Bad Night — Good Dog

Now it’s coming back to me. I remember inclement weather! Isn’t this why we moved?

ezgif-3421828237

I’m in Irvine tonight. It’s raining. These are large economy size drops. That’s what convective showers produce. The atmosphere is unstable under a dome of cold air aloft.

The window thermometer reads 50. It’s raw tonight.

I escorted Doppler outside a few minutes ago. Now it’s coming back to me. I remember inclement weather! Isn’t this why we moved?

I looked down my street. No puddles. They might be against the HOA rules or possibly a city ordinance. Maybe both?

As always, Doppler was efficient. We were back in the house in a flash.

Helaine left a towel by the door. As I picked it up, Doppler laid down and rolled on her back. She’s been dried before. She obviously enjoys it. I carried her upstairs under my arm.

Bad night. Good dog.

Four Tenths Of One Percent

So many losses. So much head scratching.

Why do so many people vote against their own best interests? Our economy has always been strongest when labor was strong and weakest when corporatists ruled.

I am in denial today. It was a horrendous election for those of my political orientation.

So many losses. So much head scratching.

Why do so many people vote against their own best interests? Our economy has always been strongest when labor was strong and weakest when corporatists ruled.

Hey–my side lost. Sucks to be me.

My Cousin Melissa lost last night in a nail biter. The top two were elected to Irvine’s city council..

General Election 2014

Four tenths of one percent. Are you kidding me?

Melissa and her family contorted their lives around this campaign. And now, in an instant, poof.

There was nothing more she could do. It’s a shame. Her ideas on local issues were sound. She would have gotten my vote even if we weren’t related.

Local campaigns get dirty. People lied in campaign literature. Mud was flung. Despicable.

Since it worked it will surely be back next time.

A future blog entry on that.

The One Election I’m Really Watching

My Cousin Melissa Fox is running for Irvine City Council. She has been running a ‘retail’ campaign for the better part of a year and a half. That’s hands shaken, doors knocked, lunches munched. All this while continuing to be an attorney full time. It’s more than I could do.

We had to leave early, but joined her briefly for a victory party. It’s too early to tell.

General Election 2014

That’s all we’ve got so far. The top two names are elected. Melissa currently trails by .6%. It’s about 10-15% of what’s expected.

The conventional wisdom is these first results from mail-in ballots skew Republican. We’ll see.

It’s fair to say I’ve never met anyone more focused on a goal and willing to work harder than Melissa. She’s pretty amazing. I hope she wins. She’d be good for this city.

I Voted… Two Weeks Ago

My ballot includes paragraphs like this: Vote NO on Measure W. It’s a fraud. Measure W is NOT a “term limits” measure. It is just the opposite. It is a TERM EXTENSION for the Mayor and City Council.

www.ocvote.com fileadmin user_upload elections gen2014 sbs BT239.pdfI voted. Actually, I voted by mail two weeks ago. That’s a first.

It was a ballot, but also a small book! There were four pages with check boxes, plus instructions, short bios from each candidate and statements for and against each ballot proposal. That’s 36 pages in all!

My ballot includes paragraphs like…

Vote NO on Measure W. It’s a fraud. Measure W is NOT a “term limits” measure. It is just the opposite. It is a TERM EXTENSION for the Mayor and City Council.

Speaking of mayor and city council, they are supposed to be elected in a non-partisan fashion. It’s still Democrats versus Republicans. You just have to dig a little deeper to know who is whom.

My cousin, Melissa, is running for Irvine City Council. I’d like to see her elected. She’s probably relieved the campaign is over. It’s been more than an additional full time job… a thankless full time job.

It is nearly impossible for any person to be familiar with everything being decided. Should I really be choosing Orange County Water District, Director District 5? Maybe some positions are better appointed than elected?

A mail-in ballot should encourage high voter turnout, but the complexity of the ballot probably does the opposite. It’s intimidating.

The most highly contested element of today’s election is a proposition which raises the maximum ‘pain and suffering’ payout in medical malpractice lawsuits from $250,000. The insurance industry has spent tens of millions trying to defeat it. The interest of insurance companies and me never seem aligned–especially in this.

I will not miss the political ads in TV. How can they get more objectionable every year?

The Sound Of My Neighborhood

I now know the “F” word works in Mandarin.

IMAG1578_1There’s a moving truck out back. A neighbor is leaving. I’m not used to seeing this kind of action. My neighbors were farther away in Connecticut. Everything happened discretely. Shhh. New England.

I’m more connected with the outside here. That makes little sense since I’ve got a lot less outside to play with.

