Developed by Monsanto?

I developed most of my gardening skills courtesy of my wise old grandmother. Our home in Kingsville, Texas, had about an acre of land surrounding it, and the land was full of flowers, trees, and grass. Here’s what the house looked like a few months ago courtesy of Google Street View:

The two oaks in front of the house were planted by the one and only me in 1970 after Hurricane Celia destroyed all the trees in our yard. Apparently all of the flowers, bushes, and shrubs are gone. She had mostly oleanders, poinsettias, crowns of thorns, snapdragons, pansies, and petunias.

All around the back patio, though, she had strawberry plants. I used to love picking strawberries (and eating them) as they ripened. Every time I buy strawberries at the store, I think back to the days of my youth when I would pick strawberries off of our own little strawberry plants. The strawberries of 40 years ago were small, certainly nothing like the strawberries we get here in San Diego from Oxnard and Watsonville (California). The strawberries I bought today look like this:

These strawberries come from Oxnard. I bought them at a Walmart Superstore, four pounds for just $5.98. The smallest one is about the size of a lime, and the largest is about the size of a lemon. And they are sweet! Sweet, sweet, sweet! A little chocoloate syrup, or some vanilla ice cream, and it’s heaven on earth!

I’m wondering, though, if these strawberries were developed by Monsanto……lol

Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
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God is having a bit of a financial crisis

Recently I discovered that God is having a bit of a financial crisis and needs to sell some of her real estate.

About a mile from me:

I don’t know what happened to the Rolando United Methodist Church, whether they moved or whether their budget looked like the federal government’s with too much red ink.

Maybe they closed up shop because they could not compete with the two churches directly across the street:

Their last tweet on Twitter was May 24, 2012, their web site is no longer active, and the United Methodist Church web site does not list them anymore. Yelp users also report that the church has closed. I couldn’t find anything anywhere about what happened or why.

Here are a few more pictures of the church:

Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
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James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572

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If it itches, scratch it!

The San Diego Zoo has spent a lot of time cleaning out some of the exhibits that were overgrown with vegetation, such as the eagle and condor exhibits. Now we can see the Andean Condors, and here is one that had an itch while I was there:

The Andean Condor (Vultur gryphus) is the only member of the genus Vultur. It lives in the Andes mountains and adjacent Pacific coasts of western South America. Its wingspan of up to 10.5 ft is exceeded only by the Wandering Albatross, the Southern Royal Albatross, the Dalmatian Pelican, and the Great White Pelican.

Andean Condors are primarily scavengers, feeding mostly on carcases of deer and cattle. It is one of the world’s longest-living birds, with a lifespan of up to 100 years in captivity.

Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
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James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572

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Meow. Meow, meow, meow. Meow, meow. Meow.

Earlier today Zoey the Cool Cat came into my home office, stood there, looked at me, and meowed. She didn’t want food. She didn’t want to play with her red ring. She didn’t want to be cuddled and loved. She meowed, meowed, and meowed. And then she meowed some more. Finally I logged onto Google Translator, plugged in her meows, and got a translation (click on the picture for a larger, readable graphic):

So here you have it! Our new category called CATS! Considering that Zoey the Cool Cat suggested it, I think it’s only appropriate that we feature her in our first CATS post!

When Jim and I adopted Zoey from the El Cajon Animal Shelter, her name was simply Zoey. I liked it because of the “y” on the end. At the end of her first day with us, September 20, 2007, I had added “the Cool Cat” due to this picture:

She claimed my office chair her first day and has never given it up. She can be nowhere around, but if I get up and leave the chair for more than thirty seconds, I come back and there she is, happily possessing it. Possession is nine-tenths of the law.

Here are some of my favorite pictures of Zoey the Cool Cat in my her chair.

Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572

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I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!

Will YOU be next on the list?

I have always had a hard time meeting new people.

That was a contributing reason why I joined Alpha Phi Omega, a national co-ed service fraternity, while I was at Texas A&M University. Since I enjoy helping others, I could do that while basically being forced to meet others through the fraternity system.

I think the main (maybe the only) reason I like Facebook is because I can meet people without having to meet people. Then, once I’m comfortable meeting them, if I go to where they are, I will try to look them up.

Blogging is the same thing. People find my blog, I find theirs, we become Internet friends, and maybe somewhere down the road we’ll meet, either at their place or mine.

Yesterday, Barb (Life in the Foothills) and her husband (Paul), came to San Diego after their Carnival cruise had docked in Long Beach. Long Beach is about 110 miles from me, so they certainly didn’t have to go out of their way to come down here instead of going directly back home to life in the foothills. I don’t know whether or not they came here specifically to see me, but they sure made me feel like they did.

Jim and I took them to the San Diego Zoo, where we spent 4½ hours traipsing around watching the animals and, of course, taking pictures:

After we wore ourselves out at the Zoo, we had drinks and food at On The Border.

Barb makes the fourth WordPress blogger that I have met in actual reality since I started using the WordPress platform on January 7, 2012. Here is my complete list now:

1. Rommel (The Sophomore Slump) — Rommel and I went to the USS Midway Museum on May 27, 2012. See his pictures and my pictures.
2. Bashar A. (2 Rivers Photos) — Bashar, Jim, and I went to the La Jolla Cove on October 17, 2012, to take pictures of a negative tide and a beautiful sunset. See his pictures and my pictures.
3. Marsha Lee (Marsha Lee) — Marsha came down with some long-time friends of hers on January 5, 2013, just to spend some time in San Diego. She and her friends introduced Jim and me to a new restaurant here in San Diego. See her pictures and my pictures.
4. Barb (Life in the Foothills) — Barb and Paul were on a cruise that originated in Long Beach. After their cruise, they came down to San Diego to visit Jim and me. They just got home today so keep an eye on her blog for pictures of their cruise and trip to the San Diego Zoo. I’m still cataloging the 380 pictures I took, so stay tuned here, too, and I’ll have some pictures this week.
5. Will YOU be next on this list?

Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572

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Joey needs a name…. Wait! What?

A blogging friend and her husband came to town yesterday so Jim and I took them to the San Diego Zoo.

One of the little fellas that we saw was a baby Koala (remember that Koalas are not bears, so don’t go saying “Koala Bear.” They are marsupials.)

Turns out that baby Koalas are called joeys, and the San Diego Zoo is asking for help in naming this little joey.

In the picture below, you can see mommy teaching her little one that the reason why koalas exist is to sleep, up to twenty hours each day.

By the way, the San Diego Zoo has the largest colony of koalas outside of Australia. Unfortunately, there are only four currently on exhibit because their old exhibit was torn down and rebuilt into a huge Australian Outback. The new exhibit, which opens May 24 (I’ll be there!) is probably a good twenty times larger than the old exhibit which I heard had been there since sometime around 1935. So it was time for a little home remodeling!

Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572

If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!

Time to study

With the weather warming up lately, people are traipsing to the beaches like there’s no tomorrow.

One of San Diego’s most unique beaches is Blacks Beach.

It’s unique because it is one of the world’s most beautiful and well used naturist beaches.

It’s unique because the backdrop to the beach is 300-foot sandstone cliffs.

It’s unique because it is directly below the Torrey Pines Golf Course, a municipal golf course where Tiger Woods won the 2008 U.S. Open over Rocco Mediate on the first hole of a sudden death playoff.

It’s unique because it’s directly in the flight path for military aircraft taking off from the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.

It’s unique because flying directly above the beach are the parasailers from Torrey Pines Glider Port.

It’s unique because it’s directly below the University of California at San Diego. With 29,000 students, it’s always possible to find some studying and enjoying the sun, water, and breezes.

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Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
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James Frimmer, Realtor
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No pumps, tutus, or feather boas

A couple of days ago I trekked about six miles deep into the heart of the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge.

I was so deep in the wilderness that there weren’t any trails; I was making my own!

I was absolutely certain that I was going where no one had gone before.

Until I came upon this:

Those two lumps at the right are two backpacks. There were two complete sets of clothes — shoes, socks, underwear, pants, shirt. I did not spend a lot of time trying to identify genders that might be associated with the clothes since women will often wear mens-type clothing when going hiking. No pumps, tutus, or feather boas.

I looked around, saw no visual evidence that mankind was anywhere close by, and wondered.

Maybe they had a fresh set of clothes in the backpacks, knowing that by the time they got to wherever they were going, they would be all hot and sweaty and would not want to hike back out all smelly and everything. But why not pack all your smelly clothes out and simply wash them? Maybe they were taken by aliens.

Feel free to leave your own guesses.

Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572

If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!

Who are you?

I thought for this post you could listen to some music while you’re reading.

My favorite place to take a walk is in the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge.

Throughout the Refuge are various plaques detailing some of the wildlife that make the Refuge home. One of those plaques is about the Quino Checkerspot butterfly.

The Quino Checkerspot butterfly (Euphydryas editha quino) is an endangered butterfly native to California and Mexico. It is a subspecies of the common Edith’s Checkerspot (Euphydryas editha) butterfly and only the second butterfly subspecies to be listed under the federal Endangered Species Act.

The poor Quino Checkerspot has had to change names several times since first being discovered and described in 1863 as Melitaea quino. In 1929 it was reduced to a subspecies of Euphydryas chalcedona. Then, in 1998, the 1863 description was used to reclassify it as Euphydryas editha instead of Euphydryas chalcedona. It has also been known as Euphydryas editha wrighti, a junior synonym for Euphydryas editha quino. A junior synonym is simply a later name for the same species. In today’s world of zoological nomenclature, the earliest correct name is the name that gets used, so all later names are moot except in the rarest of circumstances.

I’ve been agonizing over a picture that I got yesterday of two checkerspot butterflies:

I’m hoping they are Quino Checkerspot butterflies, and I have found some pictures on the Internet that are very similar to them. Unfortunately, I’m quite aware that pictures on the Internet often are misidentified so all other people do is continue the misidentification.

One source says the Quino Checkerspot is often misidentified by amateur butterfly searchers (that’s me!) as Chalcedon Checkerspot, Variable Checkerspot, Gabb’s Checkerspot, Wright’s Checkerspot, Bay Checkerspot, and Edith’s Checkerspot. I have probably looked at more than a thousand pictures of all these butterflies and I keep coming back to the Quino Checkerspot. So I’m sticking with that until a butterfly specialist tells me otherwise.

Currently, the Quino Checkerspot is found only in western Riverside County, southern San Diego County (where I was), and northern Baja California, Mexico. Ninety-five percent of their historic range has been lost to urban sprawl.

Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572

If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!

Peek-a-boo with a beluga whale

Ever sinced Google informed me that they wanted to give me money because people watched my videos on YouTube, I’ve been trying to take more videos.

I’m kind of liking it.

Here is one of a Beluga Whale at SeaWorld that was really putting on a show for the crowd a couple of days ago, seeming to be playing peek-a-boo with us:

Looking for real estate services in San Diego County?
I can highly recommend
James Frimmer, Realtor
Century 21 Award, DRE #01458572

If you’re looking for a home inspector,
I recommend Russel Ray — that’s me!