Pouring My Art Out

The adventure… part 27; The Monterey Peninsula… part 2… cyborg deer and golfing coyotes…

Posted on July 16, 2021 by pouringmyartout

There is this thing at the tip of the Monterey Peninsula called ‘The 17 mile drive’. It cost about ten dollars, and passes beside some of the most exclusive private dwellings, fancy golf courses, wild coastline and beautiful pine forests in California. Rich people can afford to invest in mutant cyborg guard deer. Private security officers… like me… are for poor people.

Rich people are pretty particular about who gets to use their golf courses, but they will let the coyotes play through, early in the morning, before the courses are open.

I got up before the sunrise, you know, like I do on my adventures, to get good pictures for you to look at. I had to use the flash on my camera to some of these photos.

But that made the Spanish Moss even more beautiful.

It was too foggy for sunrise shots, but the other thing I like about getting up early is that you learn more about the animals.

I saw thousands of cormorants going off to find breakfast, and then find a nice rock to spend all day doing their synchronized cleaning rituals, and covering the rock in white guano.

You should really Google cormorants. They used them for fishing in China in a very unusual way.

They were also practicing their formation flying.

Nature is weird.

A lonely tree.

The 17 mile drive curved inland, into a mist-filled forest.

Day 5 of the adventure was off to a good start.

This place had some serious ambience.

I mean, if you like nature.

The secret to getting good photos of creepy yellow-eyed cyborg deer, is to get them with a flash early in the morning in fog.

Posted in dogs and other animals, My travels | Tagged america, animals, art, birds, california, deer, digital photography, humor, nature, outdoors, photography, travel | 4 Comments

The adventure… part 26; The Monterey Peninsula… part 1…

Posted on July 15, 2021 by pouringmyartout

Still trying to get that perfect photo of a crashing wave. Also, if you are new here, this is not a travel blog. I am just caught up on a little side trip. We will be getting back to the weird stuff soon enough.

The Monterey area right off Highway One has a lot to do in a small area. People tend to get caught up in the main town area, with the touristy stuff like Cannery Row and the famous aquarium.

But I have done all that stuff and I do not travel like a tourist.

And if you keep going past the town to the end of the peninsula, there is more to see that fit in with my agenda.

The whole of Monterey Bay is a crazy mishmash of wild, rocky coastline and marine habitat.

That is why there is an aquarium and the Monterey Oceanographic Institute.

We are still in the afternoon of the 4th day of the adventure, with me waiting for my hotel room to be ready.

So I explored, and took pictures.

And when my room was ready, I dropped off my stuff and explored some more.

But this will be the last post about day 4.

Don’t get your hopes up. I got up before sunrise to start exploring again.

So we will still be seeing pictures of the sea and rocks and birds and whatever.

Speaking about birds, these pelicans are winding down their day. See, I told you they do synchronized flying. When they fly in a line like that, really low over the waves, and pop up, one after another, to go over a wave, it is awesome to watch.

Sea life means sea birds. Okay, goodbye, day 4!

In the morning, the adventure continues, and we will see lots of weird stuff…

Including scary robot deer?

Posted in dogs and other animals, My travels | Tagged animals, art, california, digital photography, highway one, humor, Monterey, nature, photography, travel | 2 Comments

The adventure… part 25; let’s take a break from the coast and meet some animals… part 2…

Posted on July 14, 2021 by pouringmyartout

So yeah, day 4 of the adventure, heading North along the coast, and I am in Monterey.

Mama herbivores never have to nag their children to eat their vegetables.

It was still too early to check into my hotel, so I stopped a bunch of times to get more photos.

A dance-off?

Nope. More synchronized cleaning.

This whole adventure was sort of an accident. I was going up to see my mom in the Bay Area for the 4th of July, but one of her grandkids had stopped by for a few days, and my mom, being 97, doesn’t like too many people around. She get tired.

No, that isn’t a photo of the sea. There are cormorants on that rock. I was going to just drive the coast for 2 days, sleeping overnight in my car. My wife took pity on me and got me hotel rooms in Moro Bay and on the Monterey peninsula,

More cormorants. So I got to take 3 days to drive the coast, and you get to look at like 500 pictures. Yay!

Hey, there are at least two seagulls in that one.

Well now the cormorants are doing synchronized cleaning. It isn’t just an otter or a goose thing.

A lone cormorant, obviously late for the cleaning ritual.

A lone pelican. I don’t know if they clean themselves together, but they do pretty awesome synchronized flying and diving for fish.

A lone crow, looking for a murder, no doubt. Ha! See what I did there?

So, uh, yeah.

There is no way around it. We have more photos of rocks and waves and the sea coming up. Sorry about that.

Posted in dogs and other animals, My travels | Tagged animals, art, birds, california, deer, digital photography, highway one, humor, nature, photography | Leave a comment

The adventure… part 24; let’s take a break from the coast and meet some animals…

Posted on July 13, 2021 by pouringmyartout

It is around noon on day 4 of the adventure, and we have seen elephant seals, miles of crazy coastline, and stopped at Big Sur for lunch… an that is just on this one day.

Look at that sailboat way out there. You could almost think this is Southern California.

But it isn’t. Cue the theme music from Jaws!!!

But even I am ready to take a break from photos of waves and rocks.

It is time to see some more animals.

And there is still plenty of ocean to see.

Highway One is leading us right towards the Monterey Peninsula.

Yes, the one from the famous novel, cannery row and what not. Now, I know that looks like another picture of the ocean and the rocks, but there is a cow in there. Also, a cool cave in the rocks to her right.

Okay, that is just rocks and the ocean.

Did you want me to quit cold turkey???

And speaking of turkeys, that is not one.

