In the last 10 days, we have had more rain than in each of the last 5 or 6 years!  Knowing it was going to be stormy, I took a quick drive to Dana Point Harbor to see what was happening.  There was little activity, but when I looked upwards I was pleasantly surprised to see an old friend.  I stayed only a few minutes, but I was able to find a good vantage point from which I didn't have to look straight up.  This was the only heron I saw that day, but it may become a favorite for the year.

As I drove away, I noticed lots of gulls sitting on the  channel-side breakwater -- I'd seen lots of larger birds on the breakwater, but never gulls.

For the next several days, I never left home  -- it poured each day, and we were being asked not to be out and about unless it was necessary.  This is what my driveway looked like on one of those days.

This was pretty heavy rain, considering that we've had less than 6 inches of rain each of the last few years (our average is about 15 inches).  As gray as it looks, it was good to see rain for a few days.  The rain has now stopped, and today was sunny all day, although the roofs were frosty this morning.  It is to be in the low 70's tomorrow, and I've heard conflicting reports for next weekend -- one says it could be rainy again, an the other says temperatures could be close to 80.  We still need lots of rain to fill the lakes and get us out of the deficit caused by the drought, but this past week of rains certainly helped avert a crisis in the Southland!

During a quick break between storms last week, I took the camera to see what hat happened on the construction site.  I could see a little progress, but the most striking thing I saw was that the tops of all the hills are green -- the green of spring; the green after a rain!

  

And looking through some eucalyptus trees, the hill across the highway is also very green.

In the next week or two, as it clears up, I will have the camera with me, and will be sure to take more photos of the green hills so symbolic of this time of year!

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The hills are alive

With the green of rainy days;

They will be greener!

Since the first of the year, it appears that we have had some rain every day.  It only takes a little to turn the grasses green, and the hills are now looking quite chartreuse!  We've had anywhere from 1/10 inch to 1-1/2 inches  each day -- we are almost on target to meet an average rainfall to date this year, but the predictions are for a few more days of this, then dryer weather again.  This winter will not break our drought, but it has been nice to have a more normal winter!

It's that time of year again -- and the little boys in my nephew's family are growing up.  They went to meet Santa over the weekend!

  

  

Merry Christmas to all!

For the last week or so I have been spending a lot of time trying to select photos for the calendar I make for family Christmas gifts.  I had decided on a theme of Lake Cachuma -- Then and Now.  That meant looking through 7 years of files of photos of the Lake to pick the best from each file.  I ended the first cut with about 125 photos, a few too many to make a nice calendar.  I've now winnowed the selection down to the following 17 photos -- one will be a cover shot, and there will be 2 photos on several pages.  Although not all the shots are exactly alike to show then and now, there are enough clues to show the differences.

These photos have all been posted previously, as the lake dwindled from full in 2010 and 2011 to empty in late 2016.  In my last post, a commenter suggested that she'd like to see side-by-side comparisons -- I've made this chronological, but the photos do provide the opportunity to see the progression of a drought-stricken lake.

As of November, 2016, the lake level has reached approximately 7% of capacity, and is now virtually down to the "Dead Pool," meaning that if it gets any lower there will be no potable water.  The City of Santa Barbara and several smaller towns nearby are weighing options:  1)  They can increase the ability to import State water (there is currently a limit of 4,400 acre feet a day); it would take construction of a second pipeline for about 10 miles.  2)  They have requested permission to increase the capacity of the desalination plant currently under construction (it is now projected to be running by late March, and permits are in place for triple the current size).  3)  They could truck water in, at great cost and increasing the traffic on an already stressed freeway.  These are the three most feasible options, both of which are very costly, and would require several years.  They will most likely need to rely on increasing the size of the desal plant.

Cover  (this photo is an accurate rendition of the sign that is in place -- the letters are peeling off the painted background as the sign basks in Southern California sunshine!)

January  (photos taken May 2010 and November 2016)

  

February (taken May, 2010)

  

March (taken February, 2011)

April (taken June, 2013)

May (taken August, 2013

 

June (taken February and May, 2014)

  

July (taken February, 2014)

  

August (taken May, 2014)

September (taken December, 2014)

  

October (taken November, 2016)

November (taken May, 2016)

December (taken November, 2016)

These are still somewhat subject to change for the final calendar, but I am hoping to submit them for printing this evening or tomorrow.

