Black and White - group 4

We're currently in the desert, in one of the two places where California, Arizona and Nevada meet. Very busy doing and seeing some fantastic things. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy these black and whites, from everywhere. You might have seen a couple of them in the past.

 Japanese businessman

Oceano Dunes 

 Mid-day desert moon in Yuma

Nap time

Not Large Fires, but MUCH Closer to Home!

How much closer? I took these photos from my bedroom window in June. That is very darn close!

We live half way between Los Angeles and San Diego, but not close enough to be considered a suburb either. When they built my town in the mid-1980's, they reserved 40% of the area as permanent open space. In addition, it is surrounded by hills, mountains, huge wilderness areas and the ocean.  They also created many "greenbelts." Greenbelts not only look good, they also don't burn well. All that other stuff does burn well, and burn it does. Regularly...

We live on the eastern ridge line of a fair sized valley (or canyon). On the valley floor is a lake and a lot of wilderness that goes on for miles. This fire was two months ago and was directly downhill from our house. 

There is more room between these trees and houses than it appears, but it's still not very far away. If it had been windy, I might have invoked a personally mandated evacuation order. Of course, I'd evacuate as close to the fire as I could get.

 Two water dropping helicopters and bunch of fire trucks on the job

The helicopter is over the lake and is going to refill with water. Just beyond the helicopter is the amazing Aliso and Woods Canyon Wilderness area. 

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The next two photos were taken last year on July 4th. The location is less than half a mile to the south of the fire above. Fireworks are a huge no-no around here. Want the police at your house in a hurry. Just light up a couple of sparklers. The couldn't get the helicopters out because it was too dark. They were scrambling to keep this one out of the adjacent residential area.

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I took these photos at another fire in May. Same canyon as the last two fires, but about a half mile north of the first one. All of these were taken with the camera in my phone and are a bit grainy. We were about 75 feet from the helicopter. We were eating a sandwich at Togo's. When my wife spotted smoke coming from the canyon across the street. She was the first one to call it in. I wasn't sharing her happiness though, I was too busy kicking myself for NOT having a "real" camera with me! 

 The helicopter and firetrucks got there so quickly that they hadn't even stopped traffic yet.

 It only took me a few minutes to forget about the fire and start concentrating on the sky! I know what you're thinking and yes, I am wildly A.D.D.

 Fire? What fire? All I saw was the light reflecting off of the windscreen. If I had my CAMERA, I would have had a great look at the pilot's face!

 Okay, I am becoming seriously impressed with the camera in my phone!

I know the sun is blinding behind that smoke, but this is still my favorite photo of the whole thing.

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We've had a several more fires in the area while we've lived here, but it's late and I'm so tired!

A Walk Around the Lake

Earlier today I tried to create this post and nothing would work. Then a message from blogger informed me that they were no longer supporting MS Internet Explorer. I couldn't even make a blog post unless I downloaded and used Google Chrome! Wow! Is there going to be a war between Amazon.com and Google someday to see which one will control the world?

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Okay, enough of that. Today, my wife and I took a walk around our local lake. It's only a few minutes (walking) from our house, but every time I go there, I'm amazed by how much wildlife we see. All of these photos were taken today.

Although we live close to the ocean, it's nice having this little bit of freshwater paradise in our neighborhood. This view shows about half of it. Although there are some huge rainbow trout in the lake, motorized boats of any kind are not allowed.

I believe these guys are "Coots."  There are some here all year, but many more come each winter. They are pretty comical to watch.

Heron of some sort

A closer shot of a coot.

Although this is strictly a fresh water lake, pelicans make the short hop here from the ocean to do some fishing.

There are probably a couple hundred Canadian Geese wintering here. They are really big and loud birds. Love the colors.

Red-Tailed Hawk looking for something to kill I suppose.

Not at all a good photo of a woodpecker.

I have no idea, but he/she liked me

A grumpy Egret maybe?

We also saw a turkey vulture, many squirrels and rabbits. There are rattlesnakes, mountain lions, coyotes, and deer around also, but we didn't see any.

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For reflections by other photographers go to Weekend Reflections by James.

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Weekend Reflections -- The Lake

Reflections by other photographers at Weekend Reflections.

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Weekend Reflections - At the lake

A momentary break from Kauai photos. I'll be back at 'em on Monday.

Weekend Reflections by other photographers at Newtown Area Photo.

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Weekend Reflections - Skirmish Line

please enlarge for best viewing

Weekend Reflections by other photographers at Newtown Area Photo.

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Weekend Reflections - On The Lake

Cruising Solo on Laguna Niguel Lake

Weekend Reflections by other photographers at Newtown Area Photo.

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Weekend Reflections - Laguna Niguel Lake at Dusk

enlarge for bests viewing

Laguna Niguel Lake at dusk

Weekend Reflections by other photographers at Newtown Area Photo.

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