Old Queen Mary and sudden end to California drought

The Los Angeles container ship port is the 2nd largest, second only to the L.A. cargo port which adjoins it.  Most people know the port for the Queen Mary in its present state as a hotel, and as the city where millions of people go to begin their cruises to Mexico, Hawaii and the South pacific.

It was my intention to stop in Long beach mostly to take a ferry out to Santa Catalina island.  But you can easily see the reason I did not go.  In addition to the wild rain storms, the wind was very high and I am sure the ferries did not leave for most of two days.

Just because I like these

At a breakfast restaurant in Long beach of a morning.  I sit inside looking out toward the outdoor tables. A lady approached with a stuffed monkey toy, and a doll that looks much like its owner.  The lady reminds me of Lily Tomlin setting up some sort of skit.

After she sat down, she carefully arranged the monkey on the table to protect her from aggressors from the East, then equally protected against a monkey"s back, set made comfortable her mini-me facing west.  There is in the bottom photo, a champagne-like bottle which I think she also brought with her. In that photo you can see her immense turquoise fingernails which were so large, she had difficulty opening the menu.

While waiting for the waitress, she scanned the indoor tables and realized each one had a genuine fresh red rose on it  - and her's did not.  To repair this painful situation, she rushed through the door, seized a vase and rose and placed it just right on her table with the monkey, mini-me, bottle and fantastic fingernails.

This is not a matter of my joking about her.  It is not often you can compose a scene with so much depth, dense colour, competing forms, and contrasts. And not many casual restaurants are this attractive - although I saw more in California than anywhere else.

Harbor seals, La jolla, California

We see Harbor seals all along the Pacific coast.  But near San Diego they calve only on one beach; the Cove at La Jolla.  The shape of the cove provides considerable protection from White sharks - their only predator other than Orcas.  The beach is closed to humans from May for several months a year.  The mothers only tend to their own single offspring for 10 days and then return to feed in the ocean.  The kid is put into a "school" to be attended to by surrogates.


For whatever reason, seals have little fear of humans. These are the type that are used in circus and aquarium acts.  I was just reading the diary of a British explorer in 1008 who came across a creature he had never seen or heard of before. It was an 8' seal.  He walked right up to it and the seal showed no fear of him.  Unfortunately, he decided to stone it to death. So much for humans, as usual.

It was wonderful to watch the seals and babies so new that they were born just hours earlier.

I watched a real drama as a newborn that had not even been the water yet, was washed into the ocean by a wave.  The mother seemed exhausted - probably from the recent birth- and struggled to herd the calf back to shore. But the situation just worsened.  At one point, the kid discovered self-propulsion and zoomed off toward the danger zone.  As she tried to haul it back, it went under by some rocks where she could no longer help. Worse, it was dragged and slammed against nearby rocks.  Twice, for a a couple of minutes, it appeared she had lost her calf. It took about 20 minutes beginning to end, but she eventually won the day and brought the kid home.

There was one whopping male laughing (?) and maybe yawning about something.

The beauty of the juveniles - shown mostly in the pile-up above - is stunning. From a distance, you cannot tell them from the rocks along the coast they so resemble.  Up close they have many topical injuries, but are so beautiful.  In one photo, you can see one's blue coloration - resulting in the beauty of both the sea and the coastal rocks and sand.

Lorikeets, Long each California

The Long beach Lorikeets are in an outdoor, but large netted enclosure.  It opens to the public mornings at 10:30.  People line up to by $4.00 little plastic cups of nectar the birds love.  The birds know the time and start to make a lot of noise about one hour before people enter.  It is madness when they do enter.  People are instantly covered with birds.  They do not waste time on people without a little cup of nectar for them. The noise is almost deafening, but more beautiful than hip hop or like music.

Near the exit, where people have already donated their supply of nectar, I saw one bird all alone who did not seem healthy.  It was complaining loudly about no nectar. I told him that if he wanted to go with me, I would find someone who had a nectar cup.  He replied loudly and often.  I told him again and waited.  After about another minute, he flew to my shoulder and we walked back toward the entrance together where there would be fresh supplies of nectar.

Soon we found a little girl with the prized liquid.  I had to bend down in a C so the bird would lean over my shoulder to the girl's wrist.  The parrot really enjoyed the liquid.  But the girl's father said "This is no good. I want you to have your own bird on your hand, not on somebody's shoulder."

By this time, the parrot was so happy with the situation that it had jumped to my own wrist and was still drinking the nectar.  The father then said "Let's go.  I want to find  your own bird."  And he pulled the girl away while the parrot was still drinking.  But now the unhealthy little Lorikeet saw people arriving with new supplies and flew closer to the entrance to get what it needed.

