Carmel-by-the-sea, California

I'm finally getting around to updating my travels over the past few months.  After spending a very hot summer in Shreveport, La with temperature in the triple digits for days on end, it was nice to work in New Roads, LA.  Although it was a 60 mile drive one way each day, it was wonderful sleeping in my own bed for 3½ weeks.

Oh well, break's over.  Well it's not that bad because I've landed in Carmel-by-the-sea, California.  This very unique place is well known for attracting the rich and famous - and of course, me.  Carmel is a very dog friendly town and have been told that sometimes borders on the ridiculous side.  I noticed  a George Rodrigue (he's from Lafayette, LA) gallery with Tiffany pictures in the window.  Old time movie actress, Doris Day pretty much started all the fuss.

I even managed to eat at the next table to Clint Eastwood a couple of nights ago.  No, I didn't hound him for a handshake, autograph or a cheesy photo.  No one else seemed to make a big deal out of it so I figured I'd go along with it.  Actually, it was at his Mission Ranch Restaurant.  I heard he would show up there on occasions but it caught me completely off guard when he pulled up a chair with a group of friends next to the table with me and my two dinner companions.

Feeling that I might not be here for a while, I've invited my wife up next weekend to stay a while so it was appropriate that I scout out places I wanted to show her.  This afternoon, I drove south on Highway 1 along the sometimes foggy coast.  Occasionally, pulling over to take in the sights of wildflowers, hearing sea lions bark  and snapping a few pictures while I watched a California Condor glide the up draft and eventually perch on a ridge high above me.

Driving further south onto Big Sur, I drove under some big Redwoods and with the sunroof open, smelled the ever present Eucalyptus trees.  One of the highlights was recognizing the Bixby Creek Bridge that we have all seen in commercials and movies.  Completed in 1932, it spans over a deep gorge and is an imposing part of the landscape.

Further south, I enjoyed getting out and walking down a trail at the Julia Pheiffer Burns State Park to a very controlled stroll that overlooked the McWay Falls.  I say controlled because you must stay on the trail and going down to the beach just doesn't happen.

Figuring I should get back to my hotel in Carmel, I arrived near sundown to see the sun casting a warm glow on a gingerbread style house behind the inn.  While not all the houses in Carmel look like this, the "cottage" look is what makes the place their own.

Line In the Sand....um..grass!

...or How Petty Can I Be?

Perhaps the summer has been too long and hot or it could be that I've been working near or from home the past couple of months.......but....my new neighbor is getting next too me.

We've been in these modest digs for 6 years now which makes us some of the "old timers" of this zero lot-line neighborhood.  The guy on one side is an original too and we get along.  Sometimes when he's out on vacation, I've been known to edge and mow his yard.  He's the sort of guy that will sometimes run the weed eater around the side of his house adjacent to my property.

The home on our other side has suffered a troubled past.  It's been on the market twice and the latest resident has signed a lease-purchase agreement with the second owner.  That means it will probably be vacant within a year.

Maybe I'm being a little petty here - well yes, very petty - but our new neighbor is the kind that simply will not edge around his own home much less along side our house which is technically on his dirt.  There are two foot high weeds growing up around his deck and between the houses.  Increasingly so, he has moved his mowing space further and further away from the property line which throws the responsibility of mowing around the cluster of meter boxes and street light pole to me.  All summer long, I edged around those boxes, kept it clear for meter readers and went the extra mile treating fire ants in his front yard.


Call it what you like but I see it as him drawing a line in the sand...well...maybe the St Augustine, expecting me to continue doing what he should be doing.   So, not to be outdone, when I mowed this past time, I left a 6 inch strip between where he stopped and where I stopped.  Next time around, I will move it another foot back toward the line until I've re-established the true property line in the grass.  Oddly enough, it's not stealing anything tangible but it is stealing my time and violating unwritten patterns of responsibility for hopeful property owners.  My time, equipment and sweat is just as valuable as a man at least 20 years my junior.

Home

Even though Delta Airlines probably misses me, I really shouldn't complain.  Really.

It's only August and I've seen some amazing places already this year and who knows what is to come.  However, for the past couple of months, I've been fortunate enough to work semi-local from Hot Springs, Arkansas, New Iberia, Louisiana and for the past 4 weeks, I've been in Shreveport.  All within driving distance leaving me close enough to get home almost every weekend.


