Tag Archives: Walks

Fridays Fave 5

It’s time for Fridays Fave 5 where we think about the last week and what some of our favorite things were. You can join in anytime by visiting Susanne at Living to Tell the Story.

1. Last Saturday we hosted an Open House at our condo for family and friends. A time to eat, drink and be merry. It was a fun encouraging time being with these wonderful people…

2. On Sunday we had the most wonderful church service. It was encouraging and Jesus was lifted high and given the praise and honor He alone deserves.

3. Willow had a day off because of Veteran’s Day/(Remembrance Day in Canada) so we had a morning walk and chose a new route. It was fun to see new things. There were poinsettias growing on the side of the road and we saw lions and tigers and bears oh my! Oops! I mean horses and pigs and sheep oh my! We also saw deer again on another walk this week…

4. I always enjoy going to our regular spots to eat here in town. It was fun going to El Tecolote with Dear and just sitting and relaxing and debriefing with him.

5. I’ve enjoyed thinking and planning Thanksgiving weekend. It’s been a while since I’ve been at my home in Washington and I’m looking forward to spending some time there with my kids. This just might be in my fave fives next week too! :0)

 

SkyWatch #16 ~ Santa Barbara

These were taken this last Saturday on a walk at a Bird Refuge in Santa Barbara, California. It was 11:30 in the morning and the fog/marine layer had not burned off yet…

This next shot I took on a walk in Camarillo on Wednesday this week. I loved the sunshine and the Autumn colors in the leaves on the tree and on the ground. Oh and of course there’s that Mule Deer, too :0)

 

For more Skies from around the world visit the official Sky Watch blog here.

ABC Wednesday ~ Outdoors in Santa Barbara

We are on the letter O and my choices are October, Outdoors, On the Coast, On a Walk, Overcast!

Dear and I drove up the coast last Saturday. After a drive through San Marcos Pass to stop at Cold Springs Tavern for breakfast, we headed back to the shoreline in Santa Barbara for a walk. We headed up the beachwalk to the Bird Refuge. There was quite an intense marine layer effect happening on our drive and during our walk. We could not see out into the Pacific. We headed to the refuge and the layer was a little less dense here.

I was really happy to capture this Pelican at the refuge. Oops I guess I should have saved him for next week. P is for Pelican…

For more ABC posts visit the ABC blog that was started by Denise Nesbitt.

Friday’s Fave Five

This week was filled to the brim with the regular and the unexpected. My favorites were…

1. A early morning hike on Saturday with dear where our reward was a beautiful view of the Pacific.

2. While we were hiking our ribs were slow cooking to a totally comfort food perfection that we enjoyed later in the day.

3. One of my favorite things to do every week is to thrift store shop and there’s a photo of my favorite little Christian thrift store in Camarillo where I have found some really reasonably priced goodies.

4. I saw an interesting recipe for Bruschetta while at the bank. (Isn’t it weird how they have these tv’s where they show the food network chefs cooking at the bank!) Anyway I made it for an appetizer and it was good. I’ll be posting the recipe later today! Update: I posted the recipe here.

5. I had a fabulous treat on Thursday morning at Dawn. I walked out on my little patio and looked to the east and saw an amazing Sunrise that prompted me to praise God.

Here’s a photo of one of the goodies I found at the thrift store this week. These 7 pieces of ceramic fruit with gold leaves and stems were $4.00. I thought I could come up with some sort of Thanksgiving centerpiece with them…

For more Fave Five’s or to join in visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story.

 

Santana Winds and Dry Brush

On Saturday morning Dear and I took a hike up from Sycamore Canyon in the Santa Monica Mountains to a Scenic area overlooking the Pacific Ocean near Pt. Mugu. We were struck with how dry the brush was and Dear commented on how easy it would be for a fire to spread through this type of brush. This is a collage I made of some of the dryness we hiked through. We are now having a Santana Wind event in Southern California and there is a large fire burning in the Angeles Forest East of Los Angeles. I’m sure the terrain there looks a lot  like this, too.

What are the Santana or Santa Ana Winds?

The Santana Winds or Santa Ana Winds, most common in the late summer and early fall, begin with dry air moving in from the interior of the U.S. towards Southern California. As this air flows down into the Los Angeles-Orange County Basin through the low gaps in the mountains (notably Cajon Pass on the east end of the San Gabriel Mountains and Soledad Pass south of Palmdale), it compresses and warms about five degrees Fahrenheit for every 1,000 feet that it descends. Though these winds are much cooler high in the mountains, they can become hot and dry and assume gale force when descending into the Los Angeles-Orange County Basin. They are often the source of air turbulence for aircraft approaching Los Angeles International Airport.

The original spelling of the of name of the winds is unclear, not to mention the origin. Although the winds have been commonly called Santa Ana Winds or Santa Anas, many argue that the original name is Santana Winds or Santanas. Both versions of the name have been used. The name Santana Winds is said to be traced to Spanish California when the winds were called Devil Winds due to their heat.  The reference book Los Angeles A to Z (by Leonard & Dale Pitt), credits the Santa Ana Canyon in Orange County as the origin of the name Santa Ana Winds, thereby arguing for the term Santa Anas.  This might be supported by early accounts which attributed the Santa Ana riverbed running through the canyon as the source of the winds. Another account placed the origin of Santa Ana Winds with an Associated Press correspondent stationed in Santa Ana who mistakenly began using Santa Ana Winds instead of Santana Winds in a 1901 dispatch.

Special credit for the research assistance of Librarian Nancy Smith of the Metropolitan Cooperative Library System Reference Center, Los Angeles Public Library.

I hope this is helpful information when you hear news about Santana winds in Southern California helping to spark fires.

After our hike through all this dryness we were rewarded with these glorious views of the Pacific Ocean…

 

We were blessed with a few cool days and now with the Santana Winds blowing in we’ll be seeing the temperature rise again this week.

Wherever you are and whatever your weather have a wonderful week.

Tremble before him, all the earth! The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved. Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns! Let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them! Then the trees of the forest will sing, they will sing for joy before the Lord for he comes to judge the earth. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his love endures forever. ~ 1 Chronicles 16:30-34