Eurasian Collard-Dove

Saw and heard my first Eurasian Collared-Dove in my backyard today.

Photo credit

Universal Peace

Know thou that all the powers combined have not the power to establish universal peace, nor to withstand the overmastering dominion, at every time and season, of these endless wars. Erelong, however, shall the power of heaven, the dominion of the Holy Spirit, hoist on the high summits the banners of love and peace, and there above the castles of majesty and might shall those banners wave in the rushing winds that blow out of the tender mercy of God. 
-- Abdu'l-Bahá

Firewood

I got the firewood stacked, and I'm ready for November.

The Arborvitae has grown to be the green privacy wall I had hoped it would be.  The Yarrow has found a home, too.

 I had a portion of the concrete driveway sawcut and removed the summer I bought the house (2001).

THE HOUSE OF THE BÁB

THE HOUSE OF THE BÁB, SHIRAZ, IRAN

Dogwood and Ceanothus

My Dogwood continues to put on a show.  I love the cobalt blue of the Ceanothus which is coming on.

Afternoon Sun

Backbiting Music Video - Mana

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BAD JOKE EEL

BAD JOKE EEL

Dark-eyed Junco

Saw a Junco in my backyard.  It was one of two that I've seen in what seems like weeks. 

I thought of Stephanie and her mother.

Photo from here.

Red-breasted Nuthatch

These little visitors to my backyard are very much like the Chickadees: They're about the same size and very friendly.  I usually only see one at a time, though, whereas there's a threesome of Chickadees (who seem to enjoy my company as much as I enjoy theirs).  They love being upside-down and sideways.

Just the other morning a Nuthatch repeatedly came to the feeder and we were eye to eye like in the picture--about 18 inches.  Moments like that are very rewarding.

Photo:  Jerry Oldenettel

JEFFREY COBB EWING

Western Tanager

I had a beautiful visitor to my backyard today...

I may have seen three females in the birdbath a week ago--I couldn't make a positive identification. Though subtler in coloring than the breeding male, the three of them were striking in the shadowy corner of my garden.

ADIOS, PELOTA!

Jon Miller has a great home run call for those hit by Latino Giants:

"ADIOS, PELOTA!!"

You can hear him in this vid @ 0.41.

Miller has been quoted for his call (which I saw and heard) of three base-running mistakes in one play by Ruben Rivera:


"THAT WAS THE WORST BASE RUNNING IN THE HISTORY OF THE GAME!!"




Here's the clip.

Dogwood

The Dogwood looks good this year.  It must like all the rain--over 26 inches this year and counting.

BORN BARNSTORMERS

CAT AND VASE

House of Worship, Chile, South America

O people of the world! Build ye houses of worship throughout the lands in the name of Him Who is the Lord of all religions. Make them as perfect as is possible in the world of being, and adorn them with that which befitteth them, not with images and effigies. Then, with radiance and joy, celebrate therein the praise of your Lord, the Most Compassionate. Verily, by His remembrance the eye is cheered and the heart is filled with light. --Bahá'u'lláh

Garden of Ridván

The painting found a home in New Zealand!

SPRING RAIN IN SEATTLE

It has been raining a lot in the Northwest this year.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER

I spied a Yellow-rumped Warbler at the suet this morning.  I haven't seen one since last May.

(Photo credit:  Jim Williams)

EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN

EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN

I want to scream, but who'd listen?  

Ornamental Cherry

The Ornamental Cherry is putting on a show this year.

ONLY A HOBO

NO LEFT TURN!

1969

One of my duties as a minimum-wage laborer in the maintenance department at the Highlands Inn in the Carmel Highlands in 1969 was to weekly drive a battered 1953 Chevrolet dump truck full of garbage--most of which I  loaded-- to the landfill in Marina, and then drive to the Betty Green Stables at Asilomar for a truckload of manure, 100% of which I loaded by hand with a scoop.  The owner of the Inn, Mr. Ramsey, was a Scotsman who couldn't pass up a truckload of free fertilizer each week, and Betty was happy to have a kid haul it away.

 I crawled up Carmel Hill from the south in compound low with a load of trash and rotting garbage, returning four or five hours later with a hot load of fresh manure.  What a job! I was a kid earning a living driving a '53 Chevy dump truck around the Monterey Peninsula with a box lunch from the kitchen at the Highlands Inn!

