Tag: California

I Did The Math. It’s Close.

quake map

There was a minor earthquake tonight. It was magnitude 3.8, between Villa Park, CA and Corona.

I did the math. That’s 9.6 miles away.

I didn’t feel a thing.

Zip.

Weak earthquake. Five miles deep. I’m not sure they felt it at the epicenter.

Stef has been here four years. She’s yet to feel her first as well.

I felt a minor earthquake in Riverside the summer I graduated high school. I was out west for the first time. Traveling alone for the first time.

That Riverside quake has me covered for a lifetime. I remember watching dishes on a shelf begin to shake and being petrified. My California friends acted as if nothing happened.

It too was a little quake.

Holy Smokes, It’s Holy Jim

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After yesterday’s disappointment I was ready for some real California wilderness today. My cousin Melissa and her son (also my cousin) Max picked me up around 10:00. We headed south toward Cleveland National Forest and the Holy Jim Trail.

I know. Weird name. There is a story.

“Jim Smith was a talker—no ordinary talker. . . a man given to blasphemous eloquence. When he started cussing. . . he could peel paint off a stove pipe.” – GORP.com

We entered the forest in Rancho Santa Margarita, then drove a few miles down a dirt road to the trailhead. It was rutted with rocks poking out in spots. All I could think of was settlers heading west a few hundred years ago riding roads like this for thousands of miles.

I’m not yet a westerner. I don’t yet understand all the nuances. There are homes in the national forest. Some are substantial. Most have rock foundations. Some have propane tanks and outhouses with solar cells. No power lines. No phone lines. No cable TV.

One cabin had a small Yagi antenna pointing toward civilization. Cell service for them, not me!

After 28 years in Connecticut it’s time to get used to a new look. Look down in Connecticut you mainly see green. Look down on the Holy Jim Trail it’s mostly dirt.

Though we’re in the midst of a significant drought the trees were mainly green, but the mix was weird. Trees and cactus comingling.

The trail runs through Trabuco Canyon. We were bounded on both sides by steep mountains.

The goal was Holy Jim Falls, but we never got there. There were time restraints, but more than anything I really felt out of shape. This walk was a wake-up call for me.

We left the trail and headed home, with a detour. We stopped at Cook’s Corner, a biker bar with its own Wikipedia entry!

The place was filled with motorcycles and bikers. Some looked menacing in leather. Their swagger was trumped by the vibe at Cook’s. Nothing bad was happening here.

As we headed to the parking lot I spotted three deer on a nearby hill. Our first wildlife of the day… and they were behind a restaurant.

Sunsets: California Photography’s Low Hanging Fruit

Shooting sunset photography here is like shooting fish in a barrel! Four out of five days the sky is ablaze with color. With little horizon blockage the results are easily obtained and still spectacular.

My new spot is up Portola Parkway toward the toll road. There’s wilderness on both sides and a nearly uninterrupted path to the setting Sun. Thank you highway planners for leaving a place for me to pull over that’s just right.

Oh — and sunset is in the afternoon. Much easier than the East Coast’s sunrise!

This picture shows office buildings near John Wayne Airport (approximately 8 miles) and the distant mountains on Santa Catalina Island (around 46 miles distant).

Sunset with Santa Catalina in the background

All the pictures are clickable for larger version.

If I Complained About Our Weather Would You Listen?

sunset-in-irvine

california-drought-mapFrom a human being day-to-day standpoint, it would seem we moved to an idyllic meteorological utopia. The sun shines nearly every day. It’s hardly ever humid, nor hot, nor cold. Since we arrived in late June it’s been totally dry every day but six!

We really need rain. More importantly, the Sierras need snow! We’re already in a drought with no sign it’s abating.

Most of Southern California uses water from the Sierra Mountains. How it gets here is an engineering marvel just over 100 years old. The water takes a 230 mile gravity powered trip to the LA area.

First_Los_Angeles_Aqueduct_Cascades,_SylmarRight now the Northern Sierras have 7% of their expected snowpack. The rest of the mountains range from 15 to 25% of normal. That’s exceptionally dry.

Snowpack is a great water source. It’s released slowly as temperatures rise. Less wasted runoff. It is mainly dependable, but as this year shows, not totally.

Not only does LA and much of SoCal depend on this distant source¹, so does California’s Central Valley. That affects us all, even outside the West.

