life happenings around nature, softball and fires...

Since my last post, I've been playing around with my new techie toy more. Before work one Wednesday morning, I paid a visit to the LA Arbortem. It was my first time there and I really didn't know what to expect. Walking through the doors and grabbing a map, I glanced up to see that the next "walking" tour had begun only a few minutes before. Missed that opportunity. Unfolded my map and grew a bit overwhelmed at how large the park seem. I only had a couple of hours before heading to work, so I had to get in as much as I could. Once of the first things that I ran into was:



I was told later that morning by one of the "regulars" that I had just missed them in their most regal form. I guess it was suppose to be impressive that they grew out their tails an average of 6 feet and pranced around the park during the summer months. Oh well, mental note for next year. The one place that I really wanted to see was the waterfall in the park. I love waterfalls. When I was younger, my family took a trip to Niagara Falls in Canada almost every year. There's just something about the rush of water that's both exciting and calming at the same time. I took some average shots of the mini waterfall at the Arbortem.



Although my favorite waterfall shot is still on my laptop at home and currently is acting as my wallpaper until something better comes along.

In the same week, I had mentioned to the boy that I had wanted to visit the Huntington Library. Mind you, I've lived in LA for over 5 years now and still haven't visited the Library grounds. I was told it was beautiful. That Saturday afternoon, despite the morning rain, we wandered to the Library. It was simply beautiful and peaceful even with the amount of people walking around. They were also hosting their annual plant sale as well. Our first stop was the Desert Gardens. Desert and Gardens didn't seem to belong in the same sentence much less be an attraction at the Library. But the pictures below should prove that wrong.





My favorite shot was one of cacti called "Living Stones" or their technical term "Lithops." I wanted to purchase one of these when I left for the day but decided against it as I would probably kill it with my non-green thumb.



We walked around the entire Library and through their impressive bonzi tree collection in the Japanese Garden. I can only imagine how much those bonzi trees would cost should they be available for sale. It was a nice escape from LA city life and so close to home.

This past weekend, we traveled to the Bay Area for softball. The tournament called, "Smash" is an "Asian" tournament featuring competitive men's, recreational men's and co-ed divisions. Our team, a mixture of north and south CA. Combined you get the "Nutty Cocks" Yes, that's their team name. They didn't do so bad, finishing 2nd out of 30 some odd teams in the recreational division. But if you were to ask them, they should have won it all. Thankfully, the visit wasn't just about softball. I played tour guide to my southern CA people in the city as well. It was a nice combination of sports and travel. Although, I almost didn't make it home. Somewhere between the rental car place and the terminal, I forgot my purse on the bus. Thankfully, my karma was good to me and it was found! I've got to laugh at it now but it wasn't all funny when it was happening. Pix from the weekend.






We're currently in day 5 of the fires here. Thankfully, we live in close to city and not near any of the fires. But the smoke and ashes are now a part of the daily life called LA. At least, I know that those closer to the fires are safe and ok and that the firefighters are making progress ending this disaster around us. Stay safe everyone!