LOVE carved into the beam of a wooden shelter on Presidio Hill.
My walk today took me along a lonely dirt trail on Presidio Hill.
The trail, among quiet trees, climbs above the location of the old Spanish presidio, the nearly 250 year old birthplace of European civilization in California. After a short distance, the trail descends toward a primitive wooden shelter overlooking a canyon.
The shelter was empty. A wreath of beautiful fresh flowers lay upset on the ground. A small floral display of some kind was broken in a corner. Torn flowers lay scattered about.
It’s a very strange mystery. But so is love.
Walking along a lonely trail covered with pine needles. Few people visit this part of Presidio Hill.A simple wooden structure among the trees comes into view. It is empty.Flowers are scattered on the ground.An upset wreath of fresh flowers. A broken display, left behind. Why?A beautiful mystery. Perhaps it contains sorrow.
Tourists are given a magic show by a busker near the reflecting pond in Balboa Park.
I took a Sunday stroll through Balboa Park. Here are some fun pics!
Duck enjoys the pool of water at the San Diego Museum of Art’s outdoor May S. Marcy Sculpture Court.Kid with painted face examines Man in White. This cool busker appears to be made of marble. He was entertaining surprised visitors on El Prado.Kid walks through a hula hoop on a stretch of grass.Guy shows some people his stuff in the Plaza de Panama.Folks wait on a bench for the free Balboa Park tram, which I call the green caterpillar.The San Diego Automotive Museum is having a food drive inside their front entrance. Stop on by!Happy dogs, walkers and a cool guitar-playing musician on a sunny Sunday in San Diego.Who doesn’t love colorful twisted balloons and soaring bubbles?
Two gulls take a nap in the San Diego sunshine the day after Thanksgiving. Many people were enjoying a pleasant, easy stroll along the waterfront.
It’s the day after Thanksgiving. I just took a walk along San Diego’s Embarcadero. If a picture is worth a thousand words, here are 12,000 words that hint at why I’m thankful every day to live in this beautiful city. I could write volumes and volumes.
A sleepy sea lion doesn’t care what sort of crazy, wild-eyed antics his buddy is engaged in.The Maritime Museum of San Diego’s historic Pilot boat crosses the bay as white clouds glow gloriously in a blue sky.This seagull was watching me taking a walk around Tuna Harbor. I wonder what she thought I was up to?A couple snuggled on the rocks by Seaport Village watch a gull take flight from the nearby wall.A busker magician comedian mime guy gets tied up in inescapable rope during his funny routine at Seaport Village.Mrs. Claus greets a child and mother at the Seaport Village’s East Plaza Gazebo.A guy carrying a skateboard ambles past outdoor diners at Sally’s Seafood on the Water.A helpful tot picks up a photographer’s tripod after a photo shoot at Embarcadero Marina Park North.A snowy egret checks out a small stone in the Marriott Marina on San Diego’s waterfront.Magnificent clouds the day after Thanksgiving on San Diego’s Embarcadero. Visible is a Dole cargo ship at the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal.Taking flight in the sunshine.
Sign near the entrance to Visitor Center of Tijuana Estuary, home of a National Wildlife Refuge and National Estuarine Research Reserve.
What place in North America officially contains the most plant and animal species? You don’t know? San Diego and the Northern Baja California region!
Yesterday I took a nature walk around and through the northern section of the Tijuana River Estuary. The large estuary, which is located at the extreme southwest corner of the continental United States, where the Tijuana River empties into the Pacific Ocean, contains abundant life which reflects San Diego’s amazing biodiversity and range of habitats.
The Tijuana Estuary is not only a place of tranquil beauty, but it’s a scientific laboratory, protective refuge, and outdoor classroom where the public can learn about our natural environment. It’s managed by several agencies, including the NOAA National Estuarine Research Reserve System, the California Department of Parks and Recreation, and the National Wildlife Refuge System under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
I absorbed so much information while walking about, reading signs, and listening to a volunteer guide during a short nature walk near the Visitor Center, that I couldn’t possibly convey it all on my blog. So I’ve selected some photos and have captioned them so you’ll get the gist of what I saw and learned. And hopefully you’ll want to visit, too!