Virtually all non-tropical crops are grown in the Central Valley, which is the primary source for a number of food products throughout the United States, including tomatoes, almonds, grapes, cotton, apricots, and asparagus. – Wikipedia

There’s also the enhanced fire danger when it’s this dry. Fire season should be over in January, but Red Flag Warnings will likely go up late this weekend as the wind blows from the east–Santa Ana winds.

I relish these beautifully salubrious winter days, but I hope we get some rain soon and the Sierras get blanketed in snow. It’s really needed.

There will be little sympathy from those reading this while shivering.

¹ – We use mountain water too, but Irvine has local sources for the vast majority of our needs. Shhh. Don’t tell.

Observations From The Tournament Of Roses Parade

We attended the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena yesterday. I think it’s almost as good as Macy*s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Helaine liked this one more. You can’t lose either way.

Traffic

With no traffic it’s a 1:05 trip to Pasadena. It didn’t take much longer Wednesday morning. We left the house around 5:15 AM. Things went smooth until we pulled into the parking garage near our seats.

I’d purchased parking before the event, so I was assured a space in a garage on the Pasadena City College campus. Which space was mine was a little more difficult. I had to hunt around until I found something.

Still early, we sat in the car and made believe we were resting.

There was a lot of foot traffic approaching the bleachers. At times we were stopped. Jammed. The crowd was well behaved, but there should be more access to open space.

Seats

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There is an official seller of bleacher seats at the parade. I bought two a few weeks ago. We were assigned seats in Row JJ–up high.

Our view was unobstructed, but probably a little too high and too far back. Being on the curb would be better, but you have to show up as if it’s a $29 HDTV on Black Friday at WalMart, to get a spot.

I brought my camera and shot away with reckless abandon. I mostly shot with a medium telephoto (28-70mm) then changed to a longer (70-200mm) lens toward the end. The longer reach of the second lens produced more pleasing shots, though it was often too long to capture an entire float.

Shots from the shorter lens had too much natural contrast in a small space. The camera just couldn’t do it justice.

The Dog

This was a tough call for Helaine and me. Would it be too long to leave Doppler alone? We took a chance and brought her.

We saw a few other dogs–none in the stands. Doppler was in a bag, pointed backwards, as Helaine walked past the usher. I followed closely, shielding them as we turned upstairs.

She was quiet. She didn’t fidget. She sat on Helaine’s lap.

How could someone have abandoned this dog?

We are exceptionally lucky to have her. She is as well behaved as a dog can be. She is better behaved than some humans, specifically me.

The Setting

Pasadena is beautiful, nestled in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains and featuring very tall, thin palms. The mountains are starkly visible north of the main drag, Colorado Blvd.

It was 41&#176 when we arrived. Quickly, the temperature rose to the sixties before topping out in the 70&#176s this afternoon.

Blue skies. No wind. Dry air.

It takes no getting used to.

The Floats

A few were really strong, but only a few.

Any float that had “people” looked creepy, as did one that had “dogs.”

Every surface of every float must be covered in a flower or plant or seed. I think there’s a loophole there. Sort of like those cake bakers on TV who make cakes which are mainly inedible! Lots of surfaces looked too flat to be legit… At least to me.

Some were unexpected. eharmony.com had a float. It wasn’t the one where the gay couple was married. Theirs was sponsored by an AIDS awareness group.

The Sea World float had extra security marching right alongside it. Earlier PETA demonstrators had blocked it and been arrested. Not where I could see.

Which reminds me…

Security

drone

There were police on site, but they surely weren’t doing the kind of ‘security theater’ we’ve come to expect in the 21st Century. No bag checks. No nothin’!

I felt no less safe.

The crowd was well behaved, but restrained in a very cramped space.

Around halfway through the parade I noticed a small white object hovering a few hundred feet behind the route. I couldn’t get a good shot, but it’s a definitely quadcopter. I understand they’re considered safe, but safe enough for this situation? A panic here would have been catastrophic.

Bands

The marching bands were cool–every single one! It’s not something you see all-the-time, for sure. All those feet and instruments in sync and on key!

What an undertaking bringing these kids, some from Pennsylvania and other points east, en mass to California. The bands often have over a hundred members, plus costumes and instruments.

