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,