December 16 -- A Walk Around The South Coast Botanic Garden, And More Views Of LaLaLand

I had to get a blood test today, so I got an early start (well, I always do at 2:30am) and headed over to the South Bay Kaiser hospital, where I worked for 34 years, to be the first in line when the lab opened at 7am. The receptionist at check-in was very nice, but spoke so low that I thought I was going deaf, and like the episode of "Seinfeld" with the "low talker" I said yes before I understood what she was asking -- and I never did understand a few of her questions. (At least I didn't end up on The Today Show wearing a puffy shirt.) Once my number came up I went into the lab to give an armful of blood.  I sat down at the station, gave a cheery "Good Morning!" and the blood taker probably could care less where it was bad or good; she was a bit abrupt. I do my best to make people at least smile when I'm in a business situation, but she was having none of it. It probably didn't help when I wasn't listening to her directions. I had my right arm ready, with my sleeve rolled up, so stuck it out with the chair straight forward. I tried to swivel it to the left so I could rest my arm on the table -- and the chair wouldn't move. A new wrinkle; she herself operates the direction of the chair. I did move it, but she looked at me like a schoolteacher rebuking a bad student, and said "Don't move the chair -- I (with an emphasis on the "I") do that". Oops. She was another "low talker" -- or maybe I AM going deaf. She mumbled something, I said "what?" and she, with a look of "are you deaf?" on her face, repeated "Your name and date of birth?" Remembering back now, I think I just said my name, not my DOB. So she probably thought I was mentally slow, too.  (I should have told her I was a mental deficient as a result of working at Kaiser for 34 years, and good luck to her.)  Once I was done, I said "Merry Christmas!" and I could swear she cracked a hint of a smile. So the day began with a bang...