From the County Park at Lake Cachuma, we moved on to the Vista Point that sits just over the south side of the dam, to see what changes had occurred.  The following is what we saw --

There is now a riverbed of its own, leading into the inlet we've been watching.  There had been a few drops of rain (about 1/2 inch) a few days before we were there, which created a little runoff into the inlet.  Basically, though, the lake received about 1/2 inch of water from that rain (just what fell directly on the lake, which is currently 100 feet low).

The next few shots are an attempt to create a panorama, looking up-river from the dam -- the County Park is on the right hand side of the 2nd and 3rd shots.  These photos also show pretty well where the river flowed before there was a dam in its way.

 

Looking across the dam, we can see that this area has silted pretty badly since the dam was built (the flat area on the other side is made up of silt), and that the lake has been low for long enough that brush is beginning to grow back to its natural state.  I learned this trip that the black pipe draped through the  spillway gate and over the dam is where State water is brought in from Northern California.  It is currently not bringing in enough water for a single day's needs.

Just upriver from the lake, the mountains in the background are the area burned by the Rey Fire last summer -- the fire burned for several weeks, almost entirely in "back country" wilderness, but the difference in vegetation is quite clear..

When I go to Santa Barbara, one of the things I enjoy is a drive over the mountains behind town and to the lake that supplies Santa Barbara with its water.  For the last 5 years, the area has been in severe drought, along with the rest of the State, and the lake has been diminishing in the amount of water available.  There is some water that comes in from other parts of the State, purchased by a consortium of water districts including Santa Barbara, Lompoc, Solvang, Santa Ynez, Carpinteria, Montecito, etc.  The daily infflow of water from these State water sources is less than the amount used in one day by Santa Barbara, and as it is deposited into the lake, there has been considerable evaporation.  The City is working on rebuilding its desalination plant, originally built in 1988, but never used.  That was to have been completed during the summer, so that it would up and running by now, supplying about 1/3 of the water used each day.  The latest update is that the desal plant will bu started in early March -- in tests, 1 of 4 units blew up; then the recycled water being used along with sea water was renovated during the summer, but the pipes used have been found to be incapable of holding the pressure required when the desal plant is added to the mix.  The lake is now at 7% capacity, a level at which the water in the lake is called the "dead pool, or non-potable water.   The water level has dropped 100 feet since the last time the lake was full!  State water is still being pumped in, and evaporation is less than during the summer; for a short while, the city is able to use what water is available.    I wanted to see what the lake looks like now, under these conditions.

The first viewpoint stop we made was at a County recreation park a mile or so upstream from the dam.  This park does not allow swimming, but the lake is planted with trout, and there is a popular boat launch within the park.  I stood at the top of the boat launch ramp and took a few photos.  The normal water level is at the bottom of the paved area, where you can see the metal bridge -- and now that is only half way to the lake bottom below!.

  

  

Water is carried from the lake through mountains in an unlined tunnel, the intake for which is about 2 miles upstream from the dam.  In the next shot, you can see the pipe that carries the water now from a pump near the dam through the two miles to the tunnel inlet.  The small white posts mark the 'route' of that pipe.

Within the orange fencing is a barge with the pump that works to send the water up the lake and then straight up to the tunnel inflow.

Back at the top of the boat launch, you can still look along the lake level and see the lining that once surrounded the area just below the water line.  At the far end of this area, behind a small store, there are a group of yurts for rent.

  

From there, we drove around the campground that is located on a peninsula in the lake, and stopped on the other side, looking downstream to the dam.

   

On the left side of the dam (the center of this shot) is the spillway, with 4 gates through which water flows when the lake is full.  Currently the gates are raised and lowered ao they don't rust in place, but water doesn't flow through them except for the State water being imported from other more northern locations.

Turning one more turn to the left, a shot of an inlet creating the campground peninsula.  There used to be water to the top of the white band across the center of the shot.  Now, roads have begun to appear where the rangers and dam staff have driven in their daily work.

Before moving on, I took one last pair of shots showing the back side of the dam.

  

My next post will show the shots I took from a vista point just downstream from the dam -- a vista point that I have stopped at during all my forays to view the dam and the lake.

As I often do for holidays, I drove to Santa Barbara for the Thanksgiving weekend.  Driving north on Tuesday was still a long drive -- but nowhere near the struggle that it would have been on Wednesday!  As well as a small turkey dinner, we did a drive over the mountain to Lake Cachuma, the City's water supply.  I've posted photos before, calling it the Lake that Wasn't -- and will post more in a couple of days.  But there are a couple of photos I'd like to post today, just as a teaser.

