Posted on January 19th, 2010, by Petra
Yes, yes, the rains have arrived – finally! That’s the good news. The bad news is that the rains came on the wings of some quite remarkable storms; we’re just through the second wave of winds with gusts of over 72 miles per hour and two more storm waves are expected until Friday of this [...]
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Posted on January 11th, 2010, by Petra
It used to be that one could see the odd cormorant when walking along certain stretches of the L.A. River. By now they are hanging out there in whole flocks; and apparently they hunt for fish, too, because this splendid specimen is drying its feathers after diving. Then one sees anglers. This again raises the [...]
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Posted on December 2nd, 2009, by Petra
May I introduce: Melanerpes formicivorus, aka Acorn Woodpecker. These pretty redheads can be found in Griffith Park – if one knows where oak trees grow. Acorn Woodpeckers lead a busy life drilling holes into dead trees and collecting acorns to stick into the holes for later consumption. They also pick dried out acorns out of [...]
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Posted on November 25th, 2009, by Petra
Never one to shy away from exotic foods, I finally crossed the line into the world of creepy-crawlies: I ate chapulines. In plain English – grasshoppers. They are a staple in our favorite Oaxacan restaurant “Guelaguetza” on 8th Street. Our friendly waiter sang the praises of the dish, so how could I resist? The little [...]
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Posted on November 17th, 2009, by Petra
Could this be the seal equivalent of a High Five? If so, it is more than appropriate, because after nine years of the seals being an issue with the last five years spent on a lawsuit to evict them, they can stay. Hurray! Yes, you too. Come on in! On November 13th, Superior Court Judge [...]
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Posted on October 25th, 2009, by Petra
It only took about a year of gentle coaxing by a dear former colleague until we finally stepped through this door to find out that behind it there hides a real honest-to-God supper club with an amazing offer in Jazz music. Our introduction to Jax was made all the more pleasurable by Mike Gurley and [...]
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Posted on September 21st, 2009, by Petra
Impressions from “Autumn Light LA 2009″. Artists and the city worked together and created a night filled with light, magic and music.
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Posted on September 14th, 2009, by Petra
That was fun. But maybe I’ll hang on to the food processor for a little while longer.
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Posted on September 7th, 2009, by Petra
Even though we are locals, we had underestimated how far the fire had come to some of the places we love to go hiking in. So it was a bit of a shock to be confronted with a closed park and this sign at the entrance road to the park. As we could not drive [...]
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Posted on August 30th, 2009, by Petra
I took this photo of the La Canada Flintridge fire yesterday from 40 m (64 km) away. Since then the fire has increased to an area of over 35,000 acres (142 square km). Over 10,000 homes are threatened, some power lines are down, a number of communities are being evacuated. The high heat does not [...]
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