A beautiful California winter

Since this may be the last winter I spend in Northern California I'm taking the time to appreciate every moment of it. For instance right now it's 8:56 AM and even though there's a slight chill in the air I've had the The Glampette's door wide open for over two hours because the sky is blue and the sun is shining.

As so much of the country deals with snow, freezing rain, and ice storms this is what the Bay Area has had to contend with: The Camellias are blooming. My friend Janet picked a few from her garden and gave them to me to take home. This was her favorite. You can see why. It was perfect.

And even though we're suffering from a severe drought there has been rain. The blossoms of a flowering plum tree were so bejeweled in droplets of precious water the morning after an overnight storm I couldn't resist taking pictures of them against the bright blue sky with my macro lens.

I've always said there's beauty all around, you just have to slow down enough to take the time to notice it. Or wake up early enough to see a sunrise like this one.

These are just a few beautiful moments that have happened this winter. If you live here did you see them too? If you don't live here hold tight because I'm certain they're on their way wherever you are.

An unusual dome shaped cloud over Mt. Shasta

While driving up to Washington state back in September with The Glampette I noticed an odd cloud hanging seemingly motionless over Mt. Shasta near the Northern California, Southern Oregon border. I had no idea what kind of cloud it was but it was so unusual I pulled over to take a photo.

It was thin, shaped like a contact lens, and seemed to be hovering in place just barely clearing the mountain's snow capped peak.

That night when I talked to my mom on the phone I described the cloud to her. Her immediate reply was a casual "Oh, it must have been a lenticular cloud." A lenticu-what? was my shocked reply. I say I was shocked only because my mom isn't a meteorologist and I didn't expect her to actually know what kind of cloud I'd seen.

She said I should go on Pinterest  and search lenticular cloud and I could confirm if that's what I saw. (BTW, my mom is a Pinterest-a-holic of the most extreme kind. If you love succulents you should follow her board "Succulents & Cactus & Sedum." Currently she has 9868 pins and 1965 followers. By Tuesday I'm sure she'll pass 10,000 pins.)

So there I had it. I saw a gorgeous cloud and got schooled by my mom via Pinterest what kind of cloud it was.

I keep hoping to see another someday when I have more time and can stop and really enjoy the view. As it was I was trying to make it to my destination that night before dark so I couldn't wait two hours for the sunset, which I will regret always because if the cloud was still there and became painted in pinks, violets, and orange it would have been amazing to behold.

A stunning sunset in Spokane, Washington

On a recent trip to Washington state to attend my 30 year high school reunion I was hoping to capture a spectacular sunset from High Drive on the city's South Hill. The drive is a cliff that overlooks a valley facing west. On the final day of my trip this happened as my parents and I were driving home from dinner...

It was stunning to say the least.

How to capture sunsets in photos? Hurry, shoot, wait, then shoot some more.

The hurry is because the sun moves very quickly as it sets.

You have just minutes to capture these moments as it begins to dip beneath the horizon line.

In my experience after the sun sets the sky is still colorful but rather flat. But if you wait a bit and zoom in this happens... The afterglow...

The colors intensify and the clouds will be edged in light that glows like a silver lining painted in colors that just kind of make your soul sigh. You realize there are still moments of beauty that happen all around us. We just need to slow down and pay attention so that we'll notice them when they do :)

Happy Valentine's Day

I am utterly relieved that in this crazy world we live in, every now and then, there are news stories that truly, madly, and deeply restore my faith in humanity. Since today is Valentine's Day and it's all about love, I had to share this one with you.

When Latrell Higgins, an adopted 13 year old boy, lamented he had no baby pictures of himself, his adoptive mom, a professional photographer, staged a newborn shoot for him and shared the pics on FB. The results have been extremely positive and have opened a conversation about some people now wanting to adopt older kids, not just newborns ♥

What I love most about these photos is that even though he's a teenager his adoptive mom captured his innocence perfectly. And made him feel even more loved.