Michigan State

Nearly everyone in our section was a Michigan State fan. Go Green. Go White. I shouted it with them. Everyone loves a party.

Helaine noticed one car with Michigan/Spartan side view mirror covers! Seriously? Can there still be unexplored marketing possibilities?

Michigan State must be making a mint off their trademarks. They’re licensed for nearly everything.

Celebrities

Vin Scully was the Grand Marshal. He smiled and waved and looked old. He doesn’t sound his age on-the-air.

Lynn Swan drove by. The top three winners of The Voice had a float.

KC and the Sunshine Band performed, while in motion. Harry Casey is older. There’s a lot of that going on.

Daryl Hall performed with his band. If John Oates was around, I missed him.

The After Parade

Immediately following the parade is a sort of anti-parade. Small groups of protesters march with signs and banners and even a few crudely made floats.

They’re not part of the line-of-march. They weren’t invited.

They’re taking advantage of their First Amendment rights in one of the few places they can be seen by a large audience.

We’re Going To The Tournament Of Roses Parade

rose parade

Every New Year’s Day Helaine would gaze at the tube and tell me how “one day” she’d like to see the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena. Tomorrow she gets her wish. I ordered tickets and a parking pass and gave them to her on Christmas Day. It was a huge surprise and proof it is better to give than receive.

You actually don’t need tickets to see the parade. People are already lining Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena and the parade is 19 hours away! That process just seemed too iffy.

I read the instructions on the parking pass yesterday. Be parked by seven and be prepared to stay until the parade is done! The lot will be staged like long term storage with cars blocked in. My assumption is their 7:00 AM deadline is a little flexible, we’ll still be up very early.

The parade gets underway at 8:00 AM, but doesn’t pass our location until a little before 9:00. The line-of-march takes 2&#189 hours to complete.

On a good day we’re an hour from Pasadena. I have no idea how traffic will be. We plan on leaving the house around 5:30 AM. We’ll only be off the freeway and on Pasadena streets for a few blocks.

Doppler will come along hidden in a shoulder bag. Shhhh. Clicky’s coming too.

We’ve been to Macy*s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. That will be tough to beat. It was spectacular. The big difference will be the weather. It should be in the fifties when we arrive, but close to 70&#176 by the time we’re done, all under sunny skies.

Is Everyone At The Mall?

IMAG0362-w1400-h1400Stef and H spent most of Wednesday on a mission. Items to return. Items to replace. Get out of the way!

By early evening and still not home, Helaine called to ask if I’d like to join them for dinner. Next stop, Irvine Spectrum. It’s the outdoor mall with the Ferris wheel and carousel. It’s got its own Wikipedia entry.

IMAG0367-w1400-h1400I’ve been going to malls since malls were born. I’ve never seen parking as awful as this! Back and forth, up and down, a pack of cars, each jockeying for a good place to watch for exiting shoppers.

I found a space, but not without a minor conflict.

Dinner was at “The Melt,”

Headquartered in San Francisco, California, THE MELT is simply “Grilled Cheese Happiness.” Currently operating 15+ locations throughout California, this fast casual eatery combines chef inspired, all natural, wholesome food with innovative online ordering technology in an eco friendly environment.

IMAG0366-w1400-h1400The food was great, but the place itself was loud, overly bright and not very eating friendly.

The girls asked me to join them as they finished their quest. Not tonight. Not during mall season.

It was a long walk back to my car. The space I found was at the edge of the property. I wonder if it had resale value tonight?

Christmas In California

christmas-in-californiaWe received some great gifts when we got married thirty years ago. Most are long gone. Some were quickly spent. At least one gift lives on.

Bob and Terry were our friends from Buffalo. They gave us the artwork that hangs today over the Christmas tree. It’s called “Christmas in California.”

In Hamden it hung prominently above the fireplace. Here in SoCal it’s in the loft, our family meeting space.

It represented a goal… or maybe a fantasy. This year it’s come true. We spend our first Christmas in California tomorrow.

I miss wearing my red hat and tracking Santa on TV. I miss working so others could have this holiday at home with their families. I don’t miss winter.

Christmas in California is just as the picture shows.

We’ll be spending this evening with our cousins, then living the tradition of a movie and Chinese food tomorrow.

Have a great holiday. I hope you get everything you want.

