smile!
Some examples:
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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 through Galleries 14/15 at the San Diego Museum of Art and you might think you’re strolling through a bright dream–a dream of intense beauty that is both real and unreal.
Ruud van Empel: Theatre is an exhibition that opened a little over a week ago at the San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park.
Ruud van Empel is a Dutch photographer and visual artist who makes spectacular digital collages like the ones you see in my photos. He finds beautiful plant forms in nature–in forests, marshes, deserts, and wherever he travels–then digitally combines them into images that look both alien and familiar. To me, the images are of a paradise. He’ll introduce the human form into some of the creations.
When you visit this exhibit, make sure to watch the short film, which describes Ruud van Empel’s creative process. I’m envious. He gets to journey through some of our world’s most amazing natural places while simultaneously creating dreamlike worlds of his own.
If you’d like to view his beautiful worlds, step into the two free combined Galleries 14 and 15. You can access the galleries near the entrance to the courtyard Panama 66 restaurant, located on the west side of Plaza de Panama and the museum. Simply walk through the door that leads to the public restrooms. Ask someone working at Panama 66 if you’re not sure where to go!
Ruud van Empel: Theatre will be on view through July 27, 2025.
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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 Loma Alta Creek Nature Trail is a short, easy path in Oceanside where people in the city can see many birds.
Also known as the Loma Alta Marsh Footpath, the urban nature trail extends west from South Coast Highway (just north of Paradise by the Sea Beach RV Resort) to Buccaneer Park. The distance is about one quarter mile.
I walked the nature trail several days ago and took these photographs. I began at South Coast Highway where it passes over Loma Alta Creek. You’ll see the following sign at the trailhead.
As part of the Pacific Flyway bird migration route, the Loma Alta Creek and Watershed makes up part of the northern section of the Carlsbad Hydrologic Unit. Gathering water runoff as far as 7 miles inland and following much of Oceanside Boulevard, this watershed provides a habitat for seabirds, waterfowl, and shorebirds that migrate to its outlet at Buccaneer Beach. A vast array of salt marsh plant species flourish in the tidal area near the coast to provide nesting and foraging for birds.
Following the trailhead from South Coast Highway toward Buccaneer Beach, you will find many wonderful and diverse species that depend on you to keep their Coastal Wetland Habitat clean and free from pollution.
I observed a Great Blue Heron perched in a tree across the water. My camera on its automatic setting didn’t take such a great picture, unfortunately.
An old sign (I increased the image contrast) indicates that bird species one might see while walking along the Loma Alta Nature Trail include Snowy Egret, Great Blue Heron, American Coot and Black-Necked Stilt.
The trail passes under railroad tracks.
A northbound Coaster train rumbles by…
There are two beautiful murals painted under the railroad bridge. You can glimpse part of one in the next photograph. To see both murals, click here!
In the next photo, I continue to head west toward grassy Buccaneer Park, a popular spot for families. That bridge in the distance is where South Pacific Street passes over the creek. On the other side is Buccaneer Beach.
Lots of birds on the rocks!
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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.
These two murals in Oceanside are seen by relatively few people. They were painted fifteen years ago along a little used nature trail, under a shadowy bridge that supports train tracks.
One of the murals seems to depict nearby Buccaneer Beach, with a view of Oceanside Pier in the distance. The opposite mural appears to show Loma Alta Creek that the nature trail–Loma Alta Marsh Footpath–follows. (I’ll be blogging about this short trail soon.)
I noticed an artist signature: Betty Gilroy 2010.
I walked under the railroad tracks last Friday. These two murals are like weather-beaten hidden treasures.
The following photos are of the Loma Alta Creek mural. You can see the actual creek beyond it. The artwork is filled with many of the birds one can see from the trail…
The next group of photos show the opposite mural, depicting people at the beach. The art was behind a chain link fence, making photography a challenge…
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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 sun had risen above a distant hill. The morning air was warming. Buena Vista Lagoon, separating coastal Carlsbad from Oceanside, was alive with light and life.
This time the looping trail was flooded in at least one spot, so my adventure was a very short there-and-back. But just as peaceful and beautiful as before.