Relatively few people partake of the scheduled weekend nature walks at the Tijuana Estuary Visitor Center. Joan, the plant expert, said that some days nobody shows up. What a shame. Because there’s so much beauty, so much to see.
I strongly encourage anyone who lives in the San Diego area to head down to Imperial Beach and take a long, leisurely walk where life thrives!
Ecoroute Bikeway and sidewalk along Seacoast Drive in Imperial Beach offers views of the north section of 2,500 acre Tijuana River Estuary.A white egret and other small birds enjoy the fertile, nutrient-rich environment created by this important coastal wetland.A shorebird equipped with a long bill, used to poke into sand and mudflats for food. Over 370 species of birds have been sighted in the wildlife reserve.Once a dump, and destined to be a boat marina, local citizens fought to have the Tijuana Estuary protected as a National Wildlife Refuge and National Estuarine Research Reserve.Steps lead down from Imperial Beach Boulevard to one of many trails in the fascinating, life-filled estuary.There are many habitats in the estuary including dune, salt panne, salt marsh, mudflat, brackish pond, riparian, coastal sage scrub, and vernal pool.Sign welcomes visitors to Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge. Five endangered and two threatened species of birds are protected here in their natural habitat.I was told these old wooden pilings used to support a storm drain which ran out to the ocean.A Snowy Egret perches atop a post, perhaps watching the water for prey. Small fish, frogs, reptiles and insects are part of the food chain in a shallow river estuary.The path to the Tijuana Estuary Visitor Center passes through a garden of native plants often found along the coast of Southern California.This colorful abstract map at the Visitor Center entrance represents the 1,735 square mile watershed of the Tijuana River, reaching deep into Mexico.The edge of the map, inside the Visitor Center’s door, shows a part of San Diego and Tijuana. As it nears the Pacific Ocean, the Tijuana River crosses into the United States.One of many educational exhibits inside the cool Visitor Center. Wildlife abounds . . . at Tijuana Estuary!Viewed from the distance of the moon, the astonishing thing about the earth, catching the breath, is that it is alive.Habitats in a changing landscape. All eight habitats in the estuary endure constant change. Water levels rise and fall with the tides. Salinity of the water fluctuates.Visitors can jot notable sighting of birds on a board inside the Visitor Center. Buds and blooms are also listed.A few people out on a nature walk on a pleasant Saturday in November. The estuary is full of blooms, birds, and animal activity, even as winter approaches.Joan, a super nice park volunteer who is a plant expert (and author of a fun native plant book), shows us the yellow bloom of California bush sunflower.Even though the blue blooms of this pleasantly aromatic Cleveland Sage have dried, the seeds pods have a bluish tint.A tiny hummingbird is perched on the branch of a shrub.The Galvezia, or bush snapdragon, is common in Baja California. It has green stems, bright red tube flowers, and attracts hummingbirds.Hiking south down the North McCoy Trail in the Tijuana Estuary. Rising on the left horizon is Mexico. On the right horizon are the Coronado Islands in the Pacific Ocean.Ranger Debbie Good is super friendly. She answered a bunch of questions with a big smile. Here’s she’s putting away a table used to welcome volunteer workers.These volunteer students from SDSU are helping to plant native vegetation. Efforts to return the estuary to a natural state are ongoing. This area several decades ago was a dump.Looking across cordgrass and a beautiful wetland at the extreme southwest corner of the continental United States.A quiet bench on the North McCoy Trail invites walkers to relax and take in the sunshine and surrounding tranquility.Plaque on another bench at the south end of the trail. In memory of Glendon I. Layton. Rest a moment and watch the birds.The Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve and Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge is a place where amazing biodiversity and nature’s beauty thrive.
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Here’s another very short story I wrote this morning. It might be somewhat true. I simply had to get these words out of my system. Names have been changed to protect the guilty.
A MIRACLE ON SIXTH AVENUE
by Richard
John walked slowly toward his parked car. Sixth Avenue was just another street in the city.
Without thinking, he searched the sidewalk with downcast eyes. Cigarette butts, rotting food, a discarded bottle, a dead cockroach, bits of toilet paper. Disgusting stains, crushed things.