And they all lived happily ever after,

My winter quarters

The Toronto public library system encompasses 100 libraries with 10 million volumes.  I constantly order books online which are sent from their home libraries to my neighbourhood one for pick-up.
However, the Central reference library is huge and holds books that cannot be lent or removed for any reason.  Hence, the book you want is always available and almost always is less marked up, covered in spilled and errant DNA samples than those that go home for a great deal of abuse.

Many books over 10 years old, are not held on open shelves. I always order them online before I leave home.  The books are collected from closed stacks and delivered to a 2nd floor station where I collect them, and then must read them in the library.  This is often onerous with a 300-800 page book and on the hard wood chairs in reading areas. Still it is air conditioned in the summer and gets one out of the house.

Over the past three years, the library - which dates from the late 60s -  has gone through something of a refreshment, and a bold and insane shifting around of every book and category in the place. The results are actually a welcome surprise and utterly practical.

I like the symmetry and angles which seem to the hills, valleys and detours of a natural woodland invaded by yard sticks and geometry gnomes.

Above, on the top left or sets of black units with blue tags on them.  They store periodicals and are motorized.  The press of a button moves each 18' set of shelves to the aisle you require.  The little squares on the bottom are tables on the main floor with a few humans seated. this was early morning and by 11 all the tables will be filled with far more humans.  In the right bottom corner, you can see rows of chairs along a bar table looking into the atrium.

Every floor has high speed computer access for laptops.  But behind those rows of books are reading  table and also dozens of fixed internet and research computers.

If you look at the top centre of this view, you can spot three chrome circles on the floor.  Inside of the circle are two comfortable chairs, and a table.  They are actually glass enclosed carrels that can be reserved for meetings, skype, or maybe a small family fight.  There are about 12 in the library and must have cost plenty as a donation plaque for the cost by some wealthy family is affixed to each one.

 Up at the big blue screen is where I pick up my reserved books.  I use a lot of 19th and 20th C. books and rare (delicate) books that are never on open shelves.
Below that on the main floor you can see a lot of computers - which need to be booked with a cardholder for a couple of hours at a time.  You can see another line of them on the steps - there are many more lines on risers.  There must be more than 100 in this area and probably nearly as many spread throughout the building.
On lower right - behind that table - is the stair down (and up too) the huge, comfortable and attractive newspaper room.  It is a favourite place for the homeless to sleep, wet their pants and discharge their  bed bug collections.  Due to the harsh summer heat and nasty winters, the homeless do frequent this otherwise fine structure - and amazingly those computers (how I don't know as you need a valid address to get a library card).

Of course, one sympathizes with their plights.  However, it evaporates pretty dang fast when you stand up from sitting on a hard chair (blond wood) and your pants are wet to your knees because the previous sitter urinated there before you sat.

The 5th (top) floor is almost entirely devoted to music, art, and theatre. On the left above you will see eight 20' rows of  musical scores from 18th C. to classical to jazz to Broadway.  They go on forever. Another huge section is all theatre plays, and larger than anything else, art and also fashion books.

At the far end is a new  heavy security, glass enclosed rare books, collections and delicate books room with many reading tables.  If I want to avoid people coughing (necessary for me) or urinating, or sleeping, I can retreat in there are they allow me to stay - usually I am alone or maybe one other person is there.  Somewhere behind there are a couple of grand pianos for practice.

In closing, I must mention that all these improvements were apparently approved before the infamous drunk and drug using pre-trump redneck Mayor Rob Ford came into office.  His campaign slogan was Stop the gravy train. Once in office, he found little to chop, and now that he is gone, many of the things he did chop need upgrades or repairs due to neglect.

But, being a genuinely ignorant redneck who probably never entered any library ever, the entire T.O. library system faced ruin.  He reminded one of Lisa and Bart Simpson riding their bikes past a building with the word library on a sign out front.  Lisa mentioned "books" and Bart said, "oh, so that's what they keep in there - books.  I always wondered what they were for."

But much to the credit of City council, the main library - at least - is actually better after the end of his tragic ( that is fatal ) terms.

Our Xmas tree 2016

...that stage was ended, then, finally, irretrievably ended; and, after all, now that it was over, it had cost very much less than I expected - it had been easy, natural, almost pleasant.  When one comes to think of it, all the critical moments of life are like that - the parting, the new venture, the unknown road, the shadowy corner - nothing is really so bad as we think it will be.  Some thing, some power, within ourselves or without, tempers the wind to the shorn lamb.  (sic)

...so far shalt thou go, and no farther...

...a truly formidable female, with cheeks like a map of Switzerland... ( refers to a woman teacher)


...discipline and sentiment are best preserved in separate compartments.

All from One man's road, Arthur Waugh 1931; father of Alec and Evelyn, and grandfather of the excellent writer Alexander Waugh, author of House of Wittgenstein

What does it all have to do with Mrs. Celine Cat,  Xmas 2016, or lillies ?  Nothing at all that I can grasp.  Just like so many things - nothing at all.  and yet, yet ...