You can read about the shoot in these news stories:

Daily Mail UK:
'My not-so-little newborn': Mother's unlikely photo shoot of adopted son, 13, who had no baby photos of his own

Today.com:
Adoptive mom's 'newborn' photo shoot with 13-year-old son goes viral

news.com.au:
Adopted teen with no baby photos of his own poses for 'newborn' shots

Huffington Post:
Kelli Higgins, Adoptive Mom, Creates Viral Birth Announcement Spoof

Rattlesnake Grass in Carmel, CA

Wanting to explain Rattlesnake Grass here on The Flirty Blog I learned four new words: Panicles, racemose, raceme and inflorescence.

Definition of PANICLE: a compound racemose inflorescence

Definition of RACEMOSE: having or growing in the form of a raceme

Definition of RACEME: a simple inflorescence (as in the lily of the valley) in which the flowers are borne on short stalks of about equal length at equal distances along an elongated axis and open in succession toward the apex

Definition of INFLORESCENCE: the mode of development and arrangement of flowers on an axis

Briza maxima known as Rattlesnake and Quaking Grass

The individual spikelet stalks along a panicle of Rattlesnake Grass are so thin and delicate the spikelets look like tiny ornaments dancing in the breeze.

In the spring the rattler shaped clusters of seeds are green but by mid-summer they turn a golden brown.

Where did I see them? At Point Lobos State Reserve in Carmel, CA. Hubby and I went to hike and take pictures of China Cove, located by trail at Point Lobos. But the trail we wanted to hike on is closed for restoration work until later this summer so rather than pay $10 to enter the park we decided to check back in July when the trail may be reopened. We'll definitely call first before making the drive down.

After making a u-turn at the visitors booth we pulled into a parking spot to decide what to do instead. As hubby studied Google Maps I noticed right in front of our car was a patch of Rattlesnake Grass.

The seed spikelets look a bit like cocoons.

A popular ornamental, Rattlesnake Grass is a non-native. Originally from Northern Africa, the Azores, Western Asia and Southern Europe it was brought to the U.S. to be used as a decorative plant. After spreading into the wild it is now an invasive species that can be found up and down the California coast.

It was hard to photograph because I was using my macro lens and the wind was blowing the spikelets to and fro. With the motion the camera was unable to focus so my first images came out blurry. I caught them on my hand for a moment to still them and was surprised by their weight. They aren't dense or heavy. They feel hollow and light, like a baked Cheetos cheese puff.

I'll have to go back later this summer to photograph them again when they turn golden brown. It will be an interesting contrast plus I still want to visit China Cove.

How to Get There

A plant even I cant' kill

Despite my most neglectful efforts there are certain house plants that just won't die. My spider plant, Christmas cactus, pregnant onion, two orchid plants (one was a thank you gift the other about to be thrown away because it was done blooming), and a large lucky bamboo (a wedding gift) all have the stamina that more fragile plants lack. So why would I add an addition to my menagerie of barely-eeking-along house plants? Sentimental reasons.

I bought this little African Violet on a whim last year because it reminded me of my mom and aunties who for years each had fairly sizable collections of African Violets. They nurtured and cared for them even going to the trouble of installing grow lights on their kitchen counters to keep their violets happy and blooming.

It had been years, decades really, since I'd thought about them so when I saw this little violet in a the Stanford Florists' shop last year I purchased it on an impulse. Then I almost killed it by not watering it. Twice. Last week is started blooming for  the first time since I purchased it last summer.

The blooms remind me I need to take time out to nurture it and myself. So this year I'll be taking better care of both of us :)

After our 74º Thursday I thought a 59º Saturday would be cold

Then my mom sent me a photo of the blizzard that dropped a blanket of white over her neighborhood yesterday morning.

So, I sent back a photo of our weather here in Northern, California. LOL. OK, I admit it was kind of mean. But, I only did it because I've been trying to convince her and my dad to come visit but they hate to travel.