The four windows in my office are wide open. I’m on the patio daily. There are sounds. In Connecticut we spent 23 years hearing nothing but nature.

I like hearing the kids playing. They ride their bikes and generally have fun below my window.

Sometimes I hear kids crying. I have a child. I have that experience. It still upsets me.

At night I’ve heard loud family fights somewhere in the extended neighborhood. I now know the “F” word works in Mandarin.

Mostly, the night is quiet. This is an early-to-bed area.

When I cut audio tracks in my former closet “studio” the windows go down. Blinds too. I’d wake the neighborhood.

Once or twice a month cars let loose on Irvine Blvd, over a half mile away. The speed limit is conservatively sixty, but it’s an inviting few miles of sparsely traveled open road to test your ride. In some cases they’re also testing their tires.

We are the next to last home before a farm owned by UC Irvine. We are separated by a high berm, fence and lots of flowers and shrubbery.

Pack behavior howling from coyotes happens nightly. There’s a bunny population explosion every spring. Bunnies are scarce in October.

We hear the Disneyland fireworks. Anaheim is 14 miles north. They’re in the background here, noticeable at 9:30 sharp. You can set your watch to Disney.

In the summer they’re nightly. This time of year, just a few times a week. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of the sound.

A Different Kind Of Time Lapse

“Don’t you get bored,” Stef asked after seeing my latest time lapse. In a way she’s right. Just clouds passing by.

On the other hand you can actually watch and see physics in action! Everything happening is happening for a well defined reason.

Tonight is the full moon and we’re close to perigee. That makes the Moon big and bright and very visible as it moves past the window.

I like this one especially. I like the night.

full moon time lapse

Another Beautiful SoCal Sunset (With Time Lapse)

As I was passing by, Helaine asked if I’d seen the evening colors? “It would probably make a good time lapse,” she said.

Too late. The camera was already suctioned on the guest bedroom window, pointing at the setting Sun.

If I could only rip down the houses west of us for a better view.

IMG_4834

IMG_4838

IMG_4839

IMG_4840

Irvine’s Farmer’s Market

We began going when we moved to Irvine. Then, after a few weeks, they changed to rules to prohibit dogs! Overzealous health department regulations.

The crowds dropped. Dogs are welcome again!

IMG_4735

This was intended to be a vlog entry. Then I saw myself in the mirror. Never mind. I’ll type.

IMG_4743

Helaine and I went to Irvine’s farmer’s market. It runs year round in the Orange County Great Park, what used to be the massive El Toro Marine Air Station.

We began going when we moved to Irvine. Then, after a few weeks, they changed to rules to prohibit dogs! Overzealous health department regulations.

The crowds dropped. Dogs are welcome again!

IMG_4774

IMG_4764

IMG_4815

There are many reasons I enjoy this farmer’s market. All the produce stands give out samples. California fruits and veggies are very tasty.

IMG_4746

IMG_4744

IMG_4732

IMG_4723

Not far away are the food trucks. This has become quite the niche recently. Today we saw crepes, oven fired pizza, Mexican and a bunch of others. I had a caprese crepe with chipotle instead of the pesto they’d run out of. Yum!

IMG_4739

IMG_4740

IMG_4765

Then there are the dogs. Doppler gets plenty of quality sniffing time.

IMG_4730

The place is filled with little kids. Between birth and three or four, kids are 100% adorable. There are few teens and adolescents, plenty of pre-schoolers.

They like Doppler. The feeling is mutual.

IMG_4823

IMG_4753

This park is a huge space with lots of unusual installations, like a farm growing hydroponic organic vegetables on raised beds.

IMG_4798

IMG_4789

IMG_4801

Finally, we’ve got a balloon. It’s tethered and takes sightseers up 400 feet for a view of the area I still need to get!

IMG_4783

IMG_4782

IMG_4788

The View Down My Street

the-view-down-my-street

We live at the dead end of a short suburban street. You’re looking north. Those small hills are the Loma Ridge. It’s one in a series of foothills to the Santa Ana Mountains.

California is filled with land like this. It can’t/won’t be developed, ever. There are actually two large highways in this shot, but their footprints are purposely small. Californians seem respectful of the land.

The Killer Backyard

The backyard ends in infinity. The land drops sharply enough to disappear from sight. That leaves unobstructed views for at least 180 degrees

irvine-backyard

My cousin is running for city council. I followed her to a campaign event tonight to take some photos.

As it turned out, she gave her speech on a patio with a killer view. It could not have been staged any more majestically.

The backyard ends in infinity. The land drops sharply enough to disappear from sight. That leaves unobstructed views for at least 180&#176!

Mt. Baldy is on the horizon on the left side. It’s around 50 miles distant.