On Thanksgiving Friday, as we often do when viewing the lake, we ate lunch at the Alisal Ranch public golf course.  Walking in, I noticed a touch of the type of color more often seen in the East in fall, and captured these shots.

And this Tuesday, on my way homeward, I drove Hwy 1 along the coast to Malibu.  There is a spot that I call the sand slide --- not really a sand dune, it is a spot where the hillside has slid toward the ocean, leaving a sand hill.  It's been there as long as I can remember, and people often climb ig and slide down -- on Tuesday, I saw a firefighting group using it as a training venue -- there were about 25 firefighters running up the hill!

Last night the moon was the closest it has been for 68 years -- it won't be this close again for another 18 years.  It was a full moon, very bright and a little larger than usual.  About an hour after it rose, I took the camera outside to try a couple of shots.  I shoot handheld, and my lens is 50-200.  The first shot I tried was without flash -- it looks nothing like a moon, but maybe it qualifies as an art piece -- lol!

I don't usually use flash for photos at a distance -- the flash doesn't really make a difference to the shot.  For moon shots, though, it helps the camera to know there's something out there, and it's the only way I can get decent shots (how strange is that?)!  So I turned on the flash and took two more shots.

The first was through trees across the street.

and the last was unshaded by trees.  I think the "Man in the Moon" was most alive in this last shot!

I haven't used the camera as much recently as I did for a while -- I considered this a little exercise to remind me of some of the features!

For the last year or so I have been talking about a possible move to a retirement community to be built over the next couple of years.  This will give me the security of having only the one more move while I am still able to participate comfortably in moving, as well as continuing medical care as needed (including memory care if needed).  I'm not really ready for such a move yet, but it is prudent to be situated by the time I turn 80 -- that will happen about a year after this move.  Last week, after a change in location and revised planning, the company held a "Groundbreaking" ceremony -- they had actually broken ground about a month earlier.  I didn't take my camera to the event, but a couple of days later I went back to see where we had been, and to take what will eventually be part of a series of progress photos.  The first of the group are taken from the sales office, across the street from what will be the main entrance to the project.

The hill was once covered with an orange orchard.  The trees have been removed for construction purposes, but many will be replanted as landscaping on the grounds.

There is a "roadway" up the hill, just behind the orange and white k-rail, leading up to a large graded space where the ceremony was held.  There was a huge tent where they had organized food service for about 400 people!  It had been rainy the day before, and I was very glad not to have to drive up the hill as they had originally planned -- at the last minute, they hired some "party vans" to take us up the hill!

The event was held on a graded space just to the left of the two white trailers (fancy porta-potties!) are.  It was explained that we were at what will be the "Clubhouse," a two-story large community dining room.  The views from that level of the hill are really spectacular, looking in one direction to the mountains, and in the other towards a hill behind which is San Clemente.  The hill on the left is new -- as they graded, they ran into a large amount of sand, valuable in creating the proper geological soil mix for such a building.  Rather than discard the sand and have to replace it later, they are saving it to mix in as they need it.  The project leader told us a funny story -- every morning when he arrives on site, he rides his dirt bike to inspect and to see what has changed since the day before.  One day, he came to a big hole in the ground -- he knew that if he went down into the hole fast enough, he'd be able to use the momentum to climb out the other side -- what he didn't realize was that there was a sand pile at the bottom of the hole!  That was the beginning of building the sand pile that you see in this photo!

Having taken these photos, I went across to the park below the project, where there is a park with the rows divided by small orange trees.  The rest of the photos are taken from that area.

The lighter colored earth at the top of the hill in the center of the next photo is the sand that has been piled up for later use.

I will continue to take photos periodically as the building progresses over the next couple of years.

This morning at 5:30 am, I was awakened by a tremendous BOOM!  As I wondered what woke me, I saw through the blinds a flash of light, followed by another, smaller boom.  That was the beginning of a half hour thunderstorm.  We normally see perhaps one thunderstorm a year in this area, and they're never very close -- usually against the mountains.  Last night, though, the storm sat right above my house, making lots of noise to announce its arrival.  Towards the end, there was a heavy rain that lasted about as long as it takes to type 'thunderstorm.'   This was repeated at about noon, and again in the evening.  It probably didn't bring much measurable rain, the it added to yesterday afternoon's rain and signalled that we may have more early rain than we have had for a while.   During the afternoon, I took the camera out to see what the clouds looked like -- these are all scenes that I've photographed without the clouds.

