Our bedroom window looks out over the garden. Yep, it’s HUGE, a lot of work with neverending projects, but I love my sanctuary.
This is where I see bunnies and roadrunners and all sorts of wildlife.
One day last week, early in the morning, I was getting dressed to go to the gym and spied a hawk perched on a low branch in the eucalyptus tree. I think it’s the same hawk that’s been hanging around for years.
He was facing the pond, quietly and patiently waiting for breakfast to appear.
Therein lies the dilemma. What’s a girl to do?
If I finish getting dressed, I’ll miss this amazing shot; but if I run outside half naked, will anyone see me?
Because we have six-foot fences all the way around our property, I felt pretty certain that no one would catch a glimpse of the real me in my bra and bikini bottoms, so I grabbed my camera and ran outside.
I felt so NAUGHTY hee hee.
This is what I was rewarded with — and do you see how he gave me a shady side eye — so much human flesh this early in the morning clearly offended his sensibilities.
Isn’t he gorgeous? The hooked beak and talons are MAJESTIC.
My presence was distracting (he was looking right AT me) so I went back in the house to allow him to catch his breakfast without further interference.
Don’t worry, I didn’t snap a selfie in my state of undress; you didn’t actually THINK I WOULD, did you?
So much is upsetting at WordPress…the change in the Reader and the format of the write/edit/publish page–whoever thought one could HATE to see “beepbeepboop” as much as I do — so in order to recapture my ZEN, here’s one of my favorite pictures of nasturtiums from the garden.
I don’t spend ALL of my time shopping. Seriously, is that what you thought?
It’s true that I devote a great deal of my waking hours in a search for treasures old and new, but once in a while, I aspire to a higher calling.
On Sunday and Monday, I hung out with an amazing and dedicated group who were protesting Ramos Brothers Circus in San Marcos, California.
Shame on San Marcos for supporting the mistreatment of animals.
What’s my story? I’ve never been to a circus because my mom felt strongly that animals should not do tricks and that there is something so very wrong in forcing animals to become entertainment for human profit.
If you were wondering where all my animal activist genes came from, I’d have to thank my mom. (Also thanks to her for the fashionista gene.)
I stopped eating meat in 1970 when I was a senior in high school. My boyfriend at the time wanted to try to eat healthier so I went along with his experiment. We eventually broke up but I never did eat meat again.
Thank you to everyone who drove by, honked, and gave a thumbs up in support of our efforts.
I have a request to make of you…the next time you see a group of people protesting animal abuse, STOP. Get out of your car. JOIN US. Take an hour out of your busy day just like we did to MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Bring your children. Show them that you don’t just talk about caring for animals…you are agents of change.
Then, hopefully, we CAN make the world a better place.
No matter what you think about PETA, they’re right about this:
“Animals aren’t actors, spectacles to imprison and gawk at, or circus clowns. Yet thousands of these animals are forced to perform silly, confusing tricks under the threat of physical punishment; are carted across the country in cramped and stuffy boxcars or semi-truck trailers; are kept chained or caged in barren, boring, and filthy enclosures; and are separated from their families and friends—all for the sake of human “entertainment.” Many of these animals even pay with their lives.”
Animals have RIGHTS.
Did you grow up eating meat, wearing leather, going to circuses, zoos, and the bathtub that is SeaWorld?
Do you wear wool and silk?
Are you now considering the impact of your actions on the animals?
If you haven’t, maybe you SHOULD.
Animals are NOT a requirement for a circus-type entertainment to be prosperous.
The overwhelming success of Cirque du Soleil is proof that you don’t need to have animals of any kind to have a circus.
Ingrid Newkirk, president of PETA, said people have turned against animal acts as they learn more about the animals and how they are treated. “These are complex, intelligent animals, and this is a lousy, lousy, dirty, cruel business, and people see that,” she said. “This was purely a business decision.”
Isn’t it wrong that these animals don’t get to see this glorious sky, bask in the breeze, and feel rain on their fur? Their lives are dismal, traveling from one city to another in dark, smelly, cramped trailers.
