Looking for whales

25 December 2017

Lisa and Rika searching for whales off of Palos Verdes using Rika and Tony's new Christmas binoculars.

Canon 5D

23 December 2017:

Rika (far left) and Lisa, hiking at Portuguese Point, Rancho Palos Verdes, California on a pleasant afternoon. Catalina Island is in the background.

Canon 5D

Bike repair and a smoky sunset

13 December 2017:

Top: Mohammed replacing the front wheel bearings for the Litespeed. The wheels have about 12,000 miles on them, so this was a bit early for a replacement. These are not high quality parts, I guess.

Bottom: Smoke from the fires near Santa Barbara have drifted south and were quite dramatic at sunset this evening.

Canon 5D

Late afternoon at the beach

27 November 2017:

From a late afternoon walk down to the beach. I really like the shot of the father taking a picture of his (son?) directly into the sun. Note that the city has built a new berm to protect the pier from the winter storm swell. Kids love to climb all over it.

Canon 5D

November 12 Sunset

15 November 2017:

Top: The end of the sunset.

Bottom: Sunset reflections, from the Hermosa Pier.

Canon 5D

Tracks in the sand

8 November 2017:
Taken in the low light of a just-set sun from the Hermosa Beach pier.

Canon 5D

Union Station

November 4, 2017:

We went to Union Station in downtown LA today looking for a mural that had been up on display, but we were two weeks too late for that. We ended up having an excellent lunch in a restaurant inside the station, and had a nice look around. In the second image, the 'Restaurant' sign does not actually point to the restaurant we visited - it must have pointed travelers in the direction of a long-closed restaurant site. Look at the nice wood trim, floors, and arches. It is a very nice place to visit.

Canon 5D

Floral arrangement for early October

3 October 2017:

Lily's arrangement for this week. I love the asymmetry.

Canon 5D

Yellow Roses

27 September 2017:
Flower arranging class is starting again.

Canon 5D

S'mores

25 August 2017:

Rika (top image and bottom image) and Jean (middle) making s'mores in Bruce and Peggy's back yard. The graham crackers were homemade by Jean. The marshmallows had a mint twist to them.

The bottom image came out particularly nice. Did I tell you how much I like this lens?

Canon 5D, 50mm f/1.2 lens at f/5.6.

Spoonbridge and Cherry

24 August 2017:

Jean and Bruce took us to the sculpture garden in front of the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis this evening. This was taken around sunset. The sculpture is the centerpiece of the garden. Very popular!

Canon 5D

Carleton College Upper Arb

23 August 2017:

Taken in the Upper Arboretum at Carleton College.

Canon 5D

Blue Bunny Ice Cream

22 August 2017:

As  recommended by Janet. Rika had Peanut Butter Fudge, Chocolate Brownie for Lily. They said it was good! In La Mars, Iowa.

iPhone

Total Eclipse!

First, it rained right up until the start of totality. We hid in the garage. 

Note the covered telescopes outside next to Dave's RV.

Totality. The sun's corona is barely visible at the top of the image.

Peggy enjoying the uncovering of the sun's disk.

iPhone, Canon 5D

Cemetary, Immanuel Lutheran Church of Daykin, at daybreak

20 August 2017:

The overnight storm clouds were receding into the east.

Canon 5D

Rock Creek State Park, Nebraska

20 August 2017:

Rock Creek State Park is located along the Oregon Trail at the rather difficult crossing of Rock Creek. It is an outdoor museum. The gentleman in the lower photo is a docent who had been working at the forge that afternoon. He made tacks to repair the hoop on a water barrel. He was a great source of information on the pony express, which shared the same trail as the wagons headed for Oregon.

Canon 5D

Nourse Hall, Carleton College

19 August 2017:

Taken on my dawn run through the upper arboretum at Carleton College. Nice morning for a run!

iPhone

Conversation by the Cannon River

18 August 2017:

This was the rest spot on an evening walk in Northfield, alongside the Cannon River. Rika and her mother had a nice chat. You can see them (barely) in the upper left corner of the lower photo.

