If you go wandering around on the far side of the house where you rarely go unless you’re putting up or taking down Christmas lights…
…you might be pleasantly surprised.
What’s on the far side of your house?
Category Archives: Photography
Lemon Tree Bud
Big chunks of the lemon tree, probably 2/3 or more, are dead as can be and probably need to be pruned – but we’re renting and we have orders to not touch anything like that. The gardeners will do if, if and when they get instructions to do so. (Reason #3813 why I would really, REALLY like to own my home again instead of renting.)
But not all of it’s dead.
And the leaves and flower buds that are emerging are amazing.
Filed under Flowers, Photography
Green Redeux Redeux
In early March I posted pictures of a weird red plant growing in the back yard, some extremely green moss growing near it (it was St. Patrick’s Day, soooo predictable!), and then some new spring growth on a whole bunch of plants, where the new growth is a lighter shade of green than the existing leaves.
Now the new ivy leaves are growing like crazy along the fence between our house and the neighbors.
The difference in shades of green is very stark on this ivy, the older leaves being a dark green and the new leaves being much lighter and more yellow.
In a month it will all be the same. But for now it’s very pretty, varied, and it makes a great hiding place and home for hummingbirds and lizards.
Filed under Flowers, Photography
Another Of THOSE Sunsets
I came out into the living room just after sunset and the window in the front door was bright red.
It was so bright and so red that my first thought was that either there were emergency vehicles outside, a brush fire, or both. Which makes no sense with all of the rain we’ve had.
Instead, it was just another of THOSE sunsets. The amazing, fantastic, bright orange and red and pink kind.
As it faded , the colors covered less of the sky but seemed to get more intense near the horizon.
Some days you just need to be in the right place at the right time.
Welcome to April!
Filed under Photography, Sunsets
Skyscapes – March 30th
After waking up to some more overnight rain, by mid-morning when I went out to take the garbage bins to the curb, the clouds were bright white, the sky was a deep blue, and the sun was out.
Maybe that’s the last of the rain for a while! Maybe! It’s Opening Day for baseball, great weather for it!
Right? I said, “RIGHT?!”
About four hours later as I was finishing a Zoom call, a peal of thunder rattled the house.
For the next hour and a half or so we had lightning, thunder, torrential downpours, high winds, and even about ten minutes of light hail.
It was GREAT!
Filed under Photography, Weather
Confused Plant
Most plants turn from green to red and yellow in the fall.
This big bushy thing by our front door has it backwards.
The rains left. Well, for a couple of days at least. They’re back now. But while the sun was out, all of a sudden these leaves all started turning red and yellow.
Maybe it’s an “Angels bush.” It could have turned red for the Chiefs’ great season, but it’s a baseball plant of some sort and it knows that tomorrow is opening day.
Of course, around here, surrounded by Dodgers fans, it would be an Angels bush to fit into our household.
That nonsense makes as much sense as anything else. I mean, have you seen the NEWS lately?
Filed under Critters, Flowers, Photography
One Cloudy Planet
Hope springs eternal in the (not so) young amateur astronomer’s heart as he searches for five planets in the sky at once. Even if I can’t get a good photo, maybe I can at least see them?
Maybe Jupiter and Mercury can be seen through that hole in the oncoming storm front? Nope, they’re actually over to the far right, just to the right of the top of Castle Peak that you can just see in the bottom right corner. But at this point it was too bright, too close to sunset to see. Plus, you know, CLOUDS!
The clouds did have a little bit of iridescence, and it was clear overhead so I could see the quarter Moon, but the clouds were not only hiding dim Jupiter and Mercury but also obscuring my view of bright Venus and super dim Uranus up somewhere where that jet was passing by in the upper left.
I hope you had better hunting and clearer skies than I did!
All I saw was one cloudy planet, the one that I’m stuck to.
Filed under Astronomy, Photography, Sunsets
Not Five Planets
You’ll see things online and in the press about another astronomical thing that’s happening in the next couple of days. If you’re lucky, and you have a flat horizon and very clear conditions, you might see it. Binoculars will help.
At the top you can see the Moon. Real bright directly below it is Venus. Easy peasy.
As it gets a bit darker than this, up overhead, near Taurus and Orion, you can see Mars. Again, easy. It’s red and fairly bright.
Now for the harder parts.
Very near Venus, visible only when it gets fully dark you might spot Uranus. It will be much dimmer than Venus and slightly bluish in color. A small telescope will be a big help, but binoculars will do if you have a good finder map. (See here.) If you have good eyesight and a good dark sky location far away from city lights, you might see it with the naked eye.
Remember how a month or so ago Jupiter was RIGHT next to Venus? And then Jupiter kept moving down toward the Sun and Venus kept moving up away from the Sun? (From our viewpoint, obviously.) Well, now Jupiter is almost there, just a couple of days away from disappearing into the evening twilight. You’ll need to have a flat horizon, without any mountains right in front of you. It’s faint, but visible, near the horizon, directly under Venus, immediately after sunset.
And right next to Jupiter is Mercury. Jupiter is brighter, but if you can find it in the twilight, look for Mercury very close nearby.
From the horizon up, there’s Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus, and Mars. Plus, of course, that whole Earth thing in the foreground.
Tonight we had a pretty sunset (with clouds and rain expected for the next three days) but we have light pollution (hiding dim Uranus) and Castle Peak hiding Jupiter and Mercury. (See where the peak is and then that dip on the right hand side? That’s where they are while it’s too bright to see them. By the time it gets dark enough, they’re down behind the mountain.) So we have three planets visible, two in this picture. Venus and Earth. Mars is back behind us.
Good hunting the next night or two if you have clear skies and flat horizons!
Filed under Astronomy, Photography
The Lizards Return
Finally. The sun, and temperatures kinda sorta warm, in the mid 60’s at least.
It’s nice in the sun, so I’ve started to see some lizards coming out of hibernation. So far most of them have been the “popcorn” type, small (just an inch or two long), newly hatched, existing mainly to be eaten by other lizards or birds or cats.
This guy (can you see it?) was about four inches long and “basking” doesn’t even start to describe the attitude it had.
Right on top of this piece of edging was ideal for soaking up sun, and the width was perfect for it to straddle. Nice and stable, warm, relaxing – there was no way it was going to run away unless I was going to step on him or try to eat him.
I’m not as fast as the hawks or cats, so eating him wasn’t an option, and I’m not clumsy enough to step on him. At least, not today.
Later in the afternoon as I went out the front door I almost stepped on a slightly bigger one. It was more like six inches plus, so it might be a yearling. It had found a spot right by the front door and next to the planter it could hide under, while simultaneously being the perfect spot to catch the last of the sunset rays. I opened the door, saw it, didn’t step on it. It saw me, took off under the planter, and we called it even.
Let the 2023 lizards thrive!
Filed under Critters, Photography
Life Goes On
At the Music Center, just after sunset, cool but crystal clear. The brightest object at the top right is the crescent moon, with Venus just above the tip of the tall, black building. All of the other shiny things in the sky are aircraft of one sort or the other.
Tonight we’re back at the Ahmanson for “The Secret Garden.” I know nothing about it except that friends have said good things.
Filed under Entertainment, Los Angeles, Photography
We Love The Stars Too Fondly 