The waxing moon is bright in the sky just before sunset last night…
…while at the horizon the Belt of Venus was very dark and purple (much more than shows here) with the bright pink band above it.
An Excellent Sunset
On this somewhat disturbing day, especially in the US, there was a very, very nice sunset in LA.
(Click image to see it in full-sized and in all of its gloriosity!)
A bit after quarter moon up there on the left above the semi-shredded tree, all the way around past 180º to the pink, cotton candy puffs above the garage.
Thanks, powers that be! I needed that today.
Tomorrow’s another day to be brave, even if we don’t feel brave.
Filed under Panorama, Photography, Sunsets, Weather
Another Thin White Line
Another thin white line across the sky. Another tube full of people going somewhere I’m not.
Can you see it there, 40,000 feet up, from San Diego behind us to the south, headed toward Sacramento far beyond the horizon up that way?
And here we are. One day at a time.
Beats the alternative. But it would be nice to have options.
Filed under Flying, Paul, Photography
Fine Feathered Friends – June 07th
Crows. An airborne murder of them.
One of them starts the trouble, cackling and cawing and screaming something that I can’t quite understand.
The rest of the murder shows up, doing their best Eagles of Manwë impersonation.
They start filling up the neighbors’ trees, making an impressive racket in the process.
Not clear if they’re fighting, mating, or both. Strange are the ways of crows.
Like an avian gang of punk kid thugs, the show off, fight, try to impress everyone, then fly off to find another tree to do it all over in again.
Filed under Birds, Critters, Photography
Some Days
Will WordPress post a GIF? More to the point, will it show it animated?
One way to find out.
For the record, I stand corrected from last night. It hasn’t been 80 years since D-Day, it’s only been 78.
For the record, “Come From Away” was utterly spectacular, amazing, emotional, hilarious, astounding, and anyone who knows me at all will know exactly which song, and which line in that song, hit me like a gut punch.
Let’s not do today again, okay?
Filed under Paul, Photography
Skyscapes – June 05th
So much time being spent looking backwards this weekend.
Forty years ago, in 1984, so many classic movies came out. Blade Runnier. E.T. Poltergeist. The Wrath of Khan. The Thing. Tron. Ghostbusters. The Last Starfighter.
Eighty years ago tonight and tomorrow morning, the largest armada in world history left England and hit the beaches in Normandy. Omaha. Sword. Utah. Gold. Juno.
I’m wondering if I’m thinking so much about the past because there’s so much about the future that’s so scary.
But face it we must.
The clouds? They don’t care.
Filed under Paul, Photography, Weather
Summer At The Theatre
All this week we were getting warnings about the heat wave coming.
Okay, maybe. But it’s either not here yet or it missed us completely. We’re at the Ahmanson again tonight (“Come From Away” tonight, really looking forward to it) and out here on the plaza having dinner before the show I’m freezing my ass off!
It’s 64° and breezy, which is fine if I’m dressed for 64° and breezy, but if I’m dressed for 85° or 90°, not so much.
Stay warm, enjoy your Saturday night folks!
Filed under Entertainment, Los Angeles, Weather
Up One Side Of The Sky, Back Down The Other
Taking a breather to watch the clouds and feel the breezes, here comes Hawaiian Airlines Flight #5 from Las Vegas to Honolulu, climbing up from the horizon like a bat out of Hell at 40,000 feet and 437 knots.
Then it’s back over the top, past the moon, off toward the Western horizon.
Filed under Flying, Photography, Weather
Check Before You Back Out
Going somewhere? Great! It’s good to get out of the house. Properly masked and vaxxed and boosted, of course. It’s still nasty out there.
Wait! Do you see the hazard?
Remember to clear the area around and under the car. Unless, of course, you’re a heartless, evil, vile, MONSTER!
These two I call LongTail (on the left) and StumpTail (on the right). They like to hang out under the wheels, so make sure you get them to run off into the bushes before you back out and squish them flat!
LongTail is jittery, so they’ll take off when you’re halfway down the driveway. But StumpTail is getting used to us and also hangs out a lot on the front porch, right in front of the door.
I try to avoid stepping on them there, but they tend to not want to run off these days, especially if they’ve laid claim to one of the really good, warm spots in the sun. Which is fine, I’ll step over them, but they sometimes wait until the foot is up before darting off right to where it’s going to come down. This leads to that whole stumbling, falling, tumbling across the lawn thing which the neighbors and the crows find so funny.
Maybe that’s why they do it…
Filed under Critters, Photography
Empty Nest 2022
And just like that…they’re gone! All of them! Lucy, Ricky, and the Four Amigos!
By Sunday they were getting rambunctious, and too big for the nest. The two with spots in the nest hunkered down and hid when I came out, but these two just froze and hoped I wasn’t a predator.
Monday they were all back in the nest for a while, but looking very fully grown-ish.
More to the point, they looked fully covered in feathers, which is sort of important for that whole flying thing, which is in turn sort of important for that whole bird thing.
Yesterday they were noisy as all get out, bothered by the chain saws and racket from next door. There was some occasional wing flapping and squawing, but last night it looked like they were all there. I had been keeping an eye out for anyone who might have fallen out and ended on the ground, but didn’t see any problems. I figured it might be a week before they flew off.
WRONG-O!
This morning when I got up it was immediately obvious that something had changed. No heads popping up looking for breakfast in bed, no squeaking and whistling, no hovering parents. Nothing.
I waited until this afternoon but then check it out up close and personal. The nest is vacant.
A couple of times this afternoon I saw a group of six fly down, do some feeding on the lawn, and then fly off. Was it Lucy, Ricky, and family? Maybe, maybe not. Who knows?
As before, I’m going to assume that things happened the way they were supposed to and we now have a gazillion and four common house finches flitting about the back yard. If thing’s didn’t happen the way they were supposed to, well, that’s above my pay grade.
There’s another nest up on the other side of the porch that still has chicks growing and chirping, but they’re behind a speaker so I can’t really see them. One of these days it will grow quiet and I’ll know why.
And if I remember correctly, finches can have a couple of nests and broods per year, so we just have to wait and be patient for the next round. It won’t be long.
Filed under Birds, Critters, Photography
We Love The Stars Too Fondly 