EXOTIC BOTANICS AND GOODBYE TO JACK

EXOTICS

       Our recent jaunt to Palm Springs gave us the chance to visit the Moorten Family Garden Center that Lana saw profiled on television. It features cactus and succulents which I have always thought looked as though they could have come from another planet. The family has maintained the unique garden since the 1930's.  It is a good find with  plenty of  photo opportunities.  Enjoy.

AND THEN THERE IS THE FOOT PRINT

       The display near this rock indicates the stone was found in Texas and is supposed to be the footprint of a dinosaur.  Well, it at least stops visitors for a double take.

SAYING GOOD BYE TO BROTHER JACK

       Lana is in Indiana today for the funeral and burial of her brother Jack.

As you can see, there was a big age difference, but she always held an admiration for her big brother.  It seems there was nothing Jack could not figure out, fix or restore.  

       After High School he and a few buddies drove a Model A across country, and traveled what then was the coast highway the length of California. There were plenty of fix it moments and some 37 flat tires along the way.  Later Jack was a pilot, husband, father, grandfather, builder, craftsman and one of the most mellow men I've met. His boys are great young men and his widow Joyce is a sweetheart.  Today, they and his sisters say good bye.

       Lana has many memories of Jack; eating cereal from a mixing bowl, building things, remodeling a kitchen, digging and building a fort, a playhouse and more.  She still delights in telling how she and her big brother had their moment of fame.

       When I called a friend who is an attorney near Jack's home town, he said everybody knew Jack and thought the same thing, "he was a great guy and everyone liked him. No one ever had anything but good things to say about him ."  And so it seemed to me. Goodbye to a great guy who could fix or build just about anything and who always wore a smile.

PALM SPRINGS IMPRESSIONS

FIRST LOOKS

        

       Our discovery of California continued as we made our first journey to Palm Springs and environs.

      The area continues to grow in the Coachella Valley, surrounded by mountains.

       Our route in via the 111 took us past a growing wind turbine range. Good to see this.

Part of the allure is the visual connection of palms and the San Jacinto Mountains including snow caps.

The mountains reach 8-10 Thousand and they are a constant companion.

That mix of sun saturated light, shadows on the mountains, clouds, green and dry mild air drew a Hollywood crowd in the 40's and 50's.

Palm Springs began it's growth in the mid 50's.  Now it has expanded to Palm Desert,

Rancho Mirage, Indian Wells and beyond.  Still it is a play ground and 

center of Modern Architecture.

The pool was designed by a fraternity brother who has created an impressive career as an artist.  

Another fraternity brother has recently moved to the peaceful beauty of Palm Springs.

I told Bill, his new place reminds me of a tranquil resort.

The area is still a magnet for the famous and wealthy. But many others are now able to enjoy what was once an exclusive playground.

The demographics tend toward boomers and up.

The Living Desert Park, though, was full of baby strollers and young ones.

And a few wild ones.

They too seem to enjoy the magnificent views.

I'd love to show you some of the spectacular Modern Architecture,

but most of it is behind walls, gates and tucked in private enclaves-though most of the

public structures reveal the influence.

In a future post-some incredible Palm Springs Botanical scenes.

See you down the trail.

UNDERSTANDING ELEPHANT SEALS

IT'S IN THE GRUNTS AND GROWLS

       Researcher from UC Santa Cruz's Institute of Marine Sciences have been spending time with west coast elephant seals, trying to learn they how communicate.  The researchers have recorded the snorts, snarls, grunts and growls that sound a bit like belches in a barrel.

        They figure the huge mammals settle disputes over breeding rights and prevent fights by their language code.  Their calls can reach 130 decibels, as loud as a jackhammer as pointed out by Nadia Drake of the San Jose Mercury News.  Each male has a unique sound or call.  Drake reports the UC Santa Cruz researchers believe much of the language is used to settle disputes before coming to bloody and brutal battle.

        There is a large colony of elephant seals on the central coast, just a few miles north of Cambria. Visitors from around the globe trek to the viewing area to watch the massive and blubbery beach dwellers, who are often comical.  They wallow, snort at each other, mate, give birth and simply nap, flipping sand with fins that are uncannily like human hands.

         Here you can see a few pups, newly born elephant seals.  They get about six weeks of attention and nursing from their mother, then they are on their own.  The mother's interest turns to mating, and once that is done, she swims off to feeding grounds in the north Pacific.  The pup then becomes a "weaner" as they are called and has to learn to swim on his or her own. When nature dictates, they swim off singularly to either the male or female feeding grounds.  Those who survive, come back to the same beach, year after year, to molt, mate and mostly nap and snore.