I’m not going to share the sad, tragic, horrific, heartbreaking pictures and videos of abused animals. If you need proof, you are more than welcome to Google and compile your own documentation.
I KNOW all I need to know.
A couple years ago, I spoke (along with PETA) against elephant rides at the San Diego County Fair and almost got into an altercation with one of the few supporters of this barbaric form of entertainment. I don’t understand how seemingly intelligent and civilized humans could allow this kind of abuse in 2015 when we’ve seen the videos, when we know what hell an animal endures to become “entertainment”.
Aren’t we better than this?
Haven’t we evolved at all in the last one hundred years?
Do you really need all that bacon-wrapped crap when you know what hellish existence pigs endure in factory farms?
Really?
Compassion
Let’s teach our children, the next generation, that not only do animals have feelings, animals have the right not to be exploited, mistreated, abused, and enslaved.
For more information, visit circusprotest.com
I hope to see you in San Diego at the next protest!
As we walked our way over to the sidewalk with our signs, look what we had to step over.
Gross, huh?
However, in some way, it’s a perfect albeit disgusting metaphor for the way too many people think about animals; that their lives have as much value as a discarded condom. Or something like that.
How about a little inspiration from Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young?
Pretty clouds but no rain. I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down and still somehow
It’s cloud illusions I recall
I really don’t know clouds at all Rows and flows of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere,
I’ve looked at clouds that way. Subtropical moisture in the air. Maybe…
It’s life’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know life
I really don’t know life at allJust an illusion…Thanks to Joni Mitchell, lyrics from Both Sides, Now
The motherly milkweed provides sustenance to the Monarch butterfly and is crucial to sustain the species.
Everyone who loves butterflies should plant milkweed and since NObody doesn’t love butterflies, there should be enough milkweed planted to sustain the entire cosmos.To clarify, I’m not referring to the plural of one my fave cocktails, but the cosmos of our universe.
According to Monarch Joint Venture…
Monarchs cannot survive without milkweed; their caterpillars only eat milkweed plants (Asclepias spp.), and monarch butterflies need milkweed to lay their eggs. With shifting land management practices, we have lost much milkweed from the landscape.
Please plant milkweed to support monarch populations, and their incredible migration!
Planting milkweed is a great way to help other pollinators too, as they provide valuable nectar resources to a diverse suite of bees and butterflies.
The Laguna Mountains are only about an hour away east from the ocean in San Diego.
Most people go there when we have snow — at 6000 feet, it’s the highest point in the county.
It’s possible to surf in the morning, cross-country ski (or hike) in the afternoon, and drop down into the shimmering desert to experience the best of everything SoCal has to offer.
Late May to mid-June is the time of year when color explodes in the mountains and it’s not too hot to enjoy a strenuous hike while the air cools down comfortably at night.
It’s easy to get here: east on Highway 8 to Sunrise Highway.
We went mid-week before schools were out for summer vacation and we had the mountain pretty much entirely to ourselves.
Fragrant pines, Engelmenn oaks, wildflowers; deep blue sky with a few white puffy clouds.
Amazing…gorgeous…magnificent…breathtaking…
There aren’t enough adjectives to describe the spectacular views.
We hiked Desert View Trail and Big Laguna Trail, about ten miles or so.
It was truly heaven on earth, one of those experiences where whispering was the only way to communicate-we didn’t want to mar the ultimate reverence for nature.
These are only a sampling of the hundred-plus pics I snapped and none of them do justice to this paradise.
…floating effortlessly on the soft breezes, possibly to lift our spirits lowered by the demise of the baby hummingbirds, is a butterfly sprite of cerulean polka dots and bands of gold called Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa).
With a nod to Lizzi @ Considerings who asked the question on her Facebook page and got me thinking about one of my favorite books, Betty Smith’s 1943 novel, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn; here in my garden, although water use is now restricted because of the drought and we can no longer grow brightly colored but thirsty blossoms, there’s still beauty if you look for it.
Mother Nature is amazing.