Whales and deer. How often do you get both in one photo? I am that good.

Here a Canadian Goose stalks his natural prey, those black birds with creepy yellow eyes just like the flamingos from the start of this adventure. What, you didn’t know geese were carnivorous?

Wait, is that more synchronized cleaning??? What is up with that?

I hope those deer can find a place to hide before the geese finish cleaning themselves and it is dinner time!

Posted in dogs and other animals, My travels | Tagged animals, art, birds, california, deer, digital art, geese, highway one, humor, nature, photography | Leave a comment

The adventure… part 23; Cruisin’ the crazy coast of California with your tour guide, Me!!!… part 5… Big Sur…

Posted on July 13, 2021 by pouringmyartout

Well, we are still on day 4 of the adventure, if you go back and consult that map I made. But we are getting into some new stuff. Big Sur is a town on the California coast. It is sort of a hippy/artist community.

After seeing elephant seals early in the morning, and then trying to stop for photos at every overlook on that part of Highway One, I was heading north again. The road climbs and then turns inland once more.

And it was time for a late breakfast among the redwoods.

They weren’t serving breakfast food anymore, so I ended up with a BLT and an awesome cheese plate.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm… cheese…

Nice view. The river was in front of and below me.

The mountains were behind me, still partially shrouded in fog.

I even had company for my meal, a scrub jay.

You gotta love Big Sur.

I drove just a short way down Highway One, and got out to stretch my legs by the river.

Nothing like a walk in the woods to help with digestion.

And redwoods make the best woods.

Yup.

One last view of the valley where Big Sur nestles.

Posted in dogs and other animals, My travels, Pictures of me | Tagged art, birds, california, digital photography, food, highway one, humor, photography, redwoods, travel | 4 Comments

A short poem about fog, which has nothing to do with the adventure, except that I have been posting a lot of pictures of fog…

Posted on July 13, 2021 by pouringmyartout

Posted in Everything Else | Tagged art, fog, poem, poetry, writing | 2 Comments

The adventure… part 22; Cruisin’ the crazy coast of California with your tour guide, Me!!!… part 4…

Posted on July 12, 2021 by pouringmyartout

I almost feel guilty about the number of photos I took on this one particular day on this one part of the adventure.

I really tried to make it a challenge to pull over at every little bit of open shoulder to snap a photo in each direction.

That isn’t as easy as it sounds, but it is as time-consuming as it sounds.

It is just that the Central California coast is so awesome.

You are hugging huge cliffs, twisting on this narrow two lane highway in the fog and clouds.

Sometimes you are right down by the beaches. Other times you are way up in the middle of the cliffs.

The ocean spreads out far below you.

You are surrounded by nature.

And if you don’t stop, the views are just zooming by.

As I mentioned, this isn’t the the mild and warm Pacific Ocean of farther South. This is wild, crashing waves, jagged rocks, cold water, and kelp forests full of Great White sharks.

It just has a feel to it.

You should do this drive if you are ever in California.

Make time for it.

Posted in My travels, Pictures of me | Tagged art, california, digital photography, highway one, humor, pacific ocean, photography | Leave a comment

The adventure… part 21; Cruisin’ the crazy coast of California with your tour guide, Me!!!… part 3…

Posted on July 11, 2021 by pouringmyartout

Driving North of Highway One. It is magical.

The sea grows more wild. The coast more jagged. The wind more cutting.

The fog becomes a living thing.

Even the wildflowers are hardier.

The coast will always surprise you.

As a Bay Area boy, I know fog. You can stand on the cliffside in Central California, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, and in ten minutes, the scene will change thirty times.

Things vanish and reappear.

The fog thins and thickens, all the while shifting position.

It almost makes it seem as if the world is moving around you.

The sun pops in and out of view, adding its shifting light to the scene.

I think the fog adds to the beauty.

It gives a feeling of both depth and shallowness to the views. It adds to the adventure.

But do not get too caught up in the seaward view.

There are things to discover behind and beside you.

Posted in flowers, My travels | Tagged america, art, california, digital photography, floweers, humor, nature, outdoors, pacific ocean, photography, travel | 4 Comments

Is the world going to end because of stupidity???

Posted on July 10, 2021 by pouringmyartout

You know, If the world ended with an asteroid hitting us, I could accept that. A nuclear war brought about by panic, well, not great, but believable. Alien invasion, sure, why not. I could even deal with a virus that wipes out humanity before the scientists come up with a cure.

But if we all die from a virus that we have a cure for, because too many idiots refuse to get vaccinated, and variants multiply and get worse and worse, that is just ridiculous.

If we all die a slow death from the effects of climate change because too many people in a position to do something about it are afraid to anger their base, that is just pathetic.

And if we keep putting more of those cowards into positions of power due to restrictive voting laws passed by those very same people, that is just evil.

Deniers and stupid people are going to kill us all, and we need to build a wall and put those people on the other side of it.

If you are in a lifeboat, and a guy says, hey, we need water. We should chop a hole in the bottom of the boat and make a well, you don’t sit around debating with him and his supporters about the merits of the plan. You tie the idiot up and keep an eye on him.

Just a suggestion.

Posted in thinking about stuff | Tagged current-events, humor, people, political humor, politicians, politics, social-media, stupid, stupid people, stupidity, trump | 6 Comments

The adventure… part 20; Cruisin’ the crazy coast of California with your tour guide, Me!!!… part 2…

Posted on July 9, 2021 by pouringmyartout

Let’s explore the central coast of California as I make my way north on Highway One, from the beach with the elephant seals towards Big Sur and the Monterey peninsula. This is day 4 of the adventure, if you want to go back to part 12 to consult the handy map I posted.