We’ve Got The Lede: It’s Raining

IMG_0700 rain on the roof

The TV was on in the family room as the noon news began. The lead story&#185:

Rain!

How much?

Will it be gone by Christmas?

To an outsider this might seem a little overboard… maybe to insiders too. My suspicion is it’s a much more valid lead than first meets the eye.

Let me dismiss the hyperbole first. It’s the 19th. This storm will be a faint memory by Christmas. Has California ever even seen a storm lasting six days over one spot?

Rain does have an impact here. Because it rains so infrequently, roads often have a light surface coating of oil and grease. Roads get slippery in a hurry. Freeway traffic which normally buzzes by in the 70s has to slow down.

During our last ‘storm’ the embankment adjacent to a freeway in the San Fernando Valley gave way, flooding the road and blocking traffic for most of the day.

When it comes to rain, Southlanders (is that an actual word?) are fragile flowers. Rain storms do impact them.

Anywhere else this rain wouldn’t be a concern. But this isn’t anywhere else. In SoCal we’re just not used to weather!

&#185 – Yeah, I know. This entry’s title says “lede”, but this sentence says “lead.” There’s no explanation. It just is!

Stuff You See While Flying: Sky Ranch

sky-ranch-airport

On a recent trip from Orange County we flew over a community that looked unusual. As you can see from the attached photo (click to enlarge), there’s one main street running right down the middle of the development with no homes or businesses on it. All the other streets feed off the main drag. Though they do have structures, none of them is near the intersection with the main road.

Puzzling.

I took a closer look and realized that’s no regular street, it’s a runway!

Runway 03-21 is the center of action at Sky Ranch Airport in Sky Ranch Estates. Sky Ranch is in Sandy Valley, Nevada, within feet of the California line.

Internet sleuthing says 75 planes are parked under the hangars that accompany most homes on the ranch. I also learned…

ARPT IS A RESIDENTIAL AIRPARK; AUTO TRAFFIC IS ON & ACROSS RYS.
OCNL LIVESTOCK ON AND INVOF ACFT MOVEMENT AREAS.

No control tower. No lights on the runway, except at the thresholds. But, you can fly home!

This is not the promise of the Jetsons. It’s as close as we get so far.

We’ve Got Our First Lemon

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Outside, in the “California Room” just under a window from our family room sits a tiny lemon tree. It’s 18″ tall, tops.

The tree was planted already showing a few tiny green lemons. I told Helaine they were Crazy Glued on to sell more trees!

Don’t laugh. It worked.

The first lemon has turned yellow! Be still my heart.

I’m not sure what to do? How do you know it’s ripe? I haven’t been in Californian long. Citrus knowledge is tough to come by in Connecticut.

Growing season is long over in the east, but all my plants are still thriving. Gardenias are blooming. Hummingbirds are sipping at the feeder.

Eating fruit grown in our own yard is a California fantasy Helaine and I share. Check one off the bucket list.

California Gardening

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My friend Mike called today. He lives in Nashville, but he was raised in California. He said he was reliving his California years through my blog.

I’ve heard variations on that theme more than once.  California is different. There’s lots to absorb.

One of our SoCal goals was to grow fruit. What kind? Who cares.

Our patio area has two little lemon trees. They’re supposed to grow to six feet. They’re not quite two feet now.

Each tree has loads of tiny lemons and one larger one.  Do they glue one bigger one on at the nursery as a come on?  It seems too good to be true.

I’m unsure whether to thin the trees or let all the fruit grow. This will be a learning year.  As long as I don’t kill them we’ll consider the garden a success.

I’m also unsure when the fruit will be ready to pick, or if there will even be pickable fruit in year one.

Originally I was watering my garden seven minutes a day. Then came the mushrooms! I’m down to three minutes every other day. No one’s complaining. I might have discovered the sweet spot.

Helaine read an article that said I can plant tomatoes in the fall. That’s crazy.

Maybe the movie Endless Summer should have been about California gardening.

NFL California Style

nfl

My first week of NFL games from California is nearly over. It is a brand new experience.

With a Thursday game, Sunday night, plus two on Monday there was more choice than usual. That would have been the case back east or here.

What’s obviously different is the 10:00 AM start for the first game! I was just getting up and the game was already a few plays old.

