Down it comes

Instead of going for a walk this morning I watched the felling of a huge tree. I knew something was afoot when I started my walk, as I had an oversized red and white crane truck on my tail. Needless to say, I gave him the right of way and followed him to his destination. 

A "cherry picker" truck was already at the site, prepping the tree. The lower limbs had been cut off; all that was needed was to take down the trunk, which was about 90 feet tall. The tree was planted 26 years ago, as a Christmas tree. It just grew and grew, until last summer when it started to fail. It dropped a huge limb onto a porch and now it was time to take it down before anyone or anything else got hurt.

The lumberjack hopped into the cherry picker, with full tree climbing gear, and clambered to the top of the tree. He attached the wire belt from the red crane, and  took out his chain saw and cut away. 

In less than a minute, the top was severed from the tree and it went flying away.

The process was repeated for the next two sections of the tree.

All in a day's work!

And, then it was done. The tree is going to be missed. It provided a lot of shade as well as a home to a lot of birds and other critters too. Good bye noble pine.

...a poem as wonderful as a tree

While not Joyce Kilmer, here's my picture poem

Sun-catcher 

Strong

 

Guardian

Joined 

Bent 

           

               Food 

                       

                           Shelter

                                    

                                        Ring

    Steadfast

                     

                            Home

The trees of Lake Cachuma.

Tomatoes

Aren't they pretty? Folks who know me, know I don't like tomatoes. I do like pretty things, and these are pretty to look at, as long as I don't have to eat them. 

Variations on a Theme

 I love to play with photographs. Today I looked at how color affects a scene. 

You have to look carefully but can you find the buzzard? It only shows up in the reverse color print (top right) but it's in all of the photos. By changing the color scheme sometimes you can pick up details that were not evident before. Sometimes you get another effect and that's just fun. That's the great thing about pictures...you can do just about anything to them and it's all right (unless you are trying to convey the truth... ... ).

Words With Friends

I play Words With Friends everyday. Today I played my best word ever: QUIVERED. It was worth 239 points! My previous record was 179 points with thimbles.

For folks who don't know the game, every letter has a point value from 1 to 10.  You get extra points for placing letters on the colored squares. Red DW (double word) and Yellow TW (triple word) squares are coveted. In addition, you get 35 points for using all seven letters in your tray. Therefore, if you count the points, QUIVERED was worth 33 points times 3, times 2; OD was worth 3 points times 2; and there was a 35 point bonus for using all my letters for a grand total of 239! 

It was a good day as I had one other high point word: INHALERS. Alas, it was only worth 125 points.

On any other day, this would have been my high point word. 

 

Tesla, Part 2

                      

The Tesla filling station is as sleek as the car. 

This row of 8 "pumps" for lack of a better word, will give your S model Tesla a half charge in 20 minutes, for free. It's clean and simple, but boring...what do you do for 20 minutes while you are getting a half charge? If you stay for 40 minutes do you get a full charge? (I could not find an answer to that question on the website.) The car is equipped with wifi and internet, so I guess you can always surf the web. 

There was one car at the station today and it was not the one I pictured yesterday. There must be a number of them in the local area to warrant 8 stations.

In case you are wondering, this is the plug. I wonder if all electric cars have the same plug assembly? I hope there is some uniformity. 

                    

The whole area is called a Supercharging Station. I don't know what the individual "pumps" or "plugs" or spaces or stalls are called. 

First One I've seen

Do you want kind of car this is? It's the first one I've seen. Any guesses? I'll give you some clues...

-it has built in wifi and internet

-it can go from zero to 60 in 5.4 seconds

-top speed is 125 MPH

-two models--S and X. This is an S, 4 door 

The next clues will give it away

-zero emissions

-all electric

-200 mile range 

-free supercharger stations along major highways (66 stations now...more later)

-cost $71,010 cash

Still don't know....

It's a Tesla. 

Interesting car. I talked to the owner of one today and she said it was fun to drive, quite speedy, and very inexpensive to run. She said she had a special charge station in her garage, where it was charged every night. It was driven about 150 miles a day to and from work and was a perfect commute vehicle. There's also a free supercharge station in Buellton by the theater, that will give a half charge in 20 minutes.

Is this the type of car that will be the vehicle of the future? Time will tell. 

A New Beginning

Seen in the park....

Would you go camping on your honeymoon? It's not for everyone, but it's wholesome fun. 

Notice there's a Mickey Mouse on the car...maybe they went to Disneyland too. 

I wish the happy couple a wonderful lifetime together. 

Spring

The trees in Solvang are blossoming. 

They think it's spring. Now I really know we need some rain.

Camping

I love looking at RVs. There's always something new to learn. Yesterday I saw this Class B camper

I don't know if the tent unit is permanently attached to the roof or not, and I don't know if you can access the tent from inside the van, but it's the perfect tent for folks who don't like to sleep on the ground. 

In addition, it's a quiet little unit that does not have a lot of visual impact ;)

Chinese visas

Later this spring we are going on a cruise that will take us to China. To enter China you must have a visa. I spent the better part of this week trying to apply for the visa. What should have been easy was not. You might remember the frustration I felt last year trying to get visas for India? This was similar. 

