the last sunset of january

today's sunset

from

the Palos Verdes

penisula.

bagpipes wanted/parrots gone wild

after listening to the Tom Morton show on

BBC Scotland this morning i went to the farmer's market overlooking Redondo beach.   on the way

there i happen to see this "wanted" sign

on the back of a truck.  coincidence?  i say ney.

the last time i saw bagpipes in the south bay

was at the St. Patrick's Day Parade and Festival

in Hermosa beach a few years ago.

i think this year they will only have a parade

do to some type of dispute between the city

and somebody who doesn't want a festival.

actually i need to check into the date for the parade.  i think i may try to go to New York City to see their big parade on the 17th of March if i am already on the east coast working.

  this is where i bought my bag of  grapefruit for $2.25.   this is the first price increase in many years.  in the past a bag cost $1.50.  times they are a changing.

every thursday morning, they have this farmer's market overlooking the sea.  or is that overlooking the bay.  overlooking the ocean or sea sounds better.

if i do not have to go to jury duty tomorrow i am thinking of a long skate to Santa Monica.

i think their farmer's market is on friday.  more than likely, i will rollerskate there and then

take the bus back.  there was a time when i would skate from end to end which is about

42 miles...and 42 miles is a long way on rollerskates.  times and fitness level they have changed.

if the day is nice and sunny i am sure i will have some interesting photos as i will be passing thru Venice Beach.  and there is always something interesting to see in and around Venice Beach.  i hope there will be some good street performers there and on the 3rd Street Promenade.  it has been a few months since i skated to Santa Monica but it is always a little adventure on rollerskates and...on the bus.

and finally.  i saw this mailbox today.  i think

it was monday's Tom Morton show that one of the topics was parrots gone wild.  i mentioned the wild green parrots of the south bay...this is not one of them but i thought it was cute.

Honey, there's a dinosaur in my cactus garden

day 3 of jury duty was as easy as days 1 and 2... i wasn't needed.

so, another walk to the beach on a gorgeous day.  the sky was painfully blue...

those are the lyrics to some song i've recently heard but can't remember where.

the photo above is from somewhere in my neighborhood.  i have been trying to take

different streets to the beach to find things like... dinosaurs in cactus gardens.

i came upon one street where i could see the Hollywood sign, snow on the mountains

and the ocean.  location, location, location.

the ocean (Santa Monica Bay) was beautiful today and the sky so clear.  you could

see all the way across to Malibu.  in this photo are the seagulls which remind me of Groucho Marx.  

 

this photo is a summer-y photo i found today from last September in Japan.

Day 2 of Jury Duty is over

another nice day for a walk at the beach.

these two guys thought there was enough wind

but they called it a day after only about 5 minutes

in the water.  they seemed to be having fun floating/

being dragged across the sand.  or at least the one guy did as the

other guy tried to prepare his kite and board.

                                                                                                                      i walked further down the beach to look for seashells and my favorite...rocks with holes all the way through them.  and then to sit and enjoy the sunset.  a couple of dolphins swam by and one jumped out of the water but my little digital camera wasn't fast enough to catch him...or perhaps it was operator error as i was also holding my 35mm camera with the zoom lens focused on a lone surfer.  i didn't get a photo of the dolphins but i did get one of this seagull taking off from one of the posts that holds

a beach volleyball net... no games were scheduled today... as if beach volleyball games should

ever have a schedule.

after i got home and was having dinner (soup and a sandwich), i almost fell

asleep in my soup.  i had stayed up late watching a Japanese drama and then got up early to listen to my new favorite radio show on the internet from Scotland.  i had good intentions of taking a nap today but choose to call my Mother and then go for a walk at the beach.  and then i remembered my little friend named Daigo in Kobe, Japan.

i found this video i took of him last year.  so cute!  i miss him and hope to see him in April

during cherry blossom season.  

i still haven't found the receipt for my airport parking pass that i have been looking for 

for over a week but i did find this receipt and photo of my good friend Steve and i from January 28th, 1995.

i can tell you exactly where i was 13 years ago..day 1 of climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro.

this is the receipt for the cabin we stayed in the night before our hike.

my first long sunday walk of 2008

two views of my beach from today's

long sunday walk before the rain.

the view on the top is overlooking the south bay looking north.  the view on the bottom is Redondo Beach and looking south to the Palos Verdes Peninsula.  luckily i carried a small travel umbrella as i was caught in a big rain storm as i left the beach which is about 2 miles from my home.  my shoes were soaked.  but it felt good to be out getting some exercise.  i am sure it wasn't good for my cough but i still have time to rest.

in this little video you can see the rain rushing down the street forming little waves at every driveway.  you can see where the rain has caused some of the street to give way.  and another

pothole is born.

i just found out i don't have to report to jury duty

tomorrow so perhaps another long walk after

listening to The Tom Morton Show on BBC Scotland.

i can see blue sky to the east from my front window.

i will go check to see if there is going to be a

beautiful sunset.

Storm Watch 2008

this is the rain before the big rain storm on friday

i thought it looked more like snow softly falling.

almost well

 Tony in Florida.

this photo was from last monday in southwest Florida.

not sure what kind of birds they were and not sure

why they were crossing the road...and no, they were not chickens.

my knee is fine but now i am getting over a cold.

i finally got back to work after about 6 weeks off.

now after two days of training and only 4 days of working

this month (and you know i don't really consider it working)

i will be off until the 7th of february.  

i have jury duty starting on the 28th which lasts

at least one week.  and then my first trip officially in

february is on the 7th.

until then...i will continue to do what i do...listen to music, walk to the beach, try and get

a little more organized, and hopefully soon get another bike and do some cycling.

i hope to rollerskate tomorrow along the beach to get some exercise if my cough

is not worse.

as you may remember, my old faithful bike is still in Japan.