cazalea
[Seiko Moderator]
20933
A Walk in 5 Parks
Our plan today was to walk in tiny "pocket parks" in our part of town. These are land-locked patches of dirt that belong to the city, having been gifted or overlooked by developers until they became impossible to use profitably. For example, the first pocket park is a hillside along a busy road, not accessible except to birds and lizards. The second and third parks combined are smaller than my yard and much less well cared for.
There were some lovely flowers, and a few elusive birds.
Busy insects working over a flower.
Pocket Park #4 is more like a knapsack park, with more space and more interesting things to see.
Such as two hillside homes that have been "in progress" for more than 30 years...
A nosy dove -- is his eye socket hexagonal??
We walked a bit.
This alien baby must have been left behind when the saucer last visited here. There was nothing we could do for it...
I had a close encounter with a hummingbird that was so exciting I will put the images in a separate post following this one.
We headed up the road past this cyclist to park #5.
We parked the car, entered through an unlocked gate, and entered a secret park bounded by homes, a college, the US Navy, and the Pacific Ocean. I had never been in this corner of our world. Sandstone cliffs, split rail fences, redwood houses ... this dates back more than a century. Look up Lomaland, Theosophical Society or Madame Tingley if you want to learn about it.
Watch your head.
and the cactus to either side.
Interesting Erosion features
Over the crest and down the hill for a few minutes, then we stopped here and turned around. Later I learned from my phone we'd done 12 flights of vertical climbing!
There was plenty of activity going on, despite it being such a remote place; such as aircraft
We don't have to stop unless they ask us to leave. Otherwise it's fine to go on.
Interesting Erosion features
Thankfully a previous passer-by trimmed the agave spikes.
Suddenly the ocean came into view, to our right.
Then the trail went back into the undergrowth.
We went on for another hundred yards, finding a convenient branch at head height for knocking yourself out if you happened to be looking down at the trail.
My wife spotted a cave and I had to go up to check it out.
Plenty big enough to enter but a bit tough and I didn't want to get dirty, or surprise something...
We continued south until we hit the Navy fence, then turned west.
Over the crest and down the hill for a few minutes, then we stopped here and turned around. Later I learned from my phone we'd done 12 flights of vertical climbing!
boats
surfers
lizards.
We climbed back up the way we came in.
Stopping several times to catch our breath,
and pick up a quarter
Almost there!
This is the last bit before the car.
Whew! Thanks for coming along today.
Cazalea
Don't forget the hummingbird supplement posts. And the watch!
A Walk in 5 Parks
Our plan today was to walk in tiny "pocket parks" in our part of town. These are land-locked patches of dirt that belong to the city, having been gifted or overlooked by developers until they became impossible to use profitably. For example, the first poc...
Hummingbird in Pocket Park #4
Please enjoy the still shots, and if you have time, take time to watch the videos at real-time speed, one-quarter speed, and/or one-tenth speed. Mike After we finished at the orange vines, we walked around a corner and discovered the hummers are being FED...
Phantastic shots of that wonderful hummingbird.
Beautiful to see it’s shimmering, green back. Mike, you outdid yourself this time… 😉
Hummingbirds get a good deal... Humans feed them. Nature feeds them.
Why do humans like hummingbirds so much? Do they eat bugs? Drive away pests? Or we feed them since we just like looking at them? I don't know. But I can't seem to get enough of them!
Like watches hummingbirds are made from many tiny parts. Perhaps that is a reason to like.
And with a heart rate that can exceed 1,000 bpm's, they earn the distinction "hi-beat".
Yes! Unfortunately they have relatively short lifespans and a super high metabolism...
If they don't eat for a day or so, they're completely spent and are exhausted. In fact, they have to eat every couple of hours! They burn so many calories that sugar water is actually a good thing for them!
This was almost like an episode of Indiana Jones 👌🏽
…speaking of which, I’m surprised there hasn’t been an updated Indiana Jones movie, with necessary cameo by Harrison Ford. Granted, he is impossible to replace, whether as Han Solo or anyone else. Wow, that’s quite the tangent 🤣
🤣🤣🤣Honestly, I was worried you were going to go into that cave you had found!
So, you searching for the lost ark wouldn’t surprise me.