If you go to China, be prepared! The first hurdle is a 4 page form that has to be filled exactly to their directions. Only the directions are ambiguous. As an example, they want dates written in the yyyy-mm-dd basis OR the yyyy/mm/dd basis. What is the correct format? I called and they told me both would work! The form said do not leave any line blank, put N/A or NONE in each space, but when I called they told me I could leave some spaces blank if the first space was filled in. Also, it says clearly that all responses are to be written in upper case letters, but the example they give is written in lower case letters! I'm a good bureaucrat, but what is right? 

After getting passport photos and affixing them to the form as directed, I needed to send copies of our driver's licenses as well as our passports. Lastly, there's the processing fee and visa fee. 

I got all the information they asked for, and tried to print out the 4 page form only to find out it did not fit on a standard piece of 8 1/2 x 11 inch paper. It was designed for A4 paper (a typical European size). I solved that problem by reducing the size of the document 5%. I printed off the forms, scanned the licenses, glued on the photos and sent the stuff off. I hope I did it right! If the passports come back within the next 10 days, I succeeded. 

Another View

This is a view of the Lake from the old road that has been submerged for about 60 years. I'm about 50 feet below the usual level of the lake. 

When the dam was finished, the water was allowed to rise...and the old road as well as trees were drowned. This old tree has not seen the light of day in a long long time. 

While this old tree is hanging parallel to the ground. It's been supported by water, but now that the water has gone, it's just hanging. I wonder when it will fall down to the lakebed?

One more example showing we need some rain!

Limited Edition Stamp

As you know, we are huge Harry Potter fans. The Post Office figured out there were a lot of us so they  created a limited edition Harry Potter collection. It's a most unusual book of 20 "forever" stamps that will probably never be used by us fans. 

That's the cover for the multi-page pamphlet. 

Open the cover and you see familiar pictures and scenes from the first 2 movies. 

The next two pages show people from movies 3, 4 and 5.

The last page has pictures from the last movies, #8. 

Turn the pamphlet over and there is a picture of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The US Postal Service did an excellent job with this special booklet of 20 stamps. There is also a magnet that goes along with the collection,but I've been unable to find one for sale. I will keep asking. If you get this  pamphlet now, the price is 46 cents a stamp...but later this month the price will increase. 

California's State Bird

I just learned the California Valley Quail is the state bird. There are several flocks  living at the park. They are the best walking bird I know, but watching them fly is another story. 

Since they can barely get off the ground, they walk all over the place -- it looks like they are following their bobbing head crest or plume. When people get too close to them they walk faster...but when people get about 10 feet away, the quail try to fly. They are awkward flyers at best, usually moving a few feet from the "threat." I was the "threat" today, trying to take pictures...but these are the best I got. 

Their great escape was the top of the fence, still about 10 feet away. 

Queen of the California Missions

California has 21 old Spanish missions that line the western side of the state. Yesterday we visited the prettiest of them all, Mission Santa Barbara. She is officially called "The Queen of the Missions" probably because she is the first. Sitting above the Santa Barbara skyline, the view from the mission is wonderful. 

The mission has been in continuous use for 225 years! Right now, her proud facade is getting a restoration.

              

Scaffolding has been erected around the old stone facade so future generations can enjoy the serenity of the mission. The old "lavendaria" (aka laundromat circa 1789) is still in existence. 

          

Instead of inserting coins, all you have to do is pound your clothes on the sloped sides of the trough and then rinse them out in the flowing water at the bottom. Nowadays, the water is not connected so it's harder to do. (I don't recommend this for "delicate" fabrics.)

The arched corridors are still in great condition, protecting the "hallway" from sun and rain. The doors and windows are still intact. 

  Two centuries of feet have worn the tile. 

Inside the gift store is a model of the mission as she will look when restoration is finished. 

There are several missions nearby. We might get a chance to visit them this winter. 

Eight contrails

        

I like this picture. A rising sun, a lone bird and 8 contrails. What a way to start the day. 

Lake Cachuma

We are back at the lake...or what's left of the lake. It's down 51 feet. 

Last year this area was covered with water. The large blocks of concrete that are strewn on the ground were weights holding down a boat house. Now they hold down some sand. The boat house is gone. 

That was the boat launch, but it's left high and dry. The walkway has collapsed. 

The lower boat launch area that has not been seen in years, was laid in 1965. There's still some water in the lake, but more is needed. Please send some rain in this direction. 

Happy New Year 2014

It happens every January first--The Rose Parade. This year we looked at the 125th edition of the famous parade. 31 years ago, we saw the parade live. We got up super early and took a tour bus to Pasadena. We had seats on the street where we could see the floats, hear the bands and touch the horses...it was a thrill. When we left the parade about 1 PM the streets of Pasadena were  packed with traffic and debris from the parade goers. The crowds were incredible! We have never thought of going again. It's a once in a lifetime thing. If you love the Parade, you should go. You get a better view on the street than you do on TV, and there are no ads. 

Just in case....pre-date a few checks with 2014, so you will have the right year.