Mission Beach

I wanted to show you Mission Beach this morning.

We have a great bay side, not the ocean surf, where you can rent all kinds of water toys on smooth, calm water.

Early this morning I watched some guys set up their business - they carefully set the skis on the lawn, fired up their boats and in this photo a young girl took a face plant trying to get up the first time.











Then I met Mouse. He saw me taking photos of his unattended cart, walked over from his 'island' in the middle of a busy intersection and asked me if I thought it was "classy".

Actually all his items were very neatly folded. His cardboard sign said he had heart problems - he told me he has 7 stents in his heart. He added that his grandmother named him Mouse years ago because he used to steal cheese snacks from her house.

As he proudly posed, he told me years ago he was an artist and took photos of the homeless in the early morning hours, still asleep on the old wooden loading docks where vegetables use to be unloaded from trucks.

Santee Lakes

Welcome to my new blog - this is all very new for me!

I'd like to show you around San Diego, my city in Southern California. We're almost on the border with Mexico, a warm sunny part of the US.

This morning I headed out early to a series of small lakes, just east over some small mountains from San Diego. The little rural community is called Santee.

For $30 a year I buy a park pass to enter as much as I want. There are 4 or 5 lakes - the one you see here had a freeway built on top of it and in the early morning light the reflection of the water danced on the cement above.





Fishermen use these lakes. They were setting up their spots when I arrived.

I found myself speculating that it's a good thing this man is adding more fish to his diet.












I wonder if all these leaves beneath one tree have a similar fingerprint we can read?