As I drove back, I discovered that the cows have invaded Dana Point!  There were several painted cows planted in strategic locations -- this was the only one that I could photograph this trip, but perhaps they'll stay long enough for me to get out and find more.

This reminded me of the elephants that were all over Dana Point a couple of years ago -- they were school art projects designed to raise funds to help the elephants.  I've seen nothing about this project -- but it struck me that there are actually two animals on this one -- first the cow itself, then the California bear!

On the last full day I was in Santa Barbara, we went for another walk along Shoreline Drive, this time to view the cruise ship that was "in port".  During the summer season, Santa Barbara has becoming one of the stops for the coastal cruises, taking the place of one of the Mexican stops they used to make.  As the political situation and the potential for violence in the coastal Mexican towns, this has become a viable stop, offering the opportunity for tours of Southern California history, or Santa Barbara wine country, or simply shopping.  They have had as many as 32 visits in a summer season as the ships make their way from Ensenada to San Francisco and back.

Local sailboats find it great fun to sail out to the cruise ships to see what they can see!

Because the pier is relatively small, people are shuttled from ship to shore on tenders -- as I shot the above photos, there were tenders close to the ship.  The next few shots show the tenders between the landing and the ship.

The pier is tucked in behind the marina on the left side of the next shot -- between the pier and the breakwater, there is a nice beach, with a spot where the tenders land.

On the walk back to the car, we noticed a seagull sitting atop a garbage can -- he deigned to glance at me long enough for me to catch the next two shots!

While I was in Santa Barbara, we went on short walks along Shoreline Drive, at the top of the cliffs over the ocean.  One afternoon we were there just as sailboats were gathering for a race outside the harbor.  These were probably about 15-foot boats, and a beginning class of sailors, and the power boats were probably there to monitor the group and make sure they all made it around the markers as well as to make sure they were all safe.  The structures on the horizon are oil drilling rigs -- there are 11 of them offshore, and they are very visible on nice days.

And around the marker they go.  This is often the point at which the race is won or lost!

It was beautiful weather while I was there -- not too hot, but no appreciable clouds except for the two evening sunsets.  We have since had about 1/3 inch of rain a couple of days ago, and it could be a triple-digit heat wave tomorrow!

Last weekend was another trip to Santa Barbara.  There was a mini-reunion of my high school class -- a beach party pot-luck lunch.  The next few posts are of photos taken during that trip.  On Monday and Tuesday, there were magnificent sunsets as the tails of faraway storms blew by Santa Barbara -- I didn't have the camera with me on Monday, but Tuesday was pretty spectacular!  These shots were all taken from the back yard of the home where I stayed.

   

The storm attached to these clouds brought no rain to the Santa Barbara area or further south, but they did leave some rain farther north and even some snow on the Sierra Nevada mountains.  That's exciting news, as it will lay some groundwork for a snowpack on the mountains which will hopefully be sufficient to supply some water to Southern California next summer.  At this point, we have still not seen any rain in Southern California, although we have had a few misty mornings -- they say that 10 days of heavy fog can be equivalent to an inch of rain, so we are all looking forward to a few more days of misty mornings before it turns hot again at the end of the coming week.

A few days later, I was once again at the bluffs at Dana Point Harbor, looking to see if there might be a sailboat race.  The weather was lovely -- sunny and comfortable, with a slight breeze.  As I looked out from the bluff, I noticed that there was a race, but sailing in the opposite direction was a tall ship.

As I watched, the sailboats continued their race, but the tall ship motored back towards the harbor, taking down its sails along the way.

After determining that the ship was headed for the Ocean Institute, inside the harbor, I moved to sea level and watched as the ship motored into the harbor.

I believe that this is a visiting ship rather than one that lives within the Harbor.  However, there had recently been a Tall Ship Festival, and these people may have been out for an afternoon sail.  What fun to relive history in this way!

It's been a long, hot summer, and over the last couple of weeks, I have been under the (hot) weather with a sinus infection.  I've been following my doctor's instructions to get lots of rest and lots of water while I recover from this minor ailment.  I did get out with the camera one afternoon last week, and took a few shots of the grading that has begun at what I believe may be my next home.  This hillside was previously covered with citrus trees, some of which will be replanted on the grounds when construction has been competed.

A fence has been constructed in front of the construction area.  On the left is a road turnaround that leads to the entrance to the site.

T

The nearest hill suffered a small fire earlier in the season.

The hill has stripes now -- rows of trees were situated between these stripes -- they are being uprooted by that earth-mover at the top of the hill.

