Not Your Usual Yellow Duck

Our local coffee house has quite a collection of the "yellow" ducks. Well, they are not your usual yellow ducks. So far this "Rocky Horror Picture Show" duck is my favorite.

Santa Cruz Harbor

Though I have been to Santa Cruz many times, I had never heard of Santa Cruz Harbor till today.

It's written on water.

A fancy looking yacht in the back.

An Edward Hopper Afternoon at Walton Lighthouse

An Edward Hopper Seascape 

Hopper is a master of light. I have yet seen any painter who can capture the light of the seaside so truly. (Winslow Homer comes close, especially his watercolor work, but his paintings lack the mystical element I often find in a Hopper painting.) More than the Impressionists, Hopper teaches me so much about how to "see" the light. 

Finished in 2001, Walton Lighthouse is the only 21st century lighthouse I know.

The lighthouse is on a jetty outside the Santa Cruz Harbor.

Love the composition but the digital stitching is terrible. One day I will have to reshoot this.

Two men fishing on the jetty. I wondered what kind of fish they tried to catch.

A very Edward Hopper moment.

An Edward Hopper landscape, looks almost like a photo taken from the Pigeon Point. 

Walton Lighthouse

Photo Journalist Day (House Fire in Santa Cruz)

This was where I first noticed the fire. The old lady walking in front of me asked her companion: you didn't leave anything on the stove, do you? Without hesitation, I took out my X100 and started shooting.

The smoke shadowed the Sun. It looked almost alive. I started to hear explosions. Someone next to me said it was from the gas tanks in the garage. 

Firefighters arrived one minute later, connected the fire hose, and started to direct through traffic. 

I switched to my cell phone camera to zoom in. People started to venture closer. I soon joined them. Surprisingly, nobody stopped me.

Around the corner, the smoke looked really scary. Switched back to X100 to get a wide angle shot.

Passengers stopped to take a look. Many took out their cell phones to take photos.

The smoke soon changed color so I knew the fire was put out. Time to go home.

A Nice Day in California (Pigeon Point Lighthouse)

Used to be a jewel on the California coast, the lighthouse now definitely needs repair.

Every time I visit the lighthouse, I feel an yearning to just sit here and watch the sea. Yet, I have miles to go.

The fog house was always closed when I was here. 

Looking at the fog house and the lighthouse keeper's place (now a souvenir shop).

Today the California coast looks very Mediterranean.

A whale bone, looking at the sea.

On a clear day, the view is breathtaking.

On the trail around the lighthouse. 

A 180 degree panorama. The camera's built-in stitch algorithm is yet to be improved.

Watched an Italian movie shot in Sicily(the Purple Sea) last night. Though the movie was not too great, the beautiful Mediterranean scene, the rocky shore, the sapphire sea, immediately reminded me California coast (especially Big Sur). So this afternoon, after taking my car back from service, I was on the road. 

Having Coffee with a Dragon and a Phoenix

Dana Cafe's lovely new drawing