This small walk was part of a much longer, meandering walk today, from the Carlsbad train station to the Oceanside Civic Center. I had the day off from work.
I’ve captured so many photographs from my long walk that Cool San Diego Sights will be including wonderful North County discoveries (including art, historic buildings, and another nature walk) for the next week or two.
To get things started…
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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 new public park, nature center and educational facility is rising in Mission Valley!
The River Center at Grant Park, an amazing project of the San Diego River Park Foundation, is gradually taking form on Camino del Rio North, immediately east of Qualcomm Way.
I walked in Mission Valley yesterday afternoon and took photographs of the River Center over the surrounding construction fence. It was exciting to see how one building is now standing near the center’s entrance.
Last summer I enjoyed a tour of the new River Center and posted a blog here. Since then several structures have appeared, as you can see in these photos.
A kiosk has appeared outside what will be the River Center at Grand Park.I love the artwork on this long construction wall at one end of the coming park space.I took this photo near the park’s future entrance.I believe this building near the Entry Courtyard is The Den pavilion structure. It will include restrooms.A walkway at the park entrance that will lead to an outdoor amphitheater. (The construction you see near the top of this photo is a completely separate commercial project on the opposite side of the San Diego River.)The San Diego River Foundation needs you to join their volunteer team!
Feeling inspired? Would you like to help the San Diego River Park Foundation?
Opportunities include habitat restoration projects, river clean-up events, educational volunteer experiences, joining the Grant Park River Center care team, becoming a community engagement volunteer, and administrative support opportunities.
For a small adventure, hike down into Swan Canyon from the streets of City Heights.
The long, narrow canyon is one of several in this San Diego neighborhood. Like other nearby canyons, it features trails for nature walks in a mostly urban environment.
I enjoyed a short, easy hike last weekend in Swan Canyon. My aim was to photograph a newly painted mural on an old concrete foundation down in the canyon. If you’d like to see those photographs, click here.
There are several ways to enter the canyon. The trailhead I used is at the intersection of Olive Street and Highland Avenue, a couple blocks east of Fairmount Avenue. I headed east down the Olive Street Trail to the bottom of the canyon. You can see several trails on Google Maps if you perform a search.
At the bottom of the canyon, there’s a sign showing where the Olive Street Trail and Quince Street Trail cross. From the Olive Street Trail, I turned left and headed north up the Quince Street trail.
After a short distance of upward climbing, I noticed a definite but unmarked trail to the left. It led to the mural.
It’s hard to get lost in the narrow canyon. Just keep looking around.
Once I reached the mural, I easily retraced my steps. You could venture down another trail or in a different direction if you’d like to conduct your own voyage of discovery!
The trails I walked down were fairly well maintained, but wear good shoes and bring water on a warm day. You can see a few hollows in the shrubbery where homeless people might live, and graffiti in places, particularly near the mural–so be aware of that.
The above sign stands at the trailhead.
The sign contains information about wildlife and plants in our city’s canyons, and is provided by the organization San Diego Canyonlands. See their website here. You’ll find loads of useful information!
Did I come across any wildlife during my walk? The canyon did smell fresh and wild. I observed no coyotes, raccoons or red-tailed hawks, but I did spot a squirrel, and a few small birds in some trees.
Looking down from the trailhead…
Here we go! Watch your step…
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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.
In September, this amazing new mural was painted on a long wall in San Diego’s City Heights neighborhood, down in Swan Canyon.
Local muralist Shayne M. Oseguera (with the help of other artists and community volunteers, San Diego Parks and Recreation, and San Diego Canyonlands) created colorful scenes of nature in a place that is often beset by graffiti.
I hiked along trails through Swan Canyon to get close up photographs this afternoon. I’ll soon be posting a blog about my hike, with directions on how to get to the mural.
In the next two photographs, you can see the long mural from across the canyon. You can also see how concrete surfaces beneath and beside the mural have been tagged with graffiti.
Now, after my short hike, I’m standing right next to the artwork. The sun was very low, making photography a bit challenging, so most of my shots are at an angle.
Enjoy these beautifully painted images of native plants, birds and other life in Swan Canyon!
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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! 