She kept telling me how much my dad loves to shovel snow. It's true. He does. So he must be pretty happy in this picture! The crazy thing is there was no snow on the ground the day before.

But there's no snow here in San Jose, only pink flowers. Every year the Bay Area goes pink when these ornamental plum trees begin blooming.

They're everywhere! You'll see them in yards, parking lots and even off the side of HWY 280 in Cupertino.

Their red/burgandy colored leaves emerge while or shortly after they're done blooming. If you're looking for a beautiful ornamental tree for your yard in zones 4-9 the Thundercloud Flowering Plum is a beauty.

The trees I've seen here in the Bay Area bear no fruit though I've read online some will.

I really love this picture. It's backlit. That's why the branches look so dark.

Hubby and I were driving down the street when we saw a row of them along the side of the road. So, we pulled over because that's how we roll.

And here's a photo hubby took of me with his phone showing my very bad form while taking pictures. I think you're supposed to hold your arms as close to your body as possible so you can brace the camera, which reduces camera shake. Busted. LOL

A Beautiful Sunrise in St. Paul, Minnesota

In case you missed it. . . this is what it looked like when the sun was rising over the Mississippi River out my hotel window this morning.

Our alarm is set to go off at 7:30 AM but at 6:18 AM my eyes popped open so I got up and started checking my emails.

As I was working I caught the beginning of the sunrise when there was just a sliver of pink light over the horizon. Basically I ignored it until I noticed the color had begun to slightly spread through the clouds. That's when I grabbed my camera and perched myself in the window of our hotel room. Within mere minutes the entire sky was painted this incredible shade of pink. And a few moments later it was all gone, the sky turned a flat grey with barely any pink on the horizon.

I'm feeling very fortunate to have captured this moment as it's our last day in Minnesota. Last morning actually. Soon we'll be home back in California which I'm missing terribly mostly because of our dog and cat.

This trip has been fun filled with friends and family, amazing with the EdgeWalk at the CN Tower and educational here at the Blogher/Creative Connections Event conference. My thanks to all who made it such a special time filled with many great memories.

I still have two more travel posts to come, one a wrap up of Toronto and the final will be about my time in St. Paul for the conference so stay tuned if you're interested in either city :)

Beautiful Blooming Hydrangeas at the Allied Arts Guild

Yesterday I went to the Allied Arts Guild in Menlo Park, CA to attend the "A World Away” Photo Exhibition" by my professional friend, and professional photographer, Elley Ho. Only problem was that the show wasn't yesterday the 6th, it's next Saturday the 13th of August. Oops!

So instead I spent an hour at the Allied Arts Guild photographing the blooming hydrangea clustered around the fountain in their "Garden of Delight," also known as "The Blue Garden," with my new Micro Four Thirds, Panasonic Lumix GF2 camera and zoom lens.

In fact, I spent a good portion of time shooting in manual mode to learn more about how the ISO setting on my camera works. For the most part I had to set my ISO to 400-800 to get these shots as the hydrangea were in a very shady area. The photos aren't perfect but they are part of my learning curve so I thought I'd share them with you because several people seem to be following my progress with the new camera.

Plus they just kind of made me go "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh" and feel relaxed just looking at them.

I was really amazed by all of the color and petal variations I could see in one place. Beautiful blues, purples, and greens along with bright pinks, salmon pinks and shades of violet, orchid and even some soft pastel'ish shades of khaki gold and olive green.

Some of the blossoms were tiny and others were large and rather floppy looking.

The size of the clusters ranged from small and tightly packed while others were large and loose and hung like enormous floral pendulums from their stems.

Did you know there are so many colors? I kind of knew but I don't think I realized just how many.

Classic Blue Hydrangea

Enormous Pom Poms of Bright Pink

Unusual Olive and Wine Pastels

Minty Green and Bright Blue Mini Blossoms

I loved both the watercolor and the paint splatter effects on this cluster.

