Water Column

What a Life!

Spotted Towhee

Spied a Spotted Towhee scratching around under the bird feeder today.  It was the first one in many months.

Raising the Dead

Many reject religion because biblical miracles do not comport with science.  There is a middle way that separates seekers from followers.

"Consider that Christ reckoned as dead those who were nonetheless outwardly and physically alive; for true life is life eternal and true existence is spiritual existence. Thus if the Sacred Scriptures speak of raising the dead, the meaning is that they attained everlasting life; if they say that one who was blind was made to see, the meaning of this seeing is true insight; if they say that one who was deaf was made to hear, the meaning is that he acquired an inner ear and attained spiritual hearing. This is established by the very text of the Gospel where Christ says that they are like those of whom Isaiah once said, They have eyes and see not, they have ears and hear not; and I heal them."

        Abdu’l-Baha, Some Answered Questions

Steamer Lane - Bruce Owens

Steamer Lane, Santa Cruz

Amedeo Bocchi

Nightmare on Elm Street

When I answered the phone one Halloween, a man on the other end asked “Are you the one who lost a cat?” I had an orange cat named Sonny who liked to wander the neighborhood, and as he wore a collar with my phone number, I answered "Yes". 

The man said: "You need to come down here and pick him up right now. This is the manager of the Del Mar Theater on Pacific Avenue”.  I told him I'd be right over to pick him up.

“Okay”, he said, “where do you live?”

When I told him I lived on Elm Street, there was an odd pause before he said “just hurry”.

As it turns out, the Del Mar--a vintage theater with a free-standing ticket booth in front--was just admitting customers to the next show, so I understood why the manager wanted to be rid of the distraction, which was my cat. So I went right up to the ticket taker at the door, and asked where I could find Sonny. He pointed to the ticket booth, and sure enough there he was inside having a good time with all the activity. The cashier and the movie goers were amused at what was going on.

As I was leaving, I looked at the marquee, and I understood the awkward pause after I told the manager where I lived. The movie that was playing that Halloween Night was “Nightmare on Elm Street” !

*

Skyline 1969

City Lights from Twin Peaks

Golden Gate Bridge

GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE

1953 Chevy Suburban

My First Car

My first car was a 1953 Chevrolet Suburban like this one.  It was the same color as a Lima Bean, so that's what I called it.

Bridge Painter

I talked to this bridge painter. He was a huge man, and he appreciated my respect for his job and my correct surmising of his Native American heritage: He was reticent and deliberate. I appreciated him posing for me in front of his utility truck.

Insha'Allah

The story goes that while in Baghdad, a steady stream of mystics and learned men sought to meet Bahá´ú´lláh....many of whom had quite an inflated opinion of themselves, indicated by the extremely tall turbans they wore and the ostentatious titles they had adopted. One day a man came wearing the tallest turban anyone had ever seen and announced his name to be "The Seal of the Mullahs". Bahá´ú´lláh is said to have smiled at him and uttered one word..."Insha'Allah."

A Drop in a Vacuum

A Drop in a Vacuum

Some curious individual wondered if the effect of a drop of liquid landing on a surface is different in a vacuum than it is at one atmosphere.


This is the effect I'm familiar with.

Here is a video of  a drop in a vacuum.

 I'm unclear on the physics, but it seems that when the friction between the liquid and air is eliminated, all the energy is efficiently and uniformly dispersed into the receiving body...or something.

I lost the contents of the article, but I remember that what was learned in the experiment had a practical application, which, unfortunately, I can't remember.  Doh!

Barry and Linda

BARRY AND LINDA

EDIZ HOOK

EDIZ HOOK, Port Angeles, Washington

Tug

TUG

Sky Glider

Sky Glider, Santa Cruz, California

Let X = X

Brunch at the Garden Court

Garden Court, Palace Hotel, San Francisco

There was a violinist and cellist playing in the little alcove above the middle door as we dined.




I sketched this from our table.

She was in pink and I was wearing  a white double-breasted linen suit.


It was a lifetime ago, and yet I remember the Key Lime Pie.

A Good Day

I had a Chickadee eat out of my hand today.  It looked a lot like this one.  Any day a wild bird eats out of your hand is a good day.

Business is Business

My father told me that he once produced a television commercial for a furniture chain, and the owner was so pleased with it that he said: "Sam, pick out a sofa and you can have your choice of colors."

Jupiter

Jupiter

The Greatest Holy Leaf

Link

The Greatest Honor of an Individual

Vali'u'llah Samadani

And the honour and distinction of the individual consist in this, that he among all the world's multitudes should become a source of social good. Is any larger bounty conceivable than this, that an individual, looking within himself, should find that by the confirming grace of God he has become the cause of peace and well-being, of happiness and advantage to his fellow men? No, by the one true God, there is no greater bliss, no more complete delight'.

--Abdu'l-Baha-- Secrets of Divine Civilization

The Bay of Akka and Monterey Bay

The Bay of Akka and Monterey Bay

We Work and Pray

Mansion at Bahji, Near Akka, Israel

“Greetings and salutations rest upon this mansion which increaseth in splendour through the passage of time. Manifold wonders and marvels are found therein, and pens are baffled in attempting to describe them."

(The dedicatory statement of ‘Údí Khammár placed over the lintel upon completion of the mansion in 1870)

Invitation

Drafting Tools

Some old drafting tools: An electric eraser (I wore out three of them in twenty years) and a couple of horsehair brushes, one with years of graphite and one unused.


Drawing the foundation plan for a loading dock in Watsonville the old fashioned way.

All my old drafting tools, and some I've collected,  have found their way to the tool museum.


The computer and software have made it easy to produce clean, crisp and clear drawings. Curves are easy! No more graphite or erasure crumbs and debilitating back problems.

Here's a framing plan for a unit at the Post Ranch in Big Sur.

Ocean Beach

Steller's Jay

A frequent visitor.

Seat of the Universal House of Justice

Seat of the Universal House of Justice, Mt. Carmel, Haifa, Israel

"The Great Peace towards which people of good will throughout the centuries have inclined their hearts, of which seers and poets for countless generations have expressed their vision, and for which from age to age the sacred scriptures of mankind have constantly held the promise, is now at long last within the reach of the nations. For the first time in history it is possible for everyone to view the entire planet, with all its myriad diversified peoples, in one perspective. World peace is not only possible but inevitable. It is the next stage in the evolution of this planet...."

The Universal House of Justice
The Promise of World Peace

Santa Cruz--Bruce Owens

A photograph by Bruce Owens looking south across Monterey Bay towards the Salinas Valley from Santa Cruz.

Captian Juergen Raps Retirement Flight From SFO

 Good weather blessed Captain Juergen Raps' retirement flight from SFO to Frankfurt, Germany, with clear views of San Francisco and the Bay Area.  The video includes the crew pushback, taxi and take off, as well as a ride on a Harley Davidson across an active tarmac and a comment on the responsive characteristics of the Airbus A380.

Ella Rae in Sitka

ELLA RAE IN SITKA

Spreckels Mill 1970

Spreckels Mill 1970