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Mosaic Mural in Redlands - Judith Sparhawk

This shows a mosaic mural on the side of Chase Bank in Redlands. Before being Chase, it was Home Saving and Loan, and the mural was designed and created by the Millard Sheets Studio. It is Redlands-specific, with the left image showing our famous Morey Mansion; the second shows our citrus industry at work, with background images of some Victorian homes, the Redlands Bowl, our public library, and the mission bell tower; the right image shows the memorial chapel tower on the University of Redlands campus. The Sheets Studio created this style of mosaic mural for numerous Home Savings buildings in area towns, all of them showing the history and iconic places from each town. Home Savings was in existence for over 100 years, but was bought out in 1994. Chase Bank is supposed to be moving out of the building, which brings up the question of what will happen to this beautiful artwork. 10/22/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

Sunset Magic - Judith Sparhawk

I was revisiting my pics from my Arizona trip in August, and ran across this great sunset. I've chosen it for the cover of of the book I'm working on, and realized I had never posted it. Have to love those monsoon skies in the Arizona summers! 10/21/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

Wherefore Art Thou Romeo? - Judith Sparhawk

The last from my Redlands Photowalk series, this lovely window detail from the building that was once the Redlands City Hall. This ornate window and balcony is just too nice for a civic building--it looks like a good spot for Juliet to be standing, looking for her Romeo. 10/20/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

Pooh & Owl - Judith Sparhawk

Here is one of the other windows in the Children's Reading Room at the public library in Redlands. It was fun seeing what the children see when there. I remember all the happy hours I spent in the library as a child, as I was an avid reader from age 4 when I taught myself to read, all the way to today. 10/19/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

The Big Yellow House

Redlands has quite a few large old homes left from the early days. On the day of the Photowalk I went by this one, which I call the big yellow house. When I was editing the shot from that day, my crazy mind started thinking of ways to use the house in my "Cat Series", which I have been gradually adding to over the last couple of years. So, just for fun, I spent quite a lot of time with it today, inviting the neighborhood cats to come for a visit, so to speak. They seemed to have a good time exploring the house! ;-) 10/18/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

The Old Fox Theater - Judith Sparhawk

Continuing on the Redlands Photowalk, this is the old historic Fox movie theater, now an event venue, and a favorite place for weddings. It's pretty impressive to see the new Mr. & Mrs.'s names up on the marquee for the theater-themed weddings. The building has been beautifully restored in recent years. 10/17/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

Some Pig! - Judith Sparhawk

On the Redlands Photowalk, I went into the library, and in the children's room, found several stained glass windows. One of my favorites was this, depicting Wilbur the pig and Charlotte, the spider, from the book "Charlotte's Web". So this is for all of us that laughed and cried ourselves through that children's book. 10/16/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

Smiley Face -- Judith Sparhawk

One of the places I went on the Redlands Camera Club Photowalk the other day, was the A.K. Smiley Public Library. Near the main entrance is this pillar, part of the entry archway, which has 4 sides with faces on it, with different expressions on each side. The title Smiley Face is a play on words, as the library was built by the Smiley Brothers and given to the town in 1894, 2 years before our camera club was started. It is a large and beautiful building, but is difficult to do justice to it in photographs. This limited view shows several of its architectural details. 10/15/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

Setting Free the Birds - Judith Sparhawk

My camera club celebrated its 125th year anniversary this year (yes, since 1896!) with a Redlands Photo Walk. Of course I've photographed Redlands for a good 25 -30 years, but I wanted to participate, so looked for places I could shoot newly, or new places I'd not shot before. This one that I call "Setting Free the Birds", was actually in honor of 9/11, and was installed by the building that was the original City Hall (now the police department), in the adjoining park, on 9/11/2002. The sculptor was Lawrence Noble. I liked including some of the architectural details with the sculpture. 10/14/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

The Last Sunset - Judith Sparhawk

As the Morro Bay vacation was coming to a close, we went to dinner at a place in the north end of town. As I walked out of the restaurant, this was the view from the porch. I grabbed my camera from the car, and caught a few shots of the sun as it slipped below the horizon and into the sea. It seemed like a fitting ending to a great trip. 10/13/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

Surfing the Rainbow - Judith Sparhawk

The morning I spent at Morro Rock, on the surf side, when the waves were wild and crazy, I took way too many shots of the waves and surfers. This was one, with a trace of a rainbow in the spray of the wave. I don't think the rainbow shows up much here--I was disappointed I hadn't captured it was well as I'd thought. Still, I liked the huge wave and the quite skillful surfer. 10/12/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

Moonrise Over Morro Bay - Judith Sparhawk

While staying in Morro Bay last month, one night after dinner we went down to The Rock to see the Sea Otters at the end of the day. An almost full moon rose while the sky was still pink; I took several shot of it, walking along the shore line, watching it rise. By the time I was walking back, the pink was almost gone, replaced by the darkening blue of twilight, with gathering mist. Once it got this high, it created silver reflections in the water. It was a magical time. 10/11/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

