Foggy mornings are the norm here this time of year. While in other seasons I can often see to the far side of the Sacramento Valley in the winter sometimes I can't even see to the far side of my yard. On this morning I was fortunate that the fog tapered off just to the west allowing the fog to catch the rays of the rising sun.
We drove out to Malibu Sunday to see if we could get a few pictures. It was a gray day but there was enough sun shining through the clouds to put a little shine on the ocean and a little color in the sky.
The weather didn't keep this paddle surfer out of the water.
To all my blogging friends I wish you a wonderful Holiday Season.
Michael helped to decorate the tree at our house while he was here for his dad's marathon run.
This home owner says he would never have wanted a pink flamingo except it is forbidden. For Halloween it is a witch, for Thanksgiving a turkey with a pilgrim suit and for Christmas Santa who has a bit of trouble keeping his beard in place.
Another homeowner claims that these are the three wise flamingos.
This lift bridge is a temporary structure while the beautiful "Bridge of Lions" in St. Augustine Florida is being reconstructed. The five year project is due to be completed next year.
We went to a photography Elderhostel (now called Exporitas) on Jekyll Island a few years ago. I got lots of great sunrise and sunset shots so you will probably see more in the future.
We returned in the Fall.
This is almost the same spot and someone had used sticks and stones to outline a martini glass on the dry creek bed, complete with swizzle stick. 
The economy is largely dependant on tourism. With abundant hiking, fishing and rock climbing in the area, the town tries to make itself appealing to tourists. In addition to sprucing up main street the town has had murals painted in several places where there are large exposed walls. These murals depict scenes from the area's past and are some of the nicest I have encountered in my travels.
The first one we spotted was over a store entry and commemorates the early railroad. The slim princess is on view at the local railroad museum of Laws.
This one is on the side of a restaurant and depicts the inn which had once been on the site.
Across the street is a large three part mural showing more of the areas history
Father Crowley was priest and friend to the area's residents. In the 1930s he was an advocate for area tourism. The LADWP named a major reservoir in his honor.
This one is the most personally meaningful to me. It shows the area where we lived, at the confluence of Pine Creek and the Owens River. Our children went to school in Round Valley with the children from the mining camp at Rovana. Round Valley and its K-8 school was our world until the boys started high school in Bishop. Then Bishop became our focus.
It is also a place of great beauty, the white sand a perfect canvas for shadows.
It's hard to tell the spiky leaves from the spiky shadows.
Spent pods, twigs and the ripples of the sand itself all show their shadows.
Ten minutes later and they were overhead as the top of the birch tree caught the first rays of sun.
A few hours later he was back on the fence, this time with his supper. The photo below is not for the squeamish but I was thrilled to get such photos through my window.
I know, no big deal for most of you, but I live near Sacramento, California at an elevation of only 300'. This solid form of water is a once a decade event. I was not the only one out with a camera this morning. While most people enjoyed it the cold temps in the 20's were not welcome to the farmers in this citrus growing area.
It was a cold day. Michael and his Mom were bundled up waiting for the guys to finish. It was much to far for Michael to walk so we brought his chair.
After dropping Eric off I went back home to get breakfast. By the time we all got ready, drove to Sacramento, parked and walked several blocks to the course the guys had been running for over four hours. 
Then I walked back to where Hubby, Michael and Mimi were, a spot we though would be perfect to catch shots of Eric and Mark as they headed around the bend into the home stretch. As it turned out, Mark was already across the finish line and Eric came in while I was walking from the end to our perfect vantage. The others had missed him too.
They didn't freeze, they said for the most part they were not cold (temps in the 30's most of the time). Both had personal bests although Mark was dissapointed that he missed 4 hours by just a few seconds.
Both were tired and stiff but pleased with their accomplishment. It was a long and busy day for all of us.
At one time most visitors would have approached the town through this arch, one of few remaining mission style arches in California. It is adjacent to the railway depot. In 1907 when the arch was constructed the railroad would have been the main source of transportation. I wish I could have had a higher viewpoint to better show the arch's shadow.
It's easy to see the shadows on this building, an adjunct to the refurbished train depot, it seems to be a bus depot.
Shadows from a nearby tree grace this lovely mural commemorating the Tokay Carnival of 1907. The right side advertises the annual Grape Festival now held each year in September.
I rather like the way this oak branch seems to be reaching for the sky.Michael and his parents are comming to visit for five days so I'll try to get some posts ready ahead of time but I probably won't have much time to visit other blogs. Michael seems to keep Grandma busy.
I encourge you to visit other beautiful skies by going to Sky Watch Friday, hosted for us each week by Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy, Louise and Sylvia.
I love the varied colors of the pools in Yellowstone, the clear turquoise,
the reds and golds,
some are a mosaic of colors
and some are an emerald green. The color is determined by what grows in the pool, living creatures that can survive the high temperatures and acid water. 
This bird is easy to identify. The Western Bluebirds love to anoint my patio umbrella.
The Anna's Hummingbird has a bright pink head and throat.
Who is this cute guy? There are several red finches.
The brown cap and cheek indicates a House Finch.
This feeder has both cracked sunflower seed and niger. The little Lesser Goldfinch is attracted by the niger.
He's a Yellow-rumped Warbler.
The big guy here is easy to identify, a California Quail. I think the little one is a lark sparrow.
Turning around my eye barely caught sight of this hawk, perched in the shadows in the nearby willow. After downloading I tried to identifuy him. None of the hawks seemed right, none had banding like this on its breast, he was looking at me so I must have been viewing his front. Wrong, I finally realized I wasn't seeing his breast, it is his wing we see in this shot. He's looking over his red tinged shoulder.
He's a red shouldered hawk, brightened up here for better viewing. It was a neat experience to see him so close, about 15 feet away, in the wild.