new thinking

A student of mine posted this video on his blog. This is not him who made the video. The student just thought it was interesting. So do I.

warning

I don't know about you but I am really bothered by second-hand smoke. So I appreciate this proprietor in Temp;le City, I believe it is Tenju Tea. I may not have used such a crude approach. But the point is made.
It comes from my childhood. I always hated it when my father or my relatives smoked cigarettes in the same room with me or worse in the car. I was also a kid that liked to do research. I remember researching a major term paper for high school on the original Surgeon General's Report on smoking. I think it was released in 1964. I remember going to the East Meadow Public Library and looking up articles in the Periodical Guide to Literature. I remember submitting the slips to the librarian, then waiting for the articles to come up on the dumbwaiter. It was always so exciting seeing what the magazine looked like. The cover, the pages, the pictures, the graphics. Now, we look at a digital copy. So sterile.
But now we don't have to breathe second-hand smoke. Especially here in Southern California where the air is already filled with toxins.
I know. Such a cheery post. You were warned.

against the sky

The turkey vulture soars above the San Gabriel River. Just one of many birds we saw on a bird hike Sunday, Earth Day.

upon inspection

The earth is full of surprises. And I saw some more today, Earth Day.
I never thought of birds as such until I went on some birding day trips with people who know how to spot them and know how to call them.
One of those people is Kimball Garret, seen here in the center with the hat. Garret is the ornithologist for the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History. A great gjy! He led a joyous bird walk today (this morning) along the San Gabriel River in Duarte and in and around Encanto Park. Here, a young child gets a lift from his dad to peer into Kimball's scope, which is trained on a bird high in a tree across the river.

The real surprises come when you see the birds up close, magnified. When you look upon them further, with more concentration and with the help of a lens, you can see what all the fuss is about. There were yellow warblers and I mean yellow, as someone said on the hike, yellow like highlighter yellow. There were grosbeaks (blue and a kind of orange one -- both had brilliant plumage and could be seen singing for a mate!). I especially enjoyed seeing a rarer type of hummingbird, the black-chinned hummingbird. And Kimball soptted that one in Encanto Park, just across from the new bioswale the city put in. What a great addition to any city park.

Duarte is just a few towns east of Temple City. But it is closer to the San Gabriel Mountains and the San Gabriel River. That may mean more birds.
Did you know Los Angeles County is No. 1 in bird species in the world? That's right. It has more bird species than any other county, Garret said. That's due to the variety of ecosystems, from mountains to deserts to coastlines and riparian areas. But the number of riparian areas are disappearing. We must stand up and protect what's left.  Or this child, and others like him, will never see a grosbeak or a least bell's vireo again. (Yup, we did see the bell's vireo, an endangered bird).
Thanks to Claudia Heller, Garret and the Duarte Historical Society for a great morning.

geometry

An airplane vapor streaking against the evening sky in Temple City made for this nice matrix the other day. The power lines are a big deal here ever since the Dec. 1, 2011 windstorm that knocked out power to Temple City for almost 8 days.
Would you believe it, but some of Temple City's streets are still closed today to make room for power crews from Southern California Edison to work on electrical poles and lines.
.

oh, sweat pea

It was after a late season rain when these purple sweat peas looked their best.
That may be the last rain of the season. Warmer weather is coming. I will miss the rain.

Concrete imprint

I must have walked by this imprint on a sidewalk not far from my house in Temple City and never seen this mark.
I guess having a camera in your hand, or pressed to your face, really does make you more observant.

So, what do you think? This Norlund Tussy group is the construction company that built the homes here in Temple City, or in this part of the quiet bedroom town about 10 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. I seem to remember 1960 coming up a lot in conversations with old timers. In fact, wasn't my house built in 1960? I think so!
So in those days, the city must have hired this construction company (concrete company) to lay the sidewalks. Either that, or sometimes, the home builders also put down sidewalks. The latter must be true in this case, because much of Temple City has no sidewalks.

Is your bowl empty?

windshield view

Uh, yeah. It rained today.
I got caught in this thunderstorm/downpour. So I just sat in my car a bit and waited for it to subside and took this shot.
I like the palm trees in the photo. It says yeah, it does rain in Southern California. Sometimes a lot.
They say the rain will clear out by Saturday.

Happy Easter

St. Luke's Church, Temple City, CA.

Indoor spring

It's been one of those picture-perfect spring days. Sunny, breezy, with the flowers blooming. But I haven't been out much today. This is courtesy of my grandfather, Matteo Mimmo. He took up painting while in his 80s.
Happy Spring.