And a wider view of the entire site.  There will be a ground-breaking ceremony at the end of October, and completion is anticipated in late 2018.

For about 45 years, my sister lived in Rome -- she returned to this country last year, and is settling in to her home in Santa Barbara.  When I go to visit, I like to see her at least once -- this time it was at a restaurant by the Goleta Pier.  This pier was nearly washed out a couple of years ago in a storm, and the restaurant, which sits on the beach, was severely damaged.

They are currently working on restoring the beach and the revetment that creates beach, lawn, and parking area.   I was a few minutes early, and took that time to photograph the area surrounding the restaurant.  It was interesting to see that there are a lot of shore birds fishing in the slough.  There's a great blue heron sitting in the bushes -- can you see him?

There he is!

Several egrets enjoyed the slough.

A group of shore birds also enjoyed the slough, but from the top of a group of pilings.

At the end of the slough is the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara.

In the early afternoon of August 18, an old oak tree, weakened by drought and rotten from the inside, fell on top of a power line leading to a ranger station and a campground.  The location was on the north side of the Santa Ynez River behind Santa Barbara, the river that leads to Cachuma Dam.  The spark that resulted from the fall of that tree started a fire that took off and became the Rey Fire.  As soon as we learned of the fire, around 4:30 pm, we began watching the cloud that it generated -- the first group of photos was taken from Shoreline Drive, a park along the top of the cliffs.

We drove short distances, trying to find the best vantage point.

Oops -- wrong direction -- try the other way!

By this point, we decided to stop, and to see what happened the next day.  On Saturday, the 20th, we went fire-watching again.  By this time, the fire was probably about 20-25 miles from town, over the mountains and up the hill on the other side of the river.  We found a great view point  and  shot the following views from there.  Over the next half hour, we watched the fire cloud move and change -- they call it pyroclastic weather (weather generated by fire).

The buildings shown are at the base of the mountain pass road, again, probably 20-25 miles from the fire itself.  We were in their parking lot as we watched the clouds.  It is fascinating to me that the fire clouds act in ways similar to thunder clouds -- they build up into beautiful puffy clouds, then collapse and spread out, only to begin building up again.  The spread depends upon the direction of the winds -- the clouds were blowing towards town for two or three days while the lower level winds drove the fire itself in the opposite direction.  The sun set over the weekend in a brown haze -- I saw one photo that showed a striped sun sinking towards the ocean!

This fire is still burning -- it has reached approximately 35,000 acres, and is now about 40% contained.  It has burned in wilderness/ranch land, where there are no buildings other than one old  shed on a ranch -- the firefighters wrapped that building with a tinfoil like materials to try to protect it, and I have not yet heard whether that was successful.  The fire will continue to grow to the north and east, because it is impossible to get people in to fight it effectively.  They will continue to drop water from helicopter-transported 'buckets,' and phs-chec from a couple of DC-10's that have been converted for that purpose.  The phos-chec will eventually create a fire-retardant line around the fire that will slow it to the point it may burn itself out or it may be more accessible for more traditional methods of fighting it.

During the same period of time, there was a small fire that began on a ranch that had not burned in the Sherpa Fire a month or so earlier -- just inland from last year's Refugio Oil Spill.  That one was extinguished quickly, as there was equipment on its way to the Rey Fire that could be diverted to stop this fire.  It turned out that it was caused by a bird coming in contact with power lines -- that happens frequently, and they identify the cause easily when they see burned bird on the ground in the area where the fire began.

And also during the same period of time, there have been other huge fires -- the Soberanes Fire, near Big Sur; the Chimney Fire, at Lake Nacimiento, and around Hearst Castle; and the Blue Cut Fire north of San Bernardino -- all are huge fires, and are, at last report, still burning as I write this.  As terrible as the fires are, there is benefit to letting them burn, since resources are limited and since the fires clear existing brush and allow for regeneration of the flora.

Those of you who have followed my blog for any length of time know that I grew up in Santa Barbara, and have friends and family who still live there.  When I go to visit, one of the things I enjoy doing is driving over the mountains to the Santa Ynez Valley.  The Santa Ynez River was dammed in the mid 1950's to create a flood control center for the river as well as a reservoir for water flowing down the river.  Over the last 5 years of drought, the area has seen the lake (Lake Cachuma) diminished considerably in its ability to supply the city with water, and there are actually beginning to be some water rights spats over what little water remains in the lake.  This trip, I was shocked to see how much the lake level had dropped since May, when I was there last, and now -- particularly visible in the shots closest to the dam.  Also shocking was the fact that you can now see the path of the river as it was before there was a dam.  As I usually do, I stopped along the road on the way to a County viewpoint and looked across the lake as well as upstream to the County Park.  The first few shots replicate those I've shown before, albeit with considerably less water in the lake.