Catching some rays on the rock garden. So pretty… Can I come a little closer?What grows in YOUR garden?
After a horrible night of not much sleep thanks to a bunch of obnoxious college students who must have been too drunk to understand that, to most people, camping means peace and quiet, not a beer binged free-for-all, we embarked on a day hike.
Our goal was Valencia Peak, but we first made a loop up Oats Peak Trail.
Valencia Peak is a coastal mountain located within Montana De Oro State Park. This trail offers gorgeous views of the Central Coast, great views of Morro Bay, Cayucos, and on clear days, you can see Cambria and beyond — with amazing views of Spooner’s Cove to the south.
It’s an easy trail with gentle elevation gain; I didn’t even need the alpine walking sticks I packed.
The spectacular views begin right away as you ascend up onto a saddle, and the rest of the hike is before your eyes.
The trail gets a little harder the closer you get to the top.
DIL and I stopped shy of the peak; my son wanted to run to the top and back, so we took a break, ate lunch, and admired the view of the ocean.
The views are beyond breathtaking. It feels like you’re on top of the world.
The hike down is much easier, but watch out for rattlesnakes. We saw a baby, whose venom is more potent than the adult rattlesnake.
Not too difficult, right?
Ah-may-ZING Kind of a hazy day, but perfect hiking weather.My little goat boy. A narrow passage.View from the Visitor’s Center. Part Four: Jade Cove, Julia Pfeiffer, Cambria, and Costanoa.
After the mostly tranquil train ride (except for one poorly parented relentlessly screamingfordonuts toddler who seemed not to be bothered by her screeching while staring at their smartphones), I was met at the train station in sunny Santa Barbara by Professor Angel Boy and we stopped for lunch at an organic foods cafe.
We made an unscheduled detour because he wanted to check out the surf at Morro Bay, and because it’s always really all about him, that’s what we did.
Driving up the coast to Morro Bay.
I’m not much of a seagull lover, but this guy was too photogenic to ignore.After a brief surf session, we continued to Montana de Oro State Park, six miles southwest of Morro Bay and seven miles south of Los Osos on Pecho Road.
It’s fairly rural and rustic, but SO beautiful. We set up camp and were able to manage a late afternoon hike.
With the sun low in the sky; clouds and fog actively moving over the tops of the mountains, it was serene and enervating at the same time.
Crossing a small creek.
Lichen.
Pretty yellow flowers. Ah-MAY-zing view.A mole peeking out of his hole.
Quail are everywhere and for a while, their melodic conversations were the only sounds we heard. These guys were walking around directly outside my tent.
Later that evening, after a relaxing fire and glass of wine, we heard the unmistakable scream/growl of a bobcat across the canyon.
At that moment, life was perfection.
Little did we know that in a few short hours, in sharp contrast to this beauty and tranquility, we would endure the WORST EVER camping experience of our lives.
As we settled down to a good night’s sleep under a star-filled sky, a group of approximately twenty college students set up their camp nearby and proceeded to drink and yell and party LOUDLY until 4:30 a.m. in spite of the 10pm-7am quiet time rules.
Apparently, nobody, including us, got up to inform the camp host or the rangers of this HELL we had to endure, but we all complained to him the next day.
Just awful.
However, at approximately 3:30 a.m. just as we were dozing, or trying to, during the bacchanal, three fat raccoons furiously attempted to tear apart the locked food cabinet next to our picnic table. My son had to get up and shoo them away, and as he put the food in the car, one of them tried to sneak in.
Amazing.
It was an eventful night.
Right after THAT little adventure, a bobcat screamed so close we thought it was within feet of where we were sleeping, and figured that he had an altercation with those raccoons.
No one slept much after that, because we wanted to stay awake in case we could see him walk by.
No luck with the bobcat sighting, but as I unzipped my tent in the morning, see who was looking at me? A beautiful gray fox! These aren’t the best pics because I was in such a hurry to snap them before he ran off.
What an astonishing gift to sort of make up for the rude frat boys.
Enchanted Seashells | Princess Rosebud 