On this day with clear blue skies, during the short SoCal green season, it deserved a shot. This an eleven image panorama.

What you see above doesn’t do it justice. Please click on the photo to look at a larger version.

It’s All About Perspective

irvine-skyAs I type, it’s 53&#176 at Bradley Airport back in Connecticut. It’s 60&#176 at John Wayne Airport here in the OC. That’s about as close as Connecticut’s come since last fall!

People in Connecticut are probably outside commenting on how it’s warming up. I just complained to Helaine how chilly it is!

It’s all a matter of perspective.

People say your blood thins. No, that’s not what happens. Spend a winter here, you’re spoiled.

I actually feel cheated we are cloudy and chilly today. That didn’t take long.

Clouds Are Made For Timelapse

SoCal is normally a cloud free zone. Not today! Yesterday’s overcast (Do I get a refund off my mortgage?) was followed today by cumulus clouds. They are majestic, especially when sped up.

This time lapse was shot with my Canon 7D using Magic Lantern and edited in Adobe Premiere CS6. There’s plenty of resolution, so click the button in the lower right hand corner of the player and fill your screen.

I’m trying a new technique, so please let me know if the video isn’t playable in your browser.

Sometimes I Get Obsessed

IMG_4077

A few days ago I started fooling around (again) with Magic Lantern. ML is firmware for my camera which makes it do all sorts of things it wasn’t designed to do! Magic Lantern enabled me to get hummingbird close-ups. Now I’m using it for timelapse photography.

This is the norm for me. Once I get a new tool I use it obsessively until I’ve mastered it.

I set my camera up at the end of our street. Cloud timelapses almost beg for a wide angle photography. I used a 10mm lens tilted up to catch lots of sky. Magic Lantern took one frame every second, producing a video 30 times normal speed.

The hills in the background are part of the Loma Ridge, foothills of the Santa Ana range.

Here’s the result of my effort. Click the box to watch it full screen.

Canyon Climbing

IMAG0479-w1400-h1400

Last Sunday’s hike was a wake-up call. It was strenuous, but I wilted much too quickly all things considered. Disappointing.

Helaine and I have been on two long walks since. Today I went with Cousin Melissa to hike Bommer Canyon.

Taxing! I held up a little better, but still needed to stop a bunch of times.

Bommer Canyon was used for cattle ranching for over a century. It was acquired by the City of Irvine in 1981. The whole Bommer Canyon Park is 16,000 acres.

I made a Central Park comparison a few days ago. Here’s another. Bommer Canyon is twenty times the size of Central Park, or a little larger than ALL of Manhattan! Bommer is just one of many publicly owned large wilderness areas in the region.

Because the canyon area is so precious and fragile it’s mostly off limits to pepole. The third Saturday of each month the park and its trails are open. Even then it’s just for a few hours.

bommer-canyon-hikeMelissa and I set out from the Bommer Canyon Cattle Camp site and took the Ridge Route climbing around 600 feet in 1.7 miles. The path is well maintained and easy to follow. There is little shade. Even on this January day the sun was strong.

We passed families, other individual hikers and a lot of mountain bikers. Everyone was friendly and shared the trail. No dogs allowed, which is common in wilderness areas.

On the way down we took the East Fork. This 1.3 mile trail drops very steeply in the first 3/4 mile then levels out. I’m not sure I would have been able to reverse the route, climbing East Fork first. We took a lucky guess and won.

Because of my exhaustion the last time, I left “Clicky” home. The camera was cumbersome and added to my difficulties. All these shots were taken with my cellphone’s camera.

There’s a lot more to explore.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The Disappointing Drive

We live at the northeastern edge of Irvine. Beyond us is wilderness. Some of it, supposedly, is spectacular.

For instance, the sinks in nearby Limestone Regional Wilderness Park has been called a “Miniature Grand Canyon of Orange County.” Probably a little bit of hyperbole, but worth seeing, right?

Limestone Canyon Regional Park   Google MapsI drove Portola Parkway to its end and turned onto Limestone Canyon Road. There were locked gates in either direction. Frustrating. Google Maps doesn’t show this as limited access.

My next attempt was on Jeffrey Road. Once again it looks fine on the map. The reality was different.

unfriendly-signThough the gates were open there were signs everywhere reminding me not to be there!

One open gate featured at least ten locks, each sharing a chain link with the next. It’s not great security, but it allows any of ten groups to control access to the road without sharing a key. Pretty clever.

gate-with-many-locksI called my Cousin Melissa, an Irvine native. She promises to take me out early Sunday for a little introduction to the wilderness.

Today I’m just disappointed.