A plume of smoke up ahead caught his attention.
As he neared, John noticed a crowd of people had gathered close to the rising black smoke. Excited faces were staring down at the freeway from an overpass.
A van was on fire below. Traffic on the freeway had been stopped by a police car with flashing lights, and two firemen with a hose were getting ready to put out the flames. The empty van, alone on the concrete, simply burned, nothing more.
At least forty people on the overpass leaned forward to stare down at the freeway. More were arriving, drawn by the smoke, as ants are drawn to sugar. Every person in the crowd held up a phone, carefully framing a photograph. A photograph of an empty van on fire.
The people checked their phone, appeared unsatisfied, changed the angle, held it higher. Needing to capture destruction, meaningless and distant. They watched with perfect fascination and took a second and third picture. A hundred identical photographs.
John kept walking. He’d never before felt such a wave of disgust.
That night he couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t purge from his mind that crush of people. Gawking, predictable, animal humanity, eagerly recording flames and black smoke, because flames and black smoke seemed exciting. Why? For what reason?
People were shallow and disgusting.
But what in the world is new?
And so John walked from his parked car up Sixth Avenue the next morning, a remnant of that dark shadow in his mind.
The sun was up. At the overpass there was no smoke. Cars passed in a blur on the concrete below. The incident was erased. Time swallows everything. Just different trash on the sidewalk.
“Good morning,” said an approaching person. The stranger’s eyes were wide, directly meeting John’s own eyes. A sincere, friendly smile was on the stranger’s lips.
Super cool street art on side of building on University Avenue in Hillcrest.
A month or so ago I enjoyed a pleasant walk down University Avenue in Hillcrest, a neighborhood just north of downtown San Diego. I spotted a whole bunch of colorful artwork, which I’d like to now share. In no particular order:
I don’t know if this qualifies as street art, but I like this cool Jack in the Box sign.Exist1981 street art on a corner of University Avenue in Hillcrest, San Diego.Fun chalk art sign in front of Fiji Yogurt.Long blue hair becomes ocean surf. Artwork painted on California Coast Credit Union.A colorful image of wine and grapes seen during a walk through Hillcrest.Filter…Where good things happen!More cool street art in Hillcrest has a mythical, possibly Egyptian appearance.I was told by a worker at this thrift store that the rainbow-like mural is a work in progress.This large bold spray paint mural on University Avenue is signed by artists Fizix, Revolver, Eyemax 2015.This is the best photo I could get of a really long colorful mural along a rooftop. I see James Dean and Muttley!Live a great story. Sticker on a utility box.A school of fish on an electrical transformer box.A windtorn mountaintop meditation, face in hands.
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Sunrise in downtown San Diego. Photo taken from Eighth Avenue and A Street.
Early yesterday morning I walked down Eighth Avenue, from the top of Cortez Hill to Petco Park. Here are a few random, interesting photos…
Blue Sky apartment tower under construction in downtown San Diego.Cool street art visible from Eighth Avenue, south of Broadway.Early morning activity in front of Lucky D’s Hostel.Some faded utility box artwork on a sidewalk in San Diego’s East Village.A boy jumps rope on one October morning in a downtown San Diego parking lot.Birds in a row atop a street lamp. Bright clouds as day begins.Surveyors have begun their work early in a parking lot beside Market Street. Another utility box with colorful street art.The recently completed Sempra building, just north of Petco Park, reflects clouds and blue sky in the morning.Worker inside old brick building that is being renovated. Cool posters in windows advertise Underground Elephant.
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Looking north at steps that lead down from the quiet, stately Balboa Park Administrative Courtyard.
A few weeks ago I meandered about Inspiration Point in Balboa Park. Walking slowly, pausing often, going nowhere in particular. Just seeing what I might see.
At the south edge of the Balboa Park Administrative Courtyard, I stood and gazed down the hill toward a corner of downtown San Diego. You might remember my blog about the courtyard. It’s a place that very few people know about. It’s peaceful, green, a bit of heaven. A place of solitude.