And amazing shades of lavender blue-violet. These reminded me of iolite or tanzanite gem stones.

Elley is hosting an exhibit of her work along with the work of Scott Taylor after spending four weeks together in some of the remote villages located in the Himalayan Mountain Range of Nepal capturing the daily lives of the children who live there. They also served as volunteer teachers during their stay. Their trip was arranged through an organization called NEIO, the Nepal Education Initiative Organization.

I think I need to start wearing my glasses when I put things into my online calendar as this has now happened to me several times this year. Only once did I miss an event. What's more typical is that I show up a week or day early. Well, at least yesterday I ended up in a beautiful venue and just happened to have my camera with me so I was able to make the most out of what turned out to be a not-so-bad situation.

I'll be posting next week about how Elle's show was. If you've never been there before, the Allied Arts Guild is located just down the street and around the corner from Stanford Shopping Center. Maybe I'll see you there!

The Beauty of Japan is all Around Me

So this past week, Thursday to be exact, I had a Japan day, right here in San Jose, and didn't even realize it.

It all began when a package arrived on my doorstep. I was on my way out the door to see my dentist so I picked it up, set it inside, then left for my appointment.

Purple Wisteria

As I pulled out of my driveway I noticed my neighbor's wisteria was blooming. Ah, I LOVE wisteria. It is (imo) one of the most beautiful flowers. Ever. I made a mental note to go take a picture later that day or the next while the blossoms were all still very fresh and full.

Manju

Before returning home I stopped by a local Japanese Market. So there I was trying to find rice flour for a new recipe I want to try when I spotted packages of my most favorite kind of manju (a Japanese dessert) in stock! To be honest I'm not sure what I love more: The way it looks or the way it tastes. I think this manju is so gorgeous!

When I was a kid there were two things I always wanted: A pony (which I never got) and manju from the Uwajimaya Japanese grocery store in Seattle (5 hours away). I usually got the manju once a year, twice when I was lucky as friends and relatives traveling to Seattle would bring some back for me from time to time.

This exact kind has always been my favorite. The kind with the little pink spot in the middle and the tiny green leaf on top of the ever so slightly transparent, sweet and chewy pounded rice that is filled with sweetened white bean paste. There were 4 per package.

 I was so happy! I picked up a pack and headed for home.

Jizo Statue. So small it's standing on a quarter.

When I got inside I remembered the box from that morning. I opened it up to discover this tiny little statue I'd ordered on Etsy had arrived.

The artist's Jizo shop on Etsy says:

"Jizo is seen by Zen Buddhists as a guardian of women, children and travelers. Jizo embodies the qualities of courage, unflagging optimism, and benevolence, and the bodhisattva vow to free all beings from suffering."

The artist has a shop in Portland Oregon. He is relocating at the moment so his Etsy shop is barren but for one last Jizo statue. His next batch of Jizo's will be in Ebony, White and Celadon (green). Luckily for me I spotted his last remaining Blue (a color he is retiring) Jizo and was able to order it.

While not raised Buddhist, I feel I must have been Buddhist in a past life because so many of the principles of Buddhism are innately how I feel and how I react to things that happen around me.

My neighbor has a beautiful Japanese Garden.

So here's the funny thing, when I downloaded the memory card holding all of these images it was only then that I realized I'd just had, in its own way, a mini cultural experience.

While the manju is already all gone, the wisteria will be blooming for awhile and my little Jizo is now sitting in a place of honor in my kitchen since I've been spending so much time there.

I'm sharing this with you to remind you to slow down, pay attention, and watch for specialness in your day to day life. Sometimes it happens when you aren't paying attention :)

A Beautiful Double Rainbow

Last week hubby and I took a wrong turn in Los Gatos and this is what was in front of us at the end of the street.

"Stop the car (he ignored me)... Stop the Car (I think he asked if I was serious)... STOP THE FREAKING CAR" I hollered at him.

