Waterbirds at Lake Balboa

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Curvy Shadows

We found these shadows at Lake Balboa in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California a couple of weeks ago.  We had intended to visit the nearby Japanese Gardens, but they were closed while we were in the area.  Lake Balboa did turn out to be a great place to watch birds though.

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

Camel ?

Ok, not a bird, but it had a nice little shadow at 11:00am.

If you enjoy shadows,  hop on over to Tracy's Hey Harriet Blog for  Shadow Shot Sunday.

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Skywatching in Burbank

Portal of the Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation

  Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery - Burbank, California

See other skies from around the world at Skywatch Friday, hosted by Klaus, Wren, Sandy and Sylvia.

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Venice Canals Walkways

Near Venice Beach in California, one can stroll around this charming neighborhood of canals, walkways and bridges. I learned about the walkways on Tracy's blog, Life Is A Road Trip.

According to Wikipedia the man-made canals were built in 1905 and originally called "Venice of America".  The canal district fell into disrepair by 1940 and was finally renovated in 1992.  Today the walkways of this desirable well-maintained residential area are open to the public for free.

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The Simple Life

California Ground Squirrel

The squirrel's home, Torrey Pines State Beach, San Diego, California

Linking to Camera Critters, a fun photography meme for images with animals.  Click here to see more critters.

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October Skywatching

Yesterday morning

Hi there!  Mostly clear skies over Tucson the past week, but today we have a little rain which is always welcome in the desert. :D

Click here to see more skies from around the world at Skywatch Friday Hosted by Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy and Sylvia.

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Torrey Pines

On our way to Los Angeles from Tucson, we stopped at Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve in San Diego.  Torrey Pines has lovely walking trails overlooking the beach.  The rare trees which the park is named after are unusual looking with their twisted branches and windswept forms.  Coastal chaparral-clad slopes are dotted with cacti and other succulents and sandstone cliffs are eroded into interesting formations.  A feast for the eyes in every direction!
 
I learned about Torrey Pines from Betchai's blog, The Joys of Simple Life.

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Tucson to San Diego

We went on a road trip to visit my mom in Los Angeles.  These are some of the things we saw along the drive from Tucson to San Diego. 

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The Mockingbird

Greetings!  This morning I am pleased to share a monograph from the book, Living Nonduality: The Enlightenment Teachings of Self-Realization by Robert Wolfe, Karina Library Press, 2009:

Yea, Listen to the Mockingbird!

It is June 21 (The First Day of Summer) one hundred degrees in the shade, and completely open to the blue skies on this hilltop. Standing out in the pure sunlight is a pine tree about fifty feet tall. Perched at its very top, and overlooking the hills of this ripe green valley is a mockingbird. Singing.

It has been singing since about 7 A.M., when the sunlight first hurdled the mountaintops, and it will continue until the sun is gone; that is, about one half of the day. The mockingbird will fly away for brief periods of this time, during which its absence will be noticed in the quiet.

It sings for several minutes at a time, and then—still singing—it will leap into the air and flutter its wings in a semaphoric display of black and white, settling again on its prominent perch and continuing its plaint. Its song is not desperate, but it is insistent and unrelenting. It is designed to carry for a considerable distance over the hills.

As one listens, on this day in which few creatures are active, the song itself is astonishing. Though repeated, literally, for hours, it is not repetitious. Though one can hear, at moments, the mimicking of a cricket, a frog and the call of other birds, it is nonetheless inventive. What startles the human ear, as it listens, is that each note is sung with an intensity as if it had never been attempted before. Each refrain ends with the urgent sincerity and enthusiasm with which it began. Indeed, as the day wears, the mockingbird renders each passionate soliloquy as if every one of its previous efforts were completely forgotten. There is never a tired, worn or half-hearted effort; each effort is as if it were the first—nay, the only effort. The bird and its song are in no way divided; each breath and the expression of each note are inseparable. The potential for each moment is ever richer than the moment before. And all, and everything that one is, is in that rapturous moment. Nothing more is to be attended to than that.

Robert Wolfe's entire Living Nonduality book can be read for free as an ebook at his website here.

The author has kindly granted me an interview with him which is posted here on my other blog, Simply This.

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Blue Sky above UA

Early morning skywatching around the University of Arizona campus:

 Have a wonderful weekend. :-)

To see more skies from around the world, visit Skywatch Friday here.

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