This morning, realizing that Darlene did not have her favorite coffee creamer, I dressed and took a leisurely ride into Prairieville.   I could have used the rental but, there was a Harley in the garage.  A no brainer in my book.  I was careful not to make too much noise riding through the neighborhood and irritating the honest folk of eastern Ascension Parish.

Due to the fog and humidity, visibility was maybe 500 yards at best and there was hardly any traffic riding up Bluff Road save a pick-up or two and a lone bicyclist whom I imagined felt smug and maybe a little superior knowing he was out burning calories on two wheels and I wasn't.  Crossing a tributary to Alligator Bayou and riding easily through the tunnel of overhanging Live Oak limbs draped with Spanish Moss, I disturbed a Blue Crane and an Egret who who sought only to give me a wide berth.

There was something special about the peacefulness of it all that made me glad, proud and blessed to be home, home in south Louisiana.

New Iberia

I've spent the past week in and about New Iberia, Louisiana.  It's a nice little town, passionate about itself and very protective of it's own.

Here's a few shots I've taken over the week.

Shotgun row houses in New Iberia

As I stood on the banks of a pond near Jefferson Island, I thought how lucky the birds were to have me taking their pictures with a camera.  Had I been John James Audubon, I'd have simply blown them out of the sky with a shotgun and then proceeded to record their image on canvas and paper.

Jefferson Island Roseate Spoonbill

Jefferson Island White Ibis

Jefferson Island Cattle Egret

A stern warning

Life goes on

For the past couple of weeks, I have been plagued with laptop problems.  Twice, I've taken it to some supposed geek of sorts complaining it would not turn on.  Once, I laid it up on the counter while telling my woes, then pushed the off/on button as we watched it come on immediately.  Another geek let me leave it at his place only to call me back in an hour telling me nothing was wrong with it.  He was not shy about billing me $25 for his diagnosis.  It has gotten progressively worse.

Being the suspicious anti-geek that I am, managed to back up the old laptop on an external drive before it got on another fit of non performance and turned belly up. It appears dead for sure.

Laptops (from my experience) have an age like dogs.  Some say that dogs have 1/7 the lifetime of a human so if that is correct, the average lifespan of a Dell laptop should be relatively 25 to one.  That made my machine the human equivalent to 82 years.

I realize I am not a computer guru and really don't understand the gut works of the laptop but I'm not a complete idiot either, so I went online and bought another Dell at what I thought was a bargain price.  Once I opened it I realized how many settings and programs I had accumulated and went about customizing the new one.  I was so indulged in getting the new computer up and running that even my wife made snarky remarks about my passion.

Now, it appears I need to find a fitting and proper burial place for the Dell Inspiron 1545 before the Geek Squad comes and have me charged with computer abuse.  The SPCA would have you arrested if you failed to take care of your horse and seek medical assistance if it developed a tumor.  It's not a far stretch to think there must be a violation somewhere out there in geekdom.

Honestly, I de-fragged it a couple of times and had some decent (free) virus protection.  I promise.

Summer's Here Already

Summer seems to have arrived already and it's not happy!   At least in Hot Springs, Arkansas, where I've been working for the past week and will be through June 10.

I"m naturally drawn to water and moving water in particular but the south has been in near drought conditions for the past few months and many streams that normally are flowing, now are reduced to a trickle.

This morning, I trekked up a hilly trail at Lake Catherine State Park just south of  Hot Springs where the heat had already gotten to the low nineties by 9:00 AM.  By the time I found the falls (or what's left of them) the combination of the hills, temperature and my way out of shape condition had me huffing, puffing and sweating.

Wading in the pool below the falls was a refreshment I shared with a some adults, a dozen kids and a Golden Labrador Retriever who had taken the short and not so rugged trail.

It was a good to get out, clear the cobwebs from my mind and get in some much needed exercise. 

After my Mom's family reunion, hopefully I will be able to get home a few days and exercise Old Boudreaux as well.

Still dry so far.

The east side of the Mississippi River in Louisiana is still dry at this point.  Not being at home, I'm constantly thinking about Louisiana every time I turn on the TV in the hotel room.  My wife says there are sand boils on or near the levee on River Road just south of LSU but she's confident that they will not rupture.  My heart goes out to the folks north of us and on the west side near the Atchafalaya.

