The stoic gentleman at the Mono Lake visitor center studied me like a deputy sheriff during a roadside sobriety test. “You can die out there,” he said deadpan. “Folks paddle out there and they don’t come back. The winds come from out of nowhere and catch people off guard.” I did my damnedest to convince […]
For centuries, pilgrims have walked the Camino de Santiago in northwestern Spain looking for absolution, healing, and spiritual inspiration. In recent years, seeking a reprieve from the complexities of ordinary life, people of all faiths have been trekking this ancient route, staying in dormitory-style hostels and collecting stamps in a pilgrim’s passport. Similar to Joseph […]
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I almost lost them in the densely vibrant fields of hillside daisies within the Carrizo Plain National Monument. They were about a half-mile west of where I stood, my Canon 300mm IS lens aimed in their direction. I was hoping for them to meander my way, but with wildlife you never know. They have their […]
After nearly 16 years living in Montecito, not a day goes by when I don’t think how lucky we are to live in such a special place. Since quarantine and now as my kids have started three different schools online from their bedrooms, never have I been more appreciative of our precious beaches where I […]
Owls have long lived in my most favorite category. Their stoic demeanor. Their wisdom. The intensity of the screech owl’s screech, the trills and lonely melodic resonance of the great horned owl’s “hoot hoots,” and the barn owl’s hissing rasp. Twice this week the California Highway Patrol rescued owls hit by a car along Highway […]
A bit of uncertainty can be exciting. A script with a surprise ending has intrigue. Embracing the unknown is part of the artistic process. But when the reliable routines of everyday life have been scrambled, it’s a whole different story. Negotiating the new normal of social distancing, working at home, and Zoom classrooms has challenged […]
The Ocean Renegades at the Miramar Things Fall Apart; the center cannot holdMere anarchy is loosed upon the world,The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywherethe ceremony of innocence is drowned;The best lack all conviction while the worstare full of passionate intensity. WB Yeats Miramar oh Miramar, you are an icon of beauty, a tribute to […]
When you’ve been quarantined for weeks and a tree falls on your house, at least you’ve got your friends, and your dog Ferocious winds tore through Montecito that night, leaving a wake of damage and power outages. Forecasters blamed a strengthening ridge of high pressure and weak offshore gradients for producing the scary and destructive […]
When I was younger, I dreaded my parents’ weekend declaration of an impending family walk. I would plead to ride my bike alongside them; to run, skip, cartwheel, anything but walk. We would (slowly) stroll along the dirt path at the nearby Ennisbrook trail and my eyes would meander towards trees that needed climbing, streams […]
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Construction concluded last week on a long-awaited repair following the 1/9 debris flow: a temporary bridge at the Cold Spring Trailhead that connects East Mountain Drive. Construction began in June to replace the bridge, and was paid for by settlement funds from Southern California Edison. The bridge will remain in place for approximately three years […]
I was a “Secret Garden” … “Green Mansions” kind of child. Deep forests, bright brooks, wide fields, and ocean waves beckoned my young exuberance. On the seldom occasions that an adult might be missing me, I would be found deep in the forest, grabbing minnows and crayfish from a tiny creek under the redwoods, or […]
The wildest place in town has to be the Santa Barbara Zoo and certainly a child’s favorite. When I moved here in the ‘70s I thought the Child estate related to children because the Zoo was there. I soon learned it had once been Lillian Child’s property. When she passed away it eventually became a […]
The creeks were flowing, spilling over a configuration of cobble that snaked their way to the Santa Clara River. As water pooled up and calmed California newts (Taricha torosa) gathered, the only endemic salamander species in the Golden State. As I rock-hopped upstream, I found one of the orange-bellied newts out of the water, out […]
There was once a bunch of impossibly cute and endearingly musical primates swinging around a compound just outside the City of Santa Clarita. And then they moved to Santa Barbara County. That’s how, ideally, the story will go for the Gibbon Conservation Center, a unique research, breeding and residential facility dreamed up and established by […]
