July 26, 2026 · 23:11

Sunday Morning Brushfire Alarm

I love it when the Watch Duty app (get it for free if you haven’t already, it’s fantastic) goes off and shows you a new brush fire that’s practically just down the block…

That might be two miles, it might not be. Down in the Cajon Pass, over the edge of The Mesa. (It should be pretty obvious where that edge is…)

I was not worried. Anything near homes they jump on pretty fast. Worst case scenario was that it might burn up as far as Summit Valley Road, which would wreak havoc on traffic along there, as well as along the BNSF train tracks that run next to Summit Valley Road. I didn’t see much chance for it to spread up to the edge of The Mesa, let alone beyond.

A quick peek over the wall in that direction showed no sign of a smoke column, although there was a quite noticeable smell of smoke. When I had first seen the Watch Duty image above there had been no aircraft on the job (the app shows them in real time) but now there were a couple of helicopters and a pair of “water bombers,” the smaller scout or guide plane and the bigger bomber.

The “threat” was over in a half hour and the fire only grew from two to five acres. Thanks, CalFire!

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Filed under Forever Home, Photography, Video

July 25, 2026 · 23:35

Proof Of Life – July 25th

Five months to Christmas!

 

 

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July 24, 2026 · 22:43

Watch The Sunset All The Way To The End

It caught my eye through a side window, bright orange and pink stripes reflected off the car. I immediately went out in front and was not disappointed.

The colors were mind blowing!

And for about five minutes, they just kept getting more amazing and saturated.

But then, just before I thought, “Okay, that was great, but it’s over,” I realized that it wasn’t over at all.

The colors were starting to fade, but the contrasts between the greys and blacks and whites and the remaining pinks and oranges were fascinating.

And every moment brought out new textures as the angle to the setting Sun kept changing.

Then most everything was grey, but the different levels and layers of clouds started to be displayed in detail.

Something must have changed or shifted far over the horizon, because suddenly there was one final burst of color.

Perhaps not as vivid as at first, but with some interesting contrasts on display.

And even when that last burst of yellow light turned more toward the orange and red section of the spectrum, the shadows and details were amazing.

Again, it reminds me so much of a Michael Whelen painting, realizing of course that the sunset came first, Whelen is just a genius at translating that into paint.

From the first picture to the last took twenty-five minutes. There was a nice breeze and I was simply chilling in our front yard the whole time. It was relaxing, and god knows I can use that. (I suspect most of us can.)

The point I thought of out there and wanted to share was that you shouldn’t make the mistake of looking at the vivid phase of the sunset that lasts two or three minutes, figuring it’s over, and going back inside. Wait for it. Be patient. Be prepared to be surprised and delighted. There’s far more beauty than you might see in just five minutes if you can spend the extra twenty minutes.

Besides, when you get to the point where it’s dark and there’s no color left at all, the stars will be starting to come out. You can continue to sit there, enjoying the cool breeze, listening to the coyotes and the trains, and see the second half of the double header as well!

 

 

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Filed under Photography, Sunsets

July 23, 2026 · 23:31

Little Things

As usual, around susnset, I was out in the back yard refilling the birdseed feeders. The sunset was pleasant, but not spectacular. But “pleasant” was quite good enough for the moment.

It was still about 88 degrees out after pushing triple digits. But there was a brisk breeze and it was quite comfortable.

Off in the distance where the Mesa drops off into Cajon Pass, I could hear a train horn wailing as it came over the summit of the Pass and into the valley. Gotta love that sound.

After the feeders were refilled and rehung, I got on my little stepladder (I’m short!) and looked over the back yard cinder block wall for about ten minutes. There were crows screaming across the vacant lots and a coyote howling somewhere off in the distance.

I have nothing against spectacular, red-letter moments. But that’s a tough standard to keep up 24/7/365. Knowing how to appreciated these common, simple, little moments is critical. I don’t always do it well, but I’m learning!

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Filed under Forever Home, Photography, Sunsets

July 22, 2026 · 23:37

Forever Home – One Year

One year ago, we closed escow and started moving into our “Forever Home.” No more moving, this is it, we only leave here in the coroner’s wagon.

It’s been wonderful! We are every bit as amazed and happy that we found this place as we were when we first saw it.

It’s not 100% EXACTLY the way we ultimately want it – for example, we need a nice 25′ flagpole in the front yard still, among other things.

I will never, EVER complain about the view at sunset, which only varies from gorgeous to stunning to spectacular. And the views of the mountains, particularly Old Baldy off to the southwest when it’s covered in snow? Just amazing.

The long road to getting everything unpacked and stored and sorted continues, even now. Stuff that we use every day has, of course (for the most part), been taken care of and we’ve been completely functional for many, many, many months. There are exceptions. For example, I still haven’t found my tie rack and all of my good, silk ties. I also have only needed to wear one once in the last year, so the priority level is not real high.

This last weekend I found a stash of a bunch of original paintings that I’ve bought at SF conventions over the years (as well as some souveniers and special gifts I’ve received) and got them all up on the walls. The office is looking nice.

We have our wildlife menagerie in the back yard, and our Corvid Gods in the front. We (mostly) know our neighbors, and we enjoy our community. There is still a long list of new things to see and places to go, but we’ll get there.

Somewhat to our dismay after years and years of looking and hoping, we’ve found our home. Here’s to one year down and a gazillion more to come!

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July 21, 2026 · 23:46

Twenty-Five Years

Let me introduce you to The Long-Suffering Wife, Ronnie:

She’s now been suffering with me as her husband for twenty-five years, one of those big, milestone anniversaries.

Wow! I had hair, and it was still black!

In the past I’ve rarely mentioned her by name to protect her privacy, but she has agreed that twenty-five years is enough of a reason to break a few “rules.”

We’ve had a lot of adventures in a quarter century.

 

We’ve traveled across the US and Canada, and cruised down to Mexico.

It’s been a slice. And now, on to the next twenty-five years.

Paul & Ronnie. We’re a cute couple. A couple of WHAT remains an open question.

 

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Filed under Paul, Photography, Ronnie, Travel

July 20, 2026 · 23:31

Rainbow At Sunset

As usual, sunset-ish, filling the bird feeders, when WOWSERS!!

The picture doesn’t do it justice, it was bright! And it lasted for at least 15-20 minutes, much longer than normal.

This is where it’s coming from – the Sun in the clear as it set, with some scattered clouds dropping virga for the final rays of sunshine to shine through.

As I was working, and looking at that rainbow over the wall, the hummers were active, buzzing me as I stood near their feeder.

Finally the Sun broke through and started illuminating the nearby water tanks and power lines, while still leaving the rainbow and some drifting sheets of rain.

The rainbow was small when viewed as part of the big picture, but the whole thing with the bright blue sky and bright white clouds with the band of color streaking across it all. With hummingbirds.

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July 19, 2026 · 23:12

Looking East At Sunset

I’ve shared plenty of photos of the western sky at sunset, either because it was aflame and spectacular and awesome, or because it had planets and the Moon in it, or both. But the view to the east during those same moments is also gorgeous, if somewhat more sublime.

Directly behind us to the east are row upon row of empty, graded lots for parts of our subdivision that were never finished. That’s a whole long and interesting story to begin with, no doubt to be discussed another day as it seems some developer has bought the empty land and plans of building there in 2027. We’ll see. Beyond that are these three huge water tanks that turn the most subtle shades of pink and orange at sunset. And the power lines coming up from the Mesa and the Cajon Pass. Beyond them, the mountains, dominated by the triple-peaked Pinnacles and the mountains heading up into the Mojave Desert. All purple-ish at this time of the dusk.

More to the northeast tonight there were layers of clouds heading up toward Barstow, the higher ones still almost still white but getting the lightest tinge of pink, with the lower, closer clouds already entering into night’s shadow, with every shade and level of illumination in between. And more power lines and water tanks and vacant lots. Welcome to the southwest corner of Hesperia!

It does make a most lovely, pastel backdrop for refilling the bird seed feeders!

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July 18, 2026 · 23:50

Proof Of Life – July 18th

It was a very long day.

I may have overdone it. I’m stupid that way sometimes. Like, on days that end in “Y.”

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July 17, 2026 · 23:47

Cloud Lighting

That’s “lighting,” not “lightning.” There was some of that way further out, but nothing here. It really drove home the point of just how stinking GINORMOUS San Bernardino County is, 20,104 square miles. For comparison, that’s bigger than ten US states, including Vermont and New Hampshire combined. So when we get a flash flood warning and notified about closures on the interstates, that’s out in Needles on the Colorado River, hundreds of miles away. No sweat here. Just puffy white clouds for me to take pictures of.

Backlit clouds are dramatic!

Sunset clouds are beautiful all the time, except when they graduate to stunning.

 

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