The next shot, in particular, shows the river snaking through the sandbars off to the left.  The towers on the right side of the photo are part of the County Park.  And most of the water line shows the decline since May.

The dark line on the left side of this shot is shrubbery regrown since May.

Moving on to the vista point, one has another view of the lake.

Peeking through the oak trees, I was able to glimpse a pump sitting on a barge.  I believe this is one used to pump water downstream, past the dam, for the senior rights users (Solvang, Buellton, and Lompoc,  and a few farms have senior rights to the water because they were there before the river was dammed).  There is a similar pump that is lifting the water to the entrance to a tunnel that takes the water through the mountains to a reservoir in the hills behind Santa Barbara.

Water being released down the river will add to the aquafer, but it is also being used for normal life.  We had lunch at a golf course belonging to a private "dude ranch" near Solvang.  There are also horse ranches and some agricultural fields along the river that are beautifully irrigated with this released water.  The residents along the river maintain that the water is theirs because they were there first, and that Santa Barbara has been stealing the water all these years!

Looking across the dam you can also see the lowered level of the remaining water.

The day after we visited the area, a fire broke out upstream from the lake -- there is a small road that goes upriver to some lovely campgrounds, a National Forest Ranger Station, and a Juvenile Boys (prison) Camp.  It hasn't been definitively announced yet, but it was speculated that high winds blew down an oak tree near one of the campgrounds, downing a power line next to the river to spark the Rey Fire. In the last week, the fire has burned no structures, but has burned nearly 40,000 acres into the wilderness area on the opposite side of the river.  This is actually good for the area -- it is regenerative to rid the area of the old growth and allow new growth to flourish.  There is major concern, however, about the health of the lake when the fire has burned itself out.  When (or maybe I should say 'if') it ever rains, there will be large amounts of ash and silt washing into the lake, reducing its capacity to hold water, and perhaps polluting the water that does get to the lake.  There are two smaller dams upstream.  One is so small and so silted that it holds virtually no water.  The other is a supplemental source of water for the city.  That reservoir is no longer being used for drinking water -- the water is no longer pure and the lake is more like a mud puddle.  They are, however using it to fill the helicopter buckets transporting water to be dropped on the fire!  Hopefully it will soak in and mitigate some of the  runoff from the next rains!  The ground level firefighting efforts have been very creative, too -- in addition to helicopters dropping lots of water and two DC-10's dropping fire retardant phos-chec (the red stuff you may have seen in news photos), the firefighters have been wrapping outpost hiking cabins in what looks like tinfoil to protect them -- if the flames can't reach the wood, the cabins don't burn.  This has been done several times in previous fires with great success, and several buildings of historic significance have been saved this way.

Traditionally the fire season in this area begins in July and lasts until it rains in October or November or later.  Some of the worst fires in the area have occurred in late November  through January.  There have been several big fires in the last few years, but there is a lot of land that has not burned for 100 or more years (they say the Rey fire is in areas that have not burned at least since 1940 or earlier!).  This year's season will continue as it is, with fires breaking out on a daily basis -- we can only hope that they are in remote areas or put out quickly.  Meantime, the air in Southern California is smoky and brown and not very healthful!

Having had to postpone a trip to Santa Barbara when my 2011 Camry was totaled in July, I finally made the trip a month late.  I was gone for the past 10 days for a nice R&R trip.  There were three events that I would characterize as misadventures during this trip, and I will post in more detail about each of them in the next few days.  I wanted to put up just a few comments this evening to give you a taste of what is to come!

One of the things I always enjoy when I go to Santa Barbara is a day trip over the mountains to Lake Cachuma, the lake that provides the city with its drinking water.  Over the past few months, the lake level has been dwindling as the result of a 5-year drought, and it is perilously low at this time.  I was shocked to see that I could identify the bed of the river that was dammed to create the lake!

This situation is very dire -- I will explain in a future post how bad it really is -- but it is being made worse by the fact that firefighters are having to use lake water to fight a major brushfire on the far side of the river, the Rey Fire, shown here after it had been burning for only 4 or 5 hours..