At the Seashore - Judith Sparhawk

One day at the beach in Morro Bay I was noticing the interesting textures in the sand by the water's edge. While shooting the sand, I noticed these two darling little girls on the beach. They seemed to be having so much fun, going into and out of the water--I couldn't resist trying to capture the moment. 10/10/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

Passion Flower - Judith Sparhawk

When I was walking around in the small community of Harmony, I noticed several blooms on a Passion Flower vine. I've always liked this plant, so couldn't resist a few shots--the blooms always look so other-worldly. 10/9/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

Sunset at Morro Rock - Judith Sparhawk

I know I already posted one shot of The Rock in Morro Bay, CA, but it was a morning shot. This is from sunset one of the days I spent there. I left my dinner at a wharfside restaurant, to go out to get a few pics of the setting sun. I then returned to finish up dinner. I liked the pastel color of this sunset--some others were brighter and more dramatic, but this one was quiet and peaceful. ** This image was selected as winner of Photo Of The Day by Imaging Resources website for today, 10/8/21 ** www.sparhawkphotography.com

Jumping for Joy! - Judith Sparhawk

Here's a smile for you! When driving up and down the coastal highway, I stopped in the small community of Harmony, CA, population 18. There are a few artistic businesses there, a winery, and Harmony Valley Creamery, maker of wonderful ice cream. This jumping cow is nearby the creamery. I wondered about the jumping cow, and looked on their website. They refer to the Swedish custom of Kosslapp, which is celebrating when the cows are finally let out of the barn after a long cold winter, when the cows jump around joyfully to be free in the fields. This was such an unexpected find, and definitely made me smile. I hope it does the same for you all. 10/7/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

Love Locks - Judith Sparhawk

When hiking around Ragged Point, at one of the lookout points over the ocean, a cyclone fence surrounded the point, and many people had put locks on the fence, similar to those placed on the bridge over the Seine in Paris, a romantic statement. My shots of the many locks didn't look like much, but I liked the colors of this pair of heart shaped locks. (I cloned out the names, but left the dates.) I suspect that the resort at Ragged Point is a romantic getaway for many couples who wish to leave a symbol of their love at this beautiful place. 10/6/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

Ragged Point - Judith Sparhawk

44 miles north of Morro Bay on Highway 1, is Ragged Point, a beautiful stop. This image is the view from the resort there--perhaps the name of the place came from the ragged edge of coast, looking northward. This place is just enough farther north that the geography changed, the road became more curvy, the cypress trees looked different, more like the famous area of Big Sur, 50 miles further north. Ragged Point was as far as we drove that day (a friend had once seen a California Condor perched in a tree there). I didn't really expect a condor, but you can bet I looked for one, just in case! 10/5/21 www.sparhawkphotograpy.com

Tule Elk Herd - Judith Sparhawk

While driving north up the coast on California Highway 1, I was surprised to see this small herd of elk., well off the road. While I watched, the male was active in rounding up a few of the cows that had wandered a bit too far. He was bugling his requests, and the "girls" hurried back to the herd. Tule Elk only occur in California, in the central valley and coastal grasslands. It is estimated that there are about 4,000 in existence today. When Europeans first arrived here, there were about 500,000; by 1870 it was believed that they had been extirpated. However, in 1875 one breeding pair was discovered, and they have gradually made their way back. It was wonderful to see them , one bull elk with his harem and young. This image is only part of the small herd I observed that day. 10/4/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

The Dudes - Judith Sparhawk

Driving north on coastal California's famous Highway 1, a bit beyond San Simeon, is Piedras Blanca Beach, home to hundreds of Elephant Seals. When we stopped there recently we did not see any of the biggest male seals with their very protruberant noses, but there were some of the young males "practice fighting", while many female and young napped on the beach. This image is of two of those young "dudes" threatening each other at the shoreline. 10/3/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

Singing California Thrasher - Judith Sparhawk

One of the birds my sister from New Mexico had wanted for her California list was California Thrasher. On the coastal trip we had looked at some likely places, to no avail. On the way back from Montano de Oro, we stopped at the Elfin Forest in Los Osos. When we parked the car I could hear this bird singing its heart out--we only had to walk a few steps up the trail to see him perched atop this bush. He continued to sing on and on, giving lots of chances for his portrait, and was still singing as we drove away. One of our better, or at least easier, bird sightings! 10/2/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

Black Oystercatcher - Judith Sparhawk

While hiking out at Montano de Oro, looking out over the cliffs above the sea, I spotted this Black Oystercatcher. It was using it long orange bill to probe around in the rock crevices, and came out with this yummy shellfish of some kind. He walked over to a spot, used his bill to open the shell, and ate the contents. He repeated the process a few times while I watched. All I can say is thank heavens for the bright orange bill, to help spot him on the rocks. 10/1/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

Montano de Oro - Judith Sparhawk

One of my favorite things to do when visiting in the Morro Bay area, is a hike out on Montano de Oro State Park, on the bluffs above the water. Below the bluffs are eroded cliffs and beaches, crashing waves, tidepools, birds. There are several miles of trails, all with wonderful views. When I first started out it was foggy and gray, but the sun came out part way on the hike, bringing out the colors in the water and cliffs. 9/30/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com