A Gift from God

The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures. It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth in numberless blades of grass and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers. It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth and of death, in ebb and in flow. I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life. And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment. ~Rabindranath Tagore~

Family Outing

The Pop art movement of the 1960's was really rather amazing and rooted in the tradition of Realism, it was in fact a special time. Today, with a digital camera, Adobe PhotoShop and a vivid or inspired imagination anyone can be an Andy Warhol. My thinking is that flower power, hippies, peace, love and rock and roll should once again be the culture of the day. Of course I may be subjective as I am an artifact of that era.

These are birds that hunt for food primarily on the wing, using their keen senses, especially vision. Their talons and beaks to be relatively large, powerful and adapted for tearing and/or piercing flesh and in most cases, the females are considerably larger than the males.

In the attached photos is a Harris hawk, a Peregrine falcon and an eleven week old Saker falcon, sometimes known as a desert falcon. The Saker falcon winters in desert areas and is popular with Arab falconers.

These beautiful raptors for are part of a pest-bird abatement program at the Montage Resort in Laguna Beach and are handled by professional Falconer Jorge Herrera. Pesky seagulls really do seem to keep their distance.

Busy bees

Busy bees on a summer Saturday afternoon in July.

Summer sunset in the OC

What a beautiful evening here in the OC. I shot this from my yard this evening and thought that you might enjoy it.

Ramakrishna Monastery, Trabuco Canyon, CA, April 13, 2009

You will find something more in woods than in books. Trees and stones will teach you that which you can never learn from masters.
~St. Bernard~

Sea Anemones

These beautiful sea flowers are Sea Anemones.

Sea anemones usually spend most of their lives in one place, but some have the ability to move. If they do move, they can only travel three to four inches an hour. Sometimes sea anemones hitch a ride on hermit crabs or decorator crabs. If they do that, the sea anemone can protect the crab and if the crab is a messy eater, the sea anemone can pick up bits of food from the crab and eat it. Some sea anemones just let go of the rock and go float around in the water. The sea anemone eats small fish and shrimp. The sea anemone captures its prey with its deadly stinging tentacles. The sea anemone's mouth and tentacles are located on the top of its body. Sea anemones reproduce by budding off baby sea anemones. The babies stay connected to the adult until it is old enough to go out on their own. If a sea anemone is torn apart by rocks, then each part becomes a new sea anemone.