I don't have photos of the third misadventure --as we were looking for a parking spot so we could have some dinner, a Cadillac backed out of a space behind an SUV and hit my new car on the front passenger door.  Nobody was hurt (except perhaps my pride), but the car will spend next week in the shop being repaired!

Train tracks run right through the center of San Juan Capistrano.  Trains using these tracks are freight trains, Amtrak trains, and commuter trains from San Diego headed up the coast, through Los Angeles to coastal towns as far north as San Luis Obispo.  Crossings in San Juan Capistrano are at grade level, guarded by bells and gates that lower when a train is coming.  Locals have long complained about the "ghost train," a situation that often happens when a train is in the station and not moving, or when there is no train in sight.  As a frequent visitor to the town, I have never experienced a "ghost train" until this past weekend.  I sat for several minutes behind bells, flashing lights, and the train crossing gates -- only to learn that there had been no train!

This has become a major political issue -- the City has tried to negotiate with the owners of the tracks, only to learn that there is nothing can be done about the ghost trains, and the city's traffic just has to put up with them.  I think there must be something such as cycling the gates not to operate if a train is not moving on the tracks, but apparently this would be too expensive or too risky for the train companies!

I was actually on the way home from Dana Point Harbor, where I had gone to see the great blue herons.  There were just two birds at home in their nests when I got there, so hidden that one had to wait for movement in order to locate them.  The gray patch in the tree to the left of center is actually the back of a bird.

Soon, a slightly smaller bird flew in and replaced this bird in the nest.  After a moment, he spread his wings and folded them down again to a more comfortable resting position.  This shot is a bit unusual -- it is one spread wing.

The other bird was higher up in the tree, and more hidden by the leaves.  I did get some shots, just to show he was there, that show his white bill as he groomed himself in the nest.

I will still continue to visit the birds as I can, but don't expect to see them often, as the heat has been pretty intense recently.

After the major trauma of last week Thursday, when my car was sideswiped while I watched the Pageant of the Masters, things moved very quickly.  On Friday, I had a claim number with AAA, a rental car to use while my world settled back down, and good instructions as to what would happen next.  Over the weekend, I decided I needed to do something about shopping for a new car -- I visited a Toyota dealership and sat in two cars, a Corolla and a aCamry, and decided that there was value to using the same dealership that I had used twice before rather than the one that is much closer.  Monday morning, the Adjuster called and set up an appointment for Tuesday morning.  The Adjuster came on Tuesday, and told me that the old car had been totaled -- it was 5 years old, and it took quite a lot of estimated repairs to exceed its value, but the suspension was "messed up," among other damage.  On Tuesday morning, after the Adjuster left, I went shopping for real -- I drove two models of Honda Accord.  I liked one of them, but in order to meet my needs, we had to move 2 cars up the ladder, and I had to accept features I didn't want (the dealer would have given me those in order to sell the car, but I really didn't want a moon roof or heated seats!  On Wednesday, I drove a Corolla and a Camry.  The Corolla felt like a beginner's car, but as soon as I sat in the Camry it felt like my car!  And on Thursday, I went back to the dealership and bought a Camry!  By then I knew how much the insurance settlement would be, and that it should be at my house by Thursday evening, so I completed the transaction and brought home my car.

    

   

I am thoroughly enjoying the car -- it's like the old one, but with lots of updated features to learn about.  I will take it back next week to have body side mouldings added -- they help with the door dings.  And they will also add a Lo-Jack theft prevention device.

In the meantime, I am enjoying driving it!     Today I went to Dana Point Harbor to see what was going on there.  It is very warm this weekend, and the sky is full of smoke and ash from a huge fire burning about 150 miles to the northwest.  One of the tall ships was on the way around the Harbor, and there were other, smaller ships in the channel.

And there were 2 egrets and a gull on the ship-builder's patio.

From there, I went to see if they have broken ground in order to build the retirement community I hope to join.  The site has been a citrus orchard, with avocado trees at the top.  This is what I saw today:

They are clearing the orchard -- the trees will be replanted, along with more, after the  buildings are completed.

Oops -- I had heard that there was a grass fire in that area, but didn't know that  it was on the property where I will live!  Never fear -- their other facilities have been inspected by fire departments and have been declared to be safe -- in case of fire, they will ask residents to "shelter in place, rather than evacuating the facility!

It's been a tough week, but there's just a little paperwork to complete in order to finish the process!  It all happened very fast, and I'm very happy to say that it was a very smooth process to replace my car.

