Happy Holidays

To all my blogging friends I wish you a wonderful Holiday Season.

We are on our way south in our mobile guest room to spend Christmas at Eric's house.

Mark will fly down and join us so our little family will all be together.

Michael helped to decorate the tree at our house while he was here for his dad's marathon run.

My World of the HOA

Those who live in a community governed by a home owner's association know that they ofter discourage displays of individuality, ours is no exception. No garden ornament is allowed except for three pots which must be of a certain size, certainly not pink flamingos.

Home owners are allowed to decorate for holidays for a specified length of time and this is where people show their creativity.
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.

At Easter this same flamingo sports bunny ears and a cotton tail (I'm sure he means no disrespect LBR).

Another homeowner claims that these are the three wise flamingos.

We have many lovely Holiday displays here in Sun City, most are more traditional (and many seem to be moving the displays closer to the ground as we are getting older and shouldn't be up on ladders). These displays tickle my funny bone and I wanted to share.

See more worlds at My World Tuesday hosted for us by Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy, Louise and Sylvia.

Drawbirdge Shadow

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 visited St Augustine in 2006, a great place for photographers.

See more interesting shadows at Hey Harriet.

Jekyll Island Sky Shot

This is an archive shot. With the holidays I have been short on time (hosted 25 tonight for a sit down dinner but had lots of help from guests).
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.

Find more skies at Sky Watch Friday, hosted for us by Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy, Louise and Sylvia.

Dry Martini?

For Watery Wednesday I have gone to my archives. I took this picture last spring near where Tenaya Creek flows out of Mirror Lake in Yosemite.
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.

Find more watery scenes at Watery Wednesday, hosted for us by 2sweetnsaxy.

Bishop--My World

Bishop, California, for 15 years it was our home town. The largest town in the Owens Valley and the largest in Inyo county, it has a population of less than 4,000 with little room to grow. Most of the surrounding land is owned by the City of Los Angeles. Most of what LA doesn't own is owned by the federal government or is held by Piute-Shoshone bands. Los Angeles is over 200 miles south and Reno, NV 200 miles north. Few highways cross the Sierra to the west and most of these are closed in winter.
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.

I was born and raised in Los Angeles, Hubby in the Bronx. Who would have thought that the most important years of our lives would have been spent in this small, isolated, rural community.

See more worlds at My World Tuesday, hosted for us each week by Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy, Louise and Sylvia.

White Sand Shadows

Some may think of death and destruction when they hear "White Sands, New Mexico". It's true, this is the area where the first atomic weapons were detonated.

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.

Find a world of shadows at Hey Harriet