May 27, 2026 · 23:56

Train Hunting Again

About six weeks ago I finally followed one of the primary north-south streets near us to where it ended at the edge of The Mesa, the area where the Victor Valley floor drops off into Cajon Pass and down toward the Inland Empire (Riverside, San Bernardino, Rancho Cucamonga) and the LA Basin, Pasadena, and the San Fernando Valley. Today, on a whim, I finally did it again, this time on another primary street that’s just around the corner from us.

As previously mentioned here and there, one of the things I truly love about this are and our Forever Home is that I can hear the trains all day and night. We’re about a mile from the primary BNSF tracks coming up through the Cajon Pass connecting the major ports in  Los Angeles and Long Beach and San Pedro to points east, including Barstow, Flagstaff, Kansas City, Fort Madison, and Chicago. It’s not a constant stream of trains 24/7/365, but it’s at least 50-60 trains a day.

From our house we can’t actually see the trains, but the tracks run just over the edge of The Mesa, where the land starts to drop off. Having looked at the maps I was pretty sure that I could get closer here than I did on my first adventure in April.

While driving home, on the spur of the moment I decided to go train hunting.

I was successful. From where the road ended the drop off into the canyon was more hilly and less direct than I had hoped for, so I had to go hiking for a quarter mile or so down these dirt trails that cover the hills (for hiking, ATV and motorcycle riding, horses, etc), but I finally got a good view.

Heavy clouds were moving up the Cajon Pass, while the Sun was setting and bright behind me, so the contrast was stark.

This site is probably less than a mile from our house, so at some point I want to try simply walking there and back instead of driving. I need the exercise and I need to start rebuilding my stamina.

Dramatic skies!

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Filed under Forever Home, Photography, Trains, Weather

May 26, 2026 · 23:08

Where Are The Raptors?

Here’s a small part of a normal afternoon in the back yard.

There are 18 wrens and finches here, under one of the four birdseed feeders, with similar crowds under the other three.

Plus another 20-30 up above AT the feeders and on the top of the pergola waiting their turn at the feeders.

Plus 10-12 large, fat pigeons.

Plus 8-10 squirrels.

It occured to me while re-filling the birdseed feeders that there’s something missing.

While occasionally we’ve seen a pair of red-tailed hawks circling far above, and on at least two occasions I’ve seen an owl parked on top of the pergola, there is almost NEVER any signs of any of those raptors feeding at the Willett Open-Air Aviary & Squirrel Adventure.

Where are they?

If we’re providing all of this feed to a variety of birds and small rodents, shouldn’t there be multiple pairs of hawks and owls feeding off of the birds and critters?

In nine months we’ve built the equivilent of the watering hole in the middle of the Serengeti. Where are the lions?

We seem to have only a partial ecosystem here. It seems odd.

 

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Filed under Birds, Critters, Forever Home, Photography

May 25, 2026 · 23:20

Fourteen Years Ago Today

I knew that it was about this time of year, but I didn’t realize until I went and found the pictures that it was exactly fourteen years ago today.

The Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto, maybe a third of the way up the mountain. I had been trying to take a selfie and some wonderful woman grabbed the camera and took it for me. This is one of my favorite pictures of me in my travels.

I loved this trip in its entirety. Three weeks, three kids, three countries. Shanghai, Seoul, and Kyoto. One of my biggest adventures.

In particular I loved Fushimi Inari. I would go back there and visit in a heartbeat.

If you ever get a chance, go.

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Filed under Photography, Travel

May 24, 2026 · 22:27

Just, Pause – Look Up!

Yeah, holiday weekend, blah, blah, blah. Still busier than God and stressed.

Just take a minute. Situational awareness. Don’t be blind to what’s right in front of you.

Or, in this case, above you. Yeah, it’s just some simple clouds floating in a bluer than blue sky.

THAT’s THE POINT! It’s beautiful, it’s special, it might be commonplace but that’s what makes it so extraordinary! Paradoxical, huh?

Take a minute. Do one of those breathing exercises from an app that your HMO gave to you. Lower your blood pressure.

Better?

Okay, NOW you get back to stressing over how the world is going to shit.