Over the weekend, I was able to do quiet things at home that allowed me to calm myself and take care of normal weekend things.  I got a couple of good nights' sleep to make up for the lost sleep on Thursday night, and I now hve things moving forward.  The insurance adjuster came out to look at the car.  He asked very few questions, and I let him do his job -- the one question that surprised me was "they pushed you into the next car, didn't they?"  I had not even noticed that the front of the car had been pretty badly scratched.

Before he did any calculations, he commented that he thought it might be a total , and that the suspension was a mess (that is most of the estimated cost of repair).  He sat in his car with a small calculator, and figured out the cost to repair the car.  When he was done, he told me that the car was not fixable within the insurance limits.  They will tow the car from my driveway, hopefully today or tomorrow morning, and the "total loss claims department" will be in touch to tell me how much they will give me and when.  My job for the rest of the week is to go car shopping!  We talked briefly about the merits of possible cars -- Camry, Corolla, Hondas, and Hyundais seem to be the cars of choice.  He did say not to buy a Nissan.  And he talked about some add-on's that he would recommend.

As soon as I know when the car will be towed, I will head to the nearest group of dealerships and do some homework so that I'll be ready to buy a car as soon as I need to!

One of the fun summer activities in Laguna Beach is the Pageant of the Masters.  Each night from July 4 until Labor Day, the Festival of Arts presents a pageant of Tableaux Vivants.  These are quite remarkable -- they reproduce old masters paintings, sculptures, posters, and other art works with live people in place of people in the art pieces.  Each piece is held for 5 minutes, during which the cast members must remain completely still.  The final piece is always daVinci's The Last Supper.  Each year there is a theme that the paintings follow -- this year it was Partners.  A more complete explanation may be found here https://www.foapom.com .  I have attended the Pageant at least once every year for the last 25 or so years.

In Laguna Beach, parking is normally a huge problem, particularly during the summer.  Last night a friend and I headed off from my home and in my car for a nice evening of dinner and the Pageant.  We found street parking directly across the street (that almost never happens unless somebody happens to be leaving as you arrive).  We viewed the art festival and had a lovely dinner, after which we attended the Pageant.  Because it must be dark in this outside venue, the Pageant runs a little late -- it begins at 8:30, and ends usually around 11:00 pm.  When the event was over, we walked across the street.  My friend thought that I hadn't parked quite so close to the curb, but I walked around the car to open the driver's door, and this is what I saw first (remember that it was dark, so I couldn't quite tell exactly what I was seeing).

The hubcap was propped against the wheel, so I knew something was wrong!  We called 911 and were told that there should be a card on the windshield with a LBPD number on it.  We called that number and a policeman was sent out to talk with us.  As we waited, a security guard from the Pageant came to talk to us as well.  We learned that while the Pageant was running a car had hit my car and the one in front of me, and somebody was arrested.  As it was fleshed out, apparently a fairly heavy car sideswiped my car and the next one, and while trying to recover to drive on up the street, she backed into my car again.  The driver was arrested -- for DUI, and her car was towed .  The other car left a bit later (and I'm not sure of the details of that), after leaving one of the other festivals nearby, and when I left the Pageant there was my car.  The police officer called AAA for a tow, and we arrived back at my house by just about midnight  -- he parked the car in the driveway, and left me to call my insurance company in the morning.   This morning I took another look and took these photos:

Right rear wheel -- the hubcap was off the wheel, and the wheel perhaps out of alignment

Left rear wheel -- I had placed the hub cap in the trunk last night

Left side rear door -- notice rocker panel dragging on the ground

Left driver's side door and mirror  -- the actual mirror was under the car!

Another shot of the left side of the car

Left rear side of car

and two more of the left side of the car

The car will sit in my driveway until Monday, at which time the Adjustor will come and make a determination as to whether it can be repaired, and we will go from there!

As indicated above, the car was parked -- legally, in a marked space for street parking -- and the two of us were safely inside watching the Pageant.  I don't know about the other two cars, but we were not hurt!  The driver of the car that did the damage was arrested, and it was indicated that the arrest was for DUI.  There were policemen who took photos that will be needed by the insurance agents, and the insurance people have all the information they will need to move forward.  Everybody we spoke with last night was extremely helpful -- I was like a sort marshmallow, and I felt very propped up by everybody -- when all is said and done, they will all receive thank you's from me.

At one point I commented that in 60 years of driving I've never had an accident -- he reassured me that this will not be recorded on my driving record, though the car will have a notation of the accident on the registration.  The rest of the story will unfold over the next few days!