After the adventure of dumping my load of trash and garbage in the Marina landfill, I'd drive through Monterey, then take the PG cutoff to Asilomar.  There was a roadside pullover that had a great view, and that's where I'd eat my lunch.  The approach was a little dicey to say the least,  as it was a blind curve just past the summit. Once, I damn near caused a head on collision because of my youthful stupidity, and the next week, a 'NO LEFT TURN' sign was posted.  I take full credit, or blame.

Google Streetview screenshots. It looks much today just as it did then, save for the pines obscuring the view from the pull-out.

Here are a couple of Google Earth screenshots of the pullout and the view I had while eating my box lunch.

The Del Monte Forest

 On a clear day, I could see Santa Cruz across Monterey Bay.  The words NO...LEFT... TURN are visible on the pavement--a testament to my idiocy.

It was a dumb idea

One of my boys once left me this note...

Random memories of Candlestick Park

RANDOM MEMORIES OF CANDLESTICK PARK


My bro scalped three tickets to this game.  When I drew this, Will Clark was up, and the Giants were ahead 3-0.

My sons getting autographs from Jack Clark in the concourse in 1981, I would guess.

I attended this game in 1989.

Candlestick was notoriously windy.  I was at a game when the wind blew Darryl Evan's cap off at 3rd base, and it flew to the left field (chain link) fence and stuck a few feet from the top.

Tunnel of Love --Bruce Springsteen

I can't find the lyrics she wrote in shorthand...

'AKKÁ, THE SEA GATE

From 'The Promulgation of Universal Peace' :

I, too, was in prison. God removed the chains from my neck and placed them around the neck of Abdu'l-Hamid. It was done suddenly -- not a long time, in a moment as it were. The same hour that the Young Turks declared liberty, the Committee of Union and Progress set me free. They lifted the chains from my neck and threw them around the neck of Abdu'l-Hamid. That which he did to me was inflicted upon him. Now the position is precisely reversed. His days are spent in prison just as I passed the days in prison at 'Akká, with this difference: that I was happy in imprisonment. I was in the utmost elation because I was not a criminal. They had imprisoned me in the path of God. Every time I thought of this, that I was a prisoner in the pathway of God, the utmost elation overcame me. Abdu'l-Hamid is now suffering punishment for his deeds. Because of the sins he committed, he is now in prison. This is retribution for his acts. Every hour he is mortified anew and his ignominy revived. He is in the utmost sorrow and disappointment while I am in perfect happiness. I was happy that -- praise be to God!  --  I was a prisoner in the Cause of God, that my life was not wasted, that it was spent in the divine service. Nobody who saw me imagined that I was in prison. They beheld me in the utmost joy, complete thankfulness and health, paying no attention to the prison.

--'Abdu'l-Bahá

FLH Evolution

At a certain  RPM my Shovelhead would vibrate like crazy. Once, on the road between Silver City and Reno, Nevada, a poorly designed spot weld affixing the spot lamp assembly to the forks failed.   Bungee cords took care of the problem until I found a welder in Reno who made a Saturday repair.

If I recall correctly, the next year (1985), and all subsequent years,  Harley Davidson bolted the spot lamps to the forks.

POLE LINE ROAD

POLE LINE ROAD NEAR MONO LAKE, CALIFORNIA

The road heads east 45 miles straight into Nevada. Mono Lake is to the south.  The Sierra Nevada was in the mirrors of my FLH.

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Cal Central Airlines

CAL CENTRAL AIRLINES



I flew with my brothers on Cal Central Airlines between Burbank and San Francisco many times in the 1950's . The hour flight was free from any concern--other than crashing, of course.  There were no inspections--you just climbed aboard.

I loved the DC 3.

The Electra replaced the DC 3.  My one flight on an Electra was just weeks after one of them crashed, but it didn't bother this 9 year old kid--I was flying!

The Lockheed L-188 Electra is an American turboprop airliner built by Lockheed.  First flown in 1957, it was the first large turboprop airliner built in the United States. Initial sales were good, but after two fatal crashes that led to expensive modifications to fix a design defect, no more were ordered. However, with its unique, high power-to-weight ratio, huge propellers and very short wings (resulting in the majority of the wingspan being enveloped in propwash), large Fowler flaps which significantly increased effective wing area when extended, and four-engined design, the airplane had airfield performance capabilities unmatched by many jet transport aircraft even today—particularly on short runways and high field elevations. The type was soon replaced by turbojets  and many were modified as freighters; the type is still used in various roles into the 21st century.The air frame was also used as the basis for the Lockheed P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft.  From Here.







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