AND NOW ABOUT ANOTHER NAPPER

THE FELINE

SO IS THAT CUTE, OR PERHAPS PERSNICKETY CAT OF YOURS, A KILLER. LINK HERE FOR THE BRUTAL TRUTH.

See you down the trail.

THE WEEKENDER :) QUALITY BS AND A TIME BANDIT

FUN RIDES

In the spirit of our weekend fun, we offer a couple of cyber rides to entertainment.

This video has been around a while, but it has to rank as one of the all time great examples of salesmanship and bs.

And then for a diversion into creativity, and time burning

LINK HERE AND BE AN ARTIST. ENJOY!

Have a great weekend.  See you down the trail.

NATURAL BATTLES AND NORTHERN LIGHTS

FRIENDS OF THE LIGHT STATION

VS

THE ICEPLANT

       The headline in the Cambrian, our weekly paper, declared the "Iceplant pickers prevailed at Piedras Blancas" light station.

You may recall from an earlier post regarding the Plant Police, there is a movement here by some naturalists to remove invasive species. It is done to allow natural plants to flourish.

As beautiful and fire retardant as iceplant may be, it is aggressive.

When the US Coast Guard  ran the Piedras Blancas Light Station, Ice plant was planted.

Over the last few years volunteers have been working to clear it and it appears they have indeed won.

Native species have begun to flourish.

The Volunteer coordinator Carole Adams and her team were recognized by the Bureau of Land Management for their efforts.

Piedras Blancas is a landmark on the central coast past San Simeon on the route to Big Sur.

It has a rich history and is a beautiful facility.

Outside the staircase the volunteers removed some 2,000 dry tons of iceplant. According to the Cambrian, a commercial effort to eradicate the growth would have cost 

$1.1 Million.

SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL IN THE SKY

I URGE YOU TO CLICK ON THIS LINK TO ACTIVATE A SPECTACULAR VIDEO OF THE NORTHERN LIGHTS. IT WAS CREATED IN NORWAY BY OLE CHRISTIAN SALOMONSEN AND FEATURES A BEAUTIFUL SOUNDTRACK AS WELL.

Enjoy.  See you down the trail.

WHEN A TREE DIES AND OTHER SCENES OF NATURE

DRIPS AND DROPS

       

        The middle of the latest Pacific storm to dampen the area is working its way through and while the Central Coast is an intense green, some of our old Monterey Pines are dying. Crews are working and dropping them to the ground before they come down in a wind, possibly striking a home or power lines.

I could view this old tree everyday. In better health it sometimes resembled the cartoon character Marvin.  Now it and a neighboring pine are being trimmed to be brought down.

The crew braved a strong wind and light sprinkles.

As you can see, branches are trimmed, making the work more safe.

 In the top right you can see a branch falling.

After which it is chopped and mulched and will be used by gardeners and landscapers.

It is an element in the natural cycle, though we can grow attached to trees.  They become 

a part of our daily reality and so we will miss them.

But this is an area with great sensitivity to the pine, and in most cases new trees will be planted where the old stood.

ANOTHER BIT OF NATURE AND IN THIS CASE SPECTACULAR

This is a marvelous trailer for a BBC program. It runs about 3:30 and is worth the time.

I suggest you watch it in a full screen mode by clicking on the Youtube icon.

Enjoy

See you down the trail.

NUCLEAR QUESTIONS & GETTING COZY

SOLID AS A ROCK?

NOT LIKELY

       As California continues a review of its nuclear facilities I continue to bang against what I think is either ignorance or arrogance. How can we in good conscience utilize a process that produces a lethal byproduct, that remains lethal for thousands of years and not have a solution for what to do with it?  

       For the time being, we put some of the stuff in cooling ponds, which the Japanese disaster demonstrates is vulnerable.  Under the best of circumstances we can take "cooled" waste and then "dry store" it in casks, which at best are guaranteed for only a hundred years.  That is a hundred year solution to a thousands of years problem.  Stupid or arrogant.  And then there was the halted plan to bury some of the waste in a mountain. Of course burying the nuclear cocktail is likely to contaminate aquifers.

       In Europe they use a different process and "reprocess" some of the waste.  A major downside is the "reprocessed" waste can soon be made weapons grade.