As I stood, I glanced down some steps leading toward a seemingly unremarkable patch of trees. A dusty lot next to the trees contained dozens of parked city Park and Recreation trucks. I wondered to myself if the public was permitted to walk down those steps, into what appeared to be a city work area.
This mysterious path seems to lead to a jumble of trees and a dusty parking lot full of city Park and Recreation trucks.
Then I saw the blue among the trees. Was that water?
No sign indicated I couldn’t investigate. So I did.
And what I found took my breath away.
Beautiful Bird of Paradise in a section of Balboa Park where the public almost never goes.Entering a magical hollow in the trees, where a shining blue pool and small fountain await.
The trees seemed a forgotten oasis. At their center shined a lonely pool and a small fountain in the form of a child. The cherub seemed to be holding open the mouth of a carp, or perhaps reading a book–I don’t know.
The strange fountain appeared to occupy a magical place, entirely removed from the surrounding world.
What was it?
An email to the Friends of Balboa Park, an organization whose office is in the nearby Balboa Park Administration Building, provided a bit of information.
The person who replied parks her car in the lot not far from the pool and fountain, and she was completely amazed. She’d didn’t know of its existence.
Ranger Kim, who also works in the building, and who knows volumes about the history of Balboa Park, indicated that the fountain was left over from the 1920’s when the U.S. Navy built a large hospital campus in the immediate area.
In the 1980’s, the land was given to the city in exchange for acreage in Florida Canyon, where the new Naval Medical Center San Diego was built. The buildings from the 1920’s were eventually demolished, except for a Navy chapel, the administration building and its stately courtyard, and a nearby medical library and auditorium building. Today the chapel contains the Veterans Museum and Memorial Center; the administration building contains Balboa Park’s headquarters.
And, of course, magic remains where very few people go: a small fountain that healed spirits at the old Navy complex. A beautiful, hidden fountain forgotten by time.
The lonely fountain is in the form of a child. A few empty benches surround the tiled pool.This fountain is left over from the Navy hospital campus built in this area in the 1920’s.The figure seems to be holding open the jaws of a fish, or perhaps reading a book.A beautiful, hidden fountain forgotten by time.
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The sun glows behind a pair of palm trees at the edge of Mission Bay.
Late this morning I headed to the Pacific Islander Festival, which took place in the grassy Ski Beach Park near the center of Mission Bay. I’ll get my photos ready and blog about it shortly!
On the way to the festival and afterward, I took a long, leisurely walk. Mission Bay might be the best place in San Diego for an easy saunter through sunshiny paradise.
When I say Mission Bay Park is a paradise, that’s no exaggeration. Grassy parkland, beaches, islands, resorts and marinas are found everywhere you go, whether by foot, bicycle, roller skate, car or boat. Its 4,235 acres make it the largest man-made aquatic park in the nation. Roughly half land and half water, what was originally a lagoon at the mouth of the San Diego River has been transformed into one of our city’s most popular destinations. Especially during the summer.
But summer is over and the crowds have thinned. Perfect for a quiet, thoughtful walk.
Here are a few random pics…
A fisherman rows a kayak near sailboats docked at Paradise Point Resort on Vacation Isle.Mission Bay Park is the largest man-made aquatic park in the United States. Its 4,235 acres is a wonderland of blue water, islands, beaches, resorts, marinas, and tree-shaded grass.Skateboarding over the Ingraham Street bridge between Vacation Isle and Dana Landing. A seagull on every lamp post!Looking down from the bridge. It’s a quiet Sunday after Labor Day, and many benches are empty. Mission Bay is a perfect place for a long, sunny walk in San Diego!Light reflected on water contrasted with shore rocks.A small pleasure boat glides through South Cove and is ready to pass under the Ingraham Street bridge.A colorful sail and reflection on smooth water at the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Marina.Fishing on a Sunday by the bridge north of Quivira Basin. It crosses over Mission Bay Channel and leads to nearby Mission Beach.Broad blue water and folks recreating on Mission Bay. Kayaks, paddle boards, peddle boats, sailboats, windsurfers and fishing boats can be spotted on any given day.
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Cool San Diego Sights! 