Helaine usually stays up to watch the late Sunday game. Often she’d complain about how late it lasted and how it would screw up her schedule. No more! Sunday’s late game was over well before bedtime, around 9:00 O’clock.

I’m not sure how the local affiliates feel. Thursday’s game on NBC meant no early evening newscast on Channel 4. Local news is a big money maker for TV stations. Football is too, but the local stations get fewer commercials to sell.

In the East Sunday’s evening game leads into a delayed edition of the news. Sunday night’s game here ended early enough for an hour of network filler before the local news at its normal time of 11:00 PM. I’m not sure which is better, news after midnight or an hour of much less compelling fare before the news?

Tonight’s second game will end early enough for SoCal fans of the Chargers (are there any?) to get to bed at a reasonable hour.

All things considered the NFL’s schedule is a dream for West Coast viewers.

Oh… one more thing concerning football. I know, it’s off topic, but what a night for the Philadelphia Eagles. They stunned the Washington Redskins in a game no one predicted they’d even keep close. For big fans like Helaine and me it was heaven on Earth.

It started before dinner!

The DMV Experience

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Helaine and I drove to Santa Ana this afternoon. It’s California’s closest DMV office and we had an appointment! That’s right. You can make an appointment at the DMV.

Be still my beating heart.

IMAG0446-w1200-h1200Because we expected workers making noise near our house, we brought Doppler. The sign next to the door said service dogs only. I’m sticking to my story Doppler’s in the Secret Service.

Thankfully, no one asked and she sat patiently in her bag as we worked our way through the system&#185.

Good news for anyone planning to move to California from out-of-state. The DMV office looked like a DMV office. You will not suffer culture shock!

The building is squat on the outside, spartan on the inside. It looks as if someone went to Costco, got a large box of people and just poured them in. As with all DMVs everywhere, nothing looks friendly. No one looks happy.

A clerk I dealt with told me he had to leave for a minute. He asked me to wait. Then he took out a key and locked his desk drawer before disappearing.

He was back a minute later, unlocked the drawer and picked up where we left off. Who was he protecting against?

IMAG0445-w1200-h1200Connecticut and other states could learn a lot from the California DMVs appointment system. We thought the line we were directed to was long, but it moved quickly and we were called at our scheduled time.

No sense coming early. 1:15 appointments are taken at 1:15. “Get a cup of coffee,” one early applicant was told.

What’s troubling was another, longer line which ran through the building and out the door. It was mostly brown skinned people wearing work clothes. A computer oriented appointment system leaves out those too poor for computers or those unable to navigate the system. That seems unfair.

“Do you have a passport or birth certificate,” the woman behind the desk asked at our appointed time?

You’re kidding? No one mentioned passports.

Though we’d both studied the California written test that awaited us, we hadn’t planned for this. We went 0 for 2 on licenses!

“Are both cars here,” she continued?

We came in Helaine’s car. Both cars had already been smog tested. We came with proof of insurance and our clear titles for both. We didn’t realize there was also a physical inspection at the DMV to make sure our cars were our cars.

Helaine got her plates. I did not. 1 for 2.

As soon as we got home I made another DMV appointment–another two week wait. This time we’ll come with everything we can think of.

No one wants too much DMV.

&#185 – Click the photo to see a larger version. Look carefully on the floor and you’ll find our pup.

We Went To Laguna Beach

IMG_7135 laguna beach

Helaine and I spent Monday afternoon/evening in Laguna Beach. It’s only 20 minutes away, but a world apart as far as cost of living is concerned!

Part of what gives the town its charm and distinctive look is the proximity of the Laguna Hills (“The Hills”) where houses look like they’re stacked on top of each other. And, of course, there’s that beautiful beach.

I figured something was wrong when we got a parking spot at a meter right at the beach. There’s a three hour limit which brought us past 7:00 PM, the end of parking restrictions. I’m never that lucky!

IMG_7090 laguna beachThere’s a new activity at the water’s edge: tightrope walking. Sure, it’s a short line, but it’s really difficult (I’m told… I’d never do it). Next time I’ll shoot video so you can see the contortions necessary to stay on the line.

It’s a fun place. We did some window shopping then caught dinner outside in a little bistro.

By the way, the priciest home on the real estate agent’s wall was a little south of $20 million! One can dream.

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