I grabbed my camera, stood in the middle of the road (don't worry, it was a quiet side street) and took this picture in the rain.

Though I was tempted I didn't make a video of it. Who can compete with the super famous "Giant Double Rainbow" guy?

Here's his Youtube viral hit video. As of just now it has 26,479,043 views. WOW.

I settled for a picture just because I thought it was really pretty. I posted it on Facebook and was really surprised how many people commented on it. Apparently people really enjoy the occasional double rainbow picture :)

San Francisco's Beautiful Looff Carousel Horses

Regular readers of The Flirty Blog would probably agree that I spend a lot of time up in San Francisco. And 95% of the time when I leave the city I drive down Fourth Street on my way to the 80 freeway to come home.

Stargazing Pintos

At the intersection of Fourth and Howard, about 5 blocks from the freeway entrance sits a beautiful Carousel completely encircled by tall glass windows and protected by a glass roof.

I swear, nine times out of ten I always seem to hit the red light at the intersection of Fourth and Howard. I wait, look to my left and think to myself that someday I want to go get out of my car and take photos of the Carousel perched above the intersection at the Yerba Buena Gardens. But I never do. Well, I never did until this past weekend when I found myself spending a leisurely afternoon in San Francisco while attending Macworld and realized that it was the perfect time to go take the photos I'd wanted to take for, oh, about a decade!

A Classic Galloping Horse with all Four Hooves in the Air

After lunch we were walking back to the Moscone Center when I detoured over to the Carousel. The thing is, this isn't just any old Carousel. It's a Looff Carousel carved by master woodcarver Charles I. D. Looff. His horses are sooooo beautiful. They look like the kind of horses that could, with just a teensy bit of magic, spring to life, shake out their cascading manes and give a whinny.

The Horses are Four-Abreast

Click to Enlarge any Images

Looff also carved other animals. From what I could see there are camels, giraffes, goats/rams, one standing lion and two dragons, one green one blue on the Zeum Carousel. There were also two chariots for those who want to ride but not sit astride an animal. The chariots are decorated with the green and blue dragons.

A Medieval Carousel Horse

As lovely as this Carousel is there is another Looff Carousel I have seen that is even more lovely. The horses are more ornately jeweled and carved and the restoration and maintenance are superb. The Looff carousel located in Riverfront Park in Spokane, Washington is especially beautiful. If you're ever traveling through eastern Washington State I'd highly recommend stopping by Riverfront Park to ride and view their Looff Carousel. You won't be disappointed.

A Stargazing Galloper

The history of the Yerba Buena Gardens "Zeum" Carousel is more interesting than you'd think with it's many residences listed on their website as:

• 1906 Constructed in Rhode Island by renowned designer and craftsman Charles I.D. Looff. Could not be installed in San Francisco as planned due to earthquake and fire.

• 1907 Installed at Luna Park, Seattle

• 1913 Moved to San Francisco’s oceanside amusement park, Playland-at-the-Beach

• 1972 Playland-at-the-Beach closes. Carousel purchased by private collector and put into storage in New Mexico

• 1983 Moved to Shoreline Village, Long Beach, CA

• 1998 Purchased by the City of San Francisco, fully restored, and opened in its current location at Zeum in Yerba Buena Gardens for new generations of San Francisco residents and visitors to enjoy!

A Dainty Standing Palamino

I love this row of dapple grey horses and how their legs are grey from knee to fetlock. The shading from light to dark grey is subtle but so beautiful.

This was, for all intents and purposes, a throw away shot I took through glass as we were leaving. I didn't think it would turn out at all but surprise, surprise, once I color balanced out the green tint from the glass it came out quite nice in a dreamy sort of way. It makes me want to go back again someday soon for more photos.

The Zeum Carousel: Website at www.Zeum.org
Location: Fourth and Howard, Downtown San Francisco, CA
Hours: 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM Daily
Cost: $3 per person for two rides!
Best Parking: Fifth & MIssion Garage