 

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Filed under Deep Thoughts, Photography, Weather

May 23, 2026 · 23:51

Growing Into Their Coloration

The baby squirrel kits had fairly solid fur when they first showed up a few weeks ago, but now they’re growing into their natural, adult coloration.

You might remember that when the first squirrel showed up last September, I named it “Two-Tone” because of the white collar around its shoulders. The rest of his pelt was covered in small white spots. Above you can see how the babies are now starting to match that look.

This group was just lounging at the far end of the pergola (next to one of the den entrances in case of emergency, i.e., me getting up to go back in the house – OOOOOOOOOH!!! Scary!!!) while also getting the last of the Sun’s rays for the day.

The other thing I saw today, much to my surprise, were quail in the back yard. I saw them over by the edge of The Mesa last month so I know they’re in the area, but I hadn’t seen any here yet. But this morning, just before sunrise, I spotted a pair up on the back wall. That little “fishing lure” thing hanging off of their foreheads is quite distinctive. Surprise!!

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Filed under Birds, Critters, Forever Home, Photography

May 22, 2026 · 22:57

Moon In Blue

Floating there just like another planet in our sky.

A small telescope or even a pair of binoculars are all you need to start exploring and finding craters, mountain ranges, and other prominent features. It’s BRIGHT at Full Moon, but everything looks flat then because there aren’t any shadows. Look before or after full so that you get some nice shadows and lots of detail popping out along the terminator (the dividing line between dark and illuminated).

 

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Filed under Astronomy, Photography

May 21, 2026 · 22:46

Sitting Quietly

I went out into the back yard, it was very pleasant. When I went out, all of the critters and birds fled, but as I sat still for a while, they started to come back.

Over behind the pergola, this little dude popped his head up to keep his eye on me. It’s like he thought that I couldn’t see him. Okay, I’ll play along.

Then when it was time for me to go in, I quietly stood up. The birds that had come back fled again, and this little dude started doing that ear piercing, squirrel version of “DANGER, WILL ROBINSON!”

Jeez Louise, dude! I’m twenty feet away, I’m old, I’m slow, and all I did was stand up. Chillax!

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Filed under Birds, Critters, Photography

May 20, 2026 · 23:14

No Context For You – May 20th

Nibbled to death by ducks.

No one close to us has died recently, no one in the family has a terminal disease, our house isn’t on fire, so many folks have it so much worse…

And yet.

When every news cycle gets worse, when the bumpy, rough road turns out to be endless, when what should be a shelter turns out to be a prison…

“Never give up, never surrender!” is a great tagline for a movie character, but in real life things are messier.

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Filed under Paul, Photography

May 19, 2026 · 23:22

Celestial Wonders, Both Natural & Manmade

First the celestial. After dark right now, the 14% illuminated waxing crescent Moon is just a bright sliver up there next to really bright Jupiter to its upper left and really, REALLY bright Venus to its lower right.

The two sorta bright stars side-by-side above the moon are Castor and Pollux in the constellation Gemini.

An hour earlier, right at sunset, SpaceX launched out of Vandenberg and I wasn’t sure if it would be dark enough to see the rocket or not. It was close, but I was able to follow the exhaust plume for a couple of minutes.

It was pretty easy to follow with binoculars, but the iPhone camera didn’t pick up as much detail because the contrast between the plume and the background sunset sky was very low.

But for the briefest of moments, I was able to capture both the rocket plume (just to the left of center and just above the tree) and the crescent Moon (upper right corner). Not too shabby!

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Filed under Astronomy, Photography, Space, Sunsets

May 18, 2026 · 22:35

Big Mama

I am not a herpatoligist, I in fact know diddly squat about lizards. Except that I like having them in the yard (so long as they’re non-venomous) because they’re fun and cute.

That having been said, I believe this to be one big, chonky, seriously gravid mama lizard.

She was hanging on the wall next to the pergola as I was refilling the birdseed feeders this evening around sunset.

There are hundreds of previous photos of Western fence lizards on this site over the past thirteen years from this yard, the previous yard, and the one before that. All of them are skinny, slender, straight bodies. This one is not, the exact opposite in fact – and I think that’s because she’s about to lay a clutch of eggs somewhere underneath this bush.

Watch for a slew of teeny, tiny, baby lizards in the near future.

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Filed under Critters, Photography