Otter on Ice

This little otter was rolling around in his own floatable ice pack and really enjoying himself. It does highlight how well insulated those otter fur coats really are and how they can float around all day in the icy cold kelp beds.

Meanwhile, San Diego had a sunny but cool and breezy day that was perfect for roller blading or a quick jog. The beach was not nearly as packed as I expected, given the pretty decent weather and the cool breeze did not get in the way of a wedding or two and a multitude of parties.

Friday at Last

Here's a picture of a passing sea lion that was waiting for handouts. They are amazingly friendly when it comes to fish.

Meanwhile, I'm glad it is finally Friday. It's been a stressful and annoying week. Hope you all have fun plans for the evening. ;-)

Almost Friday!!!

Almost Friday! Friday, Friday, Friday! Another hectic day today. It started with a presentation to an auditorium full of people at 7:30am and then technical discussions with customers after that. I am pooped. The beach is sounding better all the time.

How to Catch a Ball

For you frustrated would be ball players out there, here is a little example of what not to do when catching a ball. He's clearly running fast enough to catch it. However, you can see that the hands have already clasped and, yes, his eyes are closed and the head is looking AWAY from the ball. Sorry bud, but it's hard to catch a ball with your eyes shut. Near impossible for most of us. For you budding engineers, it's the difference between open loop and closed loop control. Keep your eyes on the ball. Works for tennis balls, works for frisbees... A little scary at first, but it is generally much better to catch the ball then get accidentally nailed on the head by it. Busted in the act! The silly thing about it is, for me at least, I had no idea that I wasn't looking at the ball at the moment of impact (for tennis) until somebody pointed it out. It made a huge difference! Guess that's my flying object tip of the month... Hope you all had a happy hump day.

Whiffle Ball

It was pretty overcast and dreary at the beach on Sunday but it was still warm enough to hang out and relax. I spent some time snapping pictures of the surfing semi-finals. There were some guys out playing whiffle baseball in front of the judging stand, generally oblivious to the whole surf commotion; this one had just hit himself what would have been a home run, at least by whiffle standards (grin).

Surfing Semi-Finals

They had a surfing contest semi-finals (sponsored by Monster) at Mission Beach on Sunday. The waves were actually decent sized, considering it was just Mission Beach. There were some pretty cool maneuvers like this one of a guy going down the wave face backwards. I was certainly impressed.

New Lows in Product Placement

Sea World (aka Anheiser Busch) has a Sea Lion and Otter Show. In it they have the cutest little otter who, ironically enough, they have trained to carry Pepsi. Where will the product placement people stop? Shamu juggling cans of Bud? I admit, it was cute and probably harmless enough although it did seem a little cheesy of them. Hmmm, I wonder if they'd pay me to put beer ads on my T-shirts? A career limiting move you say? Perhaps.

Dolphin Social

A little dolphin socializing was going on at Sea World. It was feeding time and the dolphins all came up to the wall for fish. As this young child found out, they seem to also enjoy the occasional rub.

Cactus Rescue

Call me silly but I hate when they glue those fake straw flowers onto cactus. They always glue them right on top of the growing shoot/center, making it very difficult for the cactus to survive. I found this little cactus at Walmart and it had remarkably broken through the glue and had two bright, cheery red-orange flowers. So, I figured I'd rescue it from it's Walmart existance and give a nice, new, glue-free home. I have another refugee cactus that lost all it's spines breaking through the glue and, hence, has an endearing bald spot (spine free) in the middle of the cactus. Anyhow, have a nice weekend and remember, glue-free cacti!

Longing for Home

Figured I'd post one of my photo-art experiments with a Japanese theme. I call this "Longing for Home." It shows a Japanese woman looking out the glass, longingly wishing for something better (perhaps a nice Hawaiian beach, lol).

Feeling Grand

There is nothing like nature to put things in perspective. These two people appeared to be having a bit of a heated conversation. However, in the overall scope of that very large sandstone cliff they are perched on, it all seems rather trite.

Meanwhile, I've been experimenting again. Last night it was banana/carrot/zucchini/raisin bread. A total hit with the secretaries in the office I might add. It was even a bit healthy with raw almonds, raisins, cannola oil and whole wheat flour. Tonight, it was the spicy sweet and sour fish (oh yummm). Hah, you readers are missing out! Nobody goes hungry in this household, not even the dog. ;-)

A Later Alligator

Found this Fence Lizard on the trail at Torrey Pines sunning himself. I really enjoy the mosaic of colors on these guys including the baby blue spots. They're pretty fearless too, meaning that you can get close enough to take a picture without them running off.

Willet or Not?

I think this is a Willet but, honestly, between Willets and Godwits and a few other of those shore birds, they've got me guessing. Perhaps if he opened his wings to show a few markings, we could tell. Either way, this Willet was contentedly eating in the sand below Torrey Pines. I've surmised that they eat worms in the sand based on a little digging into the sand where a flock had been recently eating. However, it is hard to be sure. If you know the answer to both of these questions, please share as curious minds want to know. ;-)

Strawberry Tart

The SO's been cooking again. This one was (note, I said "was"...urp) a strawberry tart with almond filling. Yummm. I could get spoiled (and fat). What to do, what to do. I may have to go hiking again to work it off, grin. So, if you were a pastry, what kind would you be? I think I'd want to be warm/fresh hot cross buns or maybe a bear claw (raawrrrr). Chuckle.

Torrey Pines

Four of us went hiking today at Torrey Pines State Park. While the weather report said it was going to be rainy and the sky, just a few miles inland, was dark and overcast, the weather on the coast was bright and sunny with a light breeze. Going with the Spring theme, I included a picture of the sand verbena that was blooming in patches in the soft sandy soil along the tops of the seaside cliffs.

Weekend Walk

The weekend walk is always a little more pleasant in the Springtime. The flowers are blooming in full force and, after last night's rain, are covered with dew. I found this Clematis growing along a white picket fence, showing off it's huge lavender flowers.

Cleaner Shrimp

These cleaner shrimp are so named because they set up cleaning stations on the reef where they remove parasites from passing fish. The fish wait stationary in the water and open their gill flaps and mouths as the shrimp crawl over them, eating tiny parasites and crustaceans. Having watched the BBC "Blue Planet" DVD tonight, I was feeling motivated to pop in some sea life. This picture was snapped at the Maui Ocean Center aquarium in Maalea, Maui.

To GIF or to JPEG

The picture is of the dark slope of a hill at Mission Gorge with the sun backlighting some red monkey flower so that they glow like fireflies in waning light. I fought with this image in JPEG, losing the flowers at most smaller resolutions but, when I converted to GIF, found that they stayed. Ah what a difference a few KB makes. Again, it's the little things in life...

Wild Roses

The wild roses are blooming. It always amazes me how they get around. They had them in Colorado. They had them back East and they have them here in sunny San Diego. Always a harbinger of Spring in simple pinks on long graceful branches.

Wild Peas Blowing in the Wind

Besides daisies, there were also many varieties of plants from the pea family in shades of yellow, white and purple. This one was obviously popular with the pollinators, having a stem full of seed pods. The really cool things was that, once dry, the pods made a gentle clacking percussion sound when the wind blew. I suppose it is the little things that make life special.