       There is no solution, but as we use nuclear energy, we continue to create waste which is the problem that demands a solution.  As I noted in an earlier post, atomic research is science, high end science and requires brilliance. But application of that science to date has been what-big bombs, small bombs, and an energy system that creates a killer byproduct for which there is no plan that will last as long as the lethality of the waste. And as I have asked before, is there anything in human history that gives you confidence we can plan and execute a strategy that requires a 1-10 thousand year operation?

       OK, if you could be sitting next to God, or looking at us from a distant star or galaxy or planet- take your choice of any of those options- do we look stupid and maybe even dangerous?

TIME TO CHILL

Days like these are good for a comfortable chair and a good book

or reading pad.

More rain.

A wet coast

You can't get there from here, because of the Highway 1 slide which has a life of its own now. For those of you away from the Pacific Coast, here is a report from Pelicannetwork

Folks have been asking what's going on in Big Sur?

Posted by Margie Whitnah

http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/weblogs/news-blog/2011/mar/22/update-highway-1-damage-impact-big-sur/

Highway 1 Damage and Big Sur Headaches

By Joel.Ede

March 22, 2011

California Department of Transportation closed a severely damaged section of Highway 1 near Rocky Point to pedestrians and cyclists Monday, despite Big Sur residents’ requests to allow for grocery and pharmaceutical relays.

Jack Ellwanger of PelicanNetwork.net and a Big Sur resident agrees that the situation needs control, but is concerned at the number of non-residents showing up just to get a look at the damaged highway.

“There’s too many non-residents tramping around and that’s not a good situation,” Ellwanger says.

Big Sur residents are in the process of getting a shuttle and relay system going with the help of Cal-Trans, but the weather isn’t helping their cause. The only other options residents living to the south of the slide-out have to access Monterey is the Nacimiento-Fergusson Road—prone to closure itself—and the five-hour commute through Cambria to 101.

“Business sucks,” according to Redwood Grill’s Executive Chef Tommy Noel, “We were just gearing up for spring break and it just died.”

Noel says aside from lack of customers he’s “bummed out at the five-hour drive” he has to make in order for his kids to get to school in Carmel, luckily a host family has taken them in until other arrangements can be made.

Big Sur blogger Kate Woods Novoa reports that Nacimiento-Fergusson Road is accessible thanks to the County of Monterey road crew, but says its not an advised route for travelers due to its dangerously unforgiving nature.

As if things weren't bad enough on Highway 1 there have been a handful of rock slides near Soda Springs and it seems a stretch of the highway between ragged point and the county line is "showing movement in the increasing cracks in the pavement," according to Novoa.

Oakland based contractor Condon-Johnson & Associates has obtained the $2.5 million emergency project bid and is aiming for a temporary repair of Highway 1 slated for completion by April 16.

 ----------------

KSBW.com

Changes Announced To Big Sur Marathon Route

Routes Changed After Highway 1 Collapse

POSTED: 11:33 am PDT March 22, 2011

UPDATED: 11:44 am PDT March 22, 2011

http://www.ksbw.com/news/27282016/detail.html

BIG SUR, Calif. -- The Big Sur International Marathon will still take place as scheduled on May 1, but there are now significant changes to the race routes because of the collapse of a section of Highway 1 between Palo Colorado Road and Bixby Bridge. Race routes have been altered on three of the courses affected by last week's collapse. The marathon, marathon relay and 21-miler have been changed from point-to-point courses to out-and-back courses. The new course will begin just before the Carmel River Bridge and head south on Highway 1. The marathoners will start first at 6:45 a.m., followed by the 21-milers. The turnaround is yet to be determined but will be in the vicinity of Rocky Creek Bridge. The 21-milers will tentatively turn around at Rocky Point Restaurant. On the return trip, the marathoners will take an approximate 1.7 mile detour through Point Lobos State Park before returning to Highway 1. The final configuration of the marathon course will be announced when it is certified for distance. The 10.6 mile race will not be affected since those competitors start at Rocky Point Restaurant and run north. The 9-mile walk/run and the 5K run courses are also not affected. Both of those races will begin at the Carmel River Bridge shortly after 7 a.m. For more information, visit www.BSIM.org

Copyright 2011 by KSBW.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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"In the end, we will conserve only what we love;
We will love only what we understand:
And, we will understand only what we are taught."
Baba Dioum, Senegalese ecologist


Contact:   Jack Ellwanger      831 667 2025    PO Box 144    Big Sur, CA    93920

Even the wild life find this weather a day to curl or kick back

Or to hang together

Forces of nature are at work.

See you down the trail.

Hopefully, someplace where it is dry.