Here's a link to compelling photos of the flood from up in Mississippi down into Louisiana. (click here)  

Some of my favorite photos

Click here for a small representation of my favorite photos.

http://lenseyeflash.blogspot.com/

End Of The World Kit

Combined with growing up with frugal self sufficient parents or being trained in my early teens by a really wacky scout master, I've developed a penchant for self survival.  Beginning at the age of 13 our scout master in the Boy Scouts of America, troop 16 in Farmerville, LA, would take several of us off into the Bayou D'Arbonne or Bayou De Loutre on weekend trips into the woods armed with little more than a sleeping bag, hatchet, knife and a cigar box full of survival essentials.  I suppose these lessons of life have carried over to my advanced age.

In the past 10 years, I've traveled most of the 50 states and have been part of natural disasters ranging from hurricanes/tropical storms in Florida, landing in blizzards in Minnesota and Michigan, dodging tornadoes in Alabama and Tennessee and feeling the earth beneath my feet turn to jelly during an earthquake on Maui.

Each of these events often have one thing in common; loss of power and essential services.  So with this in mind, I have collected a few items I always carry in the trunk of the car.  Of course seasons and geography usually change what I have but for the most part my core End Of The World Kit remains the same.  It includes:

• A backpack with extra socks, underwear and a pack of beef jerky.
• Small first aid kit 
• Aspirin, Tylenol, Ibuprofen, anti-diarrheal tablets and Zycam
• Toothbrush with dental floss
• Hydrocortisone, anti-bacterial ointment and chapstick
• Halizone water purification tablets
• A magnesium fire starter with steel wool to catch sparks. Also a magnifying glass to start fires and to read small print.
• Folding pocket scissors, razor blades, multi-tool, screwdrivers, pliers, electrical tape and a Swiss Army Knife
• Disposable plastic gloves, 2 space blankets for heat, head net protection from insects and a lightweight disposable hooded poncho
• Needle and thread
• A compass, several hundred dollars cash, extra identification and a road atlas
• Depending on the season or the area, there will good walking shoes, caps, gloves and jacket.
• In the winter (places like North Dakota, Minnesota, etc.) I usually make sure I have plenty of water in the car with a couple those large 24 hour candles. ( You don't leave your car in a blizzard )

Can I survive indefinitely with this supply? No, but I have a better chance of waiting it out until help arrives or have the tools to break in (hey, it's survival) to where food, shelter and creature comforts exist.



Slightly related to all this paranoia, is how I leave a few things in the room during the night.  Usually, I will drop my room key, car keys, wallet, pocket knife and shoes by the hotel room door.  My reasons are that if a fire started during the night or other emergencies happen, I won't have to fumble around in the dark to find things to make a hasty departure.  Also, if I carry my electronic room key with me, I do not carry it in the sleeve they give me if my room number is written on it.  If you are robbed or it is stolen, you don't want the thief knowing where you are staying and beating you back to your room for other booty. It is worth mentioning, I usually try to not let my gas level get below a half tank just in case of wide spread power loss rendering electric gas pumps useless.

Call it how you like but that's how it works for me.

Bin Laden

Today, President Obama said that photos and videos showing a dead Osama Bin Laden would not be released.  Many pundits on both sides of the fence cranked up the political posturing and set forth a barrage of what could be a firestorm of conspiracy theories.  I personally could care less whether the photos emerge or not.

However, I do find certain things curious about the controversy.  Many who do not want the photos released seem to fear a Muslim backlash were the very ones demanding or applauding the release of photos from Abu Ghraib prison.  Most likely to serve as an embarrassment to the Bush administration.  Let's face it, radical Muslims will hate us regardless of the released photos and are hell bent on killing us long before a photo of any kind emerged.

On another note, Many who want the photos released say it will counter the conspiracy theories that have already begun to rise.  If that is true, there are photos and videos of the lunar landing, the Kennedy assassination and 9-11 itself that have had no effect in dispelling theories.  Apparently, the administration did not have a concise plan on the stories told and there seems to be conflicts on the time of the raid, whether Bin Laden was armed or was hiding behind women in his compound.  Naturally, every time a story changes, it only fans the flames of the conspiracy theorists. We can look forward to the next few months of nasty debates on this matter.

Whatever the outcome, some things probably are better off just not shown. The cell phone video of the hanging of Saddam Hussein was released but for the sake of human decency's sake should have never surfaced but like the gruesome photos of interment camps at the end of World War II, they will be part of history and serve to rally the sentiments of generations to come.