INDIAN HILL

  The transitional geography between alpine and desert are some of my favorite vistas in California.  This area is near an off-road trail near Highway 18, between Big Bear Lake and Lucerne Valley.  Mid-afternoon, October 16, 2011.                                                                                                     Left-click photos for larger views.

             Parked my car and stood around looking at brick walls, an alley, air conditioning equipment, reflections on glass, so I took a few shots.  Pure functionality.   What's missing from these rooftops is a good cigar lounge and martini bar, don't you think?                                                               The hidden staircase. It's my blog, and I'll put up cheesy reflection shots if I want to.  Re-emerging from the alley I gotta keep things in human perspective so I sneak in a candid shot.   Ask permission later, that kind of thin...

     2:30 PM, 95° F temperatures outside , I lay down on the living room couch.  Inside it is cool, the air conditioning fighting.  My place was spotless; the housekeepers had gone over it this morning, the shutters closed off the beating afternoon sun.       They come to me.      Earlier, in back of the coffee house on the patio, a man stopped where I was sitting, pointing to a book I’d laid on the low round table.          ‘Are you reading this?’ he said.      I said that I was.      ‘ Santeria ?’ he said.  ‘That’s Chango right there,’ pointing to the photo of a shrine on the cover of the book.  ‘He’s the head of all that.’  I held another book in my hands.      ‘That’s a history of Santeria ,’ I said.      ‘I know.  I know all about Santeria , Voodoo ...

Colorado River, Parker Strip Need some desert time, down time, get-my-mojo-on-time.  Back to school in a month, big time school, writing MFA program time. I'm going to be one cranking dude on the keyboard. One of my favorite getaways is the Colorado River.  Laughlin, Bullhead City, Parker, Parker Strip, Havasu.  Needles?  Not so much.   Canyon De Chelly I've got a story brewing that takes place in part along the Grand Canyon and that's all I'm going to say, so it's a good reason to get some fall camping in out there. North Rim, or East Rim.  Either way, on up to Moab maybe, Chinle, Durango.  I can feel a road trip coming on. Tenaya Lake, Yosemite Couple of weeks ago I was up in Yosemite for only a day.  The high country.  Gorgeous isn't the word.  Spectacular grandeur. Up on Tioga Pass Road, Lake Tenaya sparkled with deep blue water and steep granite scarred with centuries of glacier scraping.  Tall timb...

     After a beef link sandwich and macaroni and cheese at Cassie’s, I drove west. Juan organizes the artists and coordinates the project.      Around and through the Art’s District, I turned down the lane alongside the tracks.  I could see the artists were at work, and I slowed down and asked if I could shoot some photos.  ‘Yeah, cool,’ the man said.  Four or five artists were working on the wall.  In September I’d shot a few photos and posted them as Industrial Chic http://indian-hill.blogspot.com/2010/09/industrial-chic.html .        After I pulled over and stopped, I checked with another man and asked if it was okay to shoot.       ‘You into shooting graffiti?’ the guy said.      ‘I’m into art.  I don’t call this graffiti.’   I explained that I’d been here before and had talked to another man after posting Industrial Chic .  Sti...

US 395 more or less divides the Mojave Desert and the Great Basin desert , and travels north-south from Hesperia up past Lake Tahoe and into the Cascade Range in Northern California. US 395 continues up to the US-Canadian border. Along the way, Randsburg is a dusty ghost town that plays host to dirt bikers who buzz the desert on weekends like mounted hornets on steroids. Otherwise, during the week, in the morning, it's quiet and friendly. Not much happens in Randsburg, California. It's not a candidate for massive downtown redevelopment funds. It's not trying to amass fortunes to get an NFL football stadium, and nowhere to be found are mass franchise marquee logos like Macs or Starbucks. You get your coffee at the General Store, where a couple of savvy waitresses hold their own against a small group of regulars who greeted me with appropriate skepticism, and begrudgingly acknowledged me with muttered hellos , good mornings . It's all I ask. I ain't posing as...

Rubidoux Drive-In The pure passage of time rarely does any of us any favors.  Its inexorable movement towards what we know is inevitable becomes more pronounced with, what else—the passage of time itself.        However, one advantage of a longer perspective is that nostalgia, used in limited dosages, can provide rich, delicious memories.  The memory as it ages attains a patina or veneer of truth that we can harness to learn from our past.  Or at least keep those memories alive that we choose.      I sometimes strip away the present and the assault of media-overload by taking day trips down old country roads.  In Southern California, the freeway is the preferred method of daily transportation and weekend travel for most.  We jam into the closest five-lane and merge as quickly as we can into the fastest lane possible and strain to keep up with the flow of traffic lest we become the target of the tailgater....