Canon 5D

Pier-to-Pier Swim

6 August 2017:

Susie and Kevin swam with well over 1,000 other people from the Hermosa Beach Pier to the Manhattan Beach Pier. It was quite a spectacle. The ocean conditions turned challenging in the second half of the swim. They both finished!

Canon 5D

Mount Faber Park, Singapore

26 July 2017:

Today we escaped the dense metropolitan area and went for a morning hike in Mount Faber Park. This was recommended by Lily's brother Hengki, and it was very nice. Top: Lily walking across a very interesting pedestrian bridge that connects Mount Faber Park with Telok Blangah Hill Park. The bridge is called the Henderson Wave. It crosses high above Henderson Road, connecting the two parks that run along a ridge line. Bottom: walking down from Mount Faber after a pretty good thundershower interrupted our walk. We managed to find shelter until the storm passed.

iPhone

Singapore Riverfront

25 July 2017:

Two photos from a midday walk along the Singapore River. Top: Old and new, a piece of the Cavenagh Bridge (built in Scotland in 1869, assembled in Singapore in 1870 using convict labor) and the towering skyscrapers behind. Bottom: A whimsical sculpture on the riverbank just beside the Cavenagh Bridge, with Lily looking on.

Canon 5D

Satria Gatot Kaca

23 July 2017:

We are staying in a hotel very near Bali's main airport, Ngurah Rai International. This dramatic statue is at the entrance to that airport. I caught it after sunrise this morning, backlit by some rather menacing clouds.

https://baliskytour.wordpress.com/2011/04/15/satria-gatot-kaca-statue/

Tomorrow we finally leave Bali for Singapore, having been here for 16 days!

Canon 5D

Bali at night

22 July 2017:

Both of these are from yesterday evening. Top image: the bar at Mano's Warung in Seminyak. I liked the waitresses hanging around at the far end. They cooperated! Bottom image: four minutes of star trails from our balcony at Grania Bali Villas.

Canon 5D

Bogie Board (Pantai Peti Tenget Day 2)

21 July 2017:

Another visit to Peti Tenget Beach. It is a great place. The surf was way up today, and there must be a big storm down in the far reaches of the southern hemisphere. Not a good day for bogie (sic) boarding!

Bottom image is of Angie (Hengki and Ida's oldest daughter) and Abby, the crowd favorite.

Canon 5D

A small statue and Peti Tenget Beach

20 July 2017:

Top - a small statue found on a morning walk near Grania Bali Villas.

Bottom - a visit to Peti Tenget Beach; front to back are Sally, Abby, Rika, Tony.

Canon 5D

Another experiment

20 July 2017:

From an image of a Balinese statue taken on the 11th of July, and an image of the checkered cloth found on almost all Hindu shrines in Bali.

Canon 5D

Warung Batavia

19 July 2017:

Today we drove down out of the 'jungle' into Seminyak, a major Bali tourist destination, and we are staying in the villas owned by Lily's brother. We had a late lunch at a local restaurant that features food from Jakarta, called Warung Batavia. We have been there before, and I like it.

Top: Lily enjoying a special herbal tea blend called dewake ku (something like that).

Middle: A collection of clocks on a shelf in the restaurant.

Bottom: Rika and Abby happy after lunch.

Canon 5D

Tour of the rice fields in Abiansemal, Bali

17 July 2017:

Top two photos are from a morning hike through the local neighborhood in Abiansemal: Rika is photographing a family shrine, and Serena is walking through the rice fields.

Bottom two photos were taken in the afternoon. In the group photo, starting at the upper left, are myself, Abby, Rika, Tony, Judy, Justin and Warren. Front row left to right are Orie, Angie, Lily, Sally, Ella, Lisa and Laura. In the bottom photo, Ella wanted to meet the photographer. Ella, her parents Sally and Justin, and her sister Abby live in Christchurch, New Zealand. They are close friends of Rika and Tony, and until recently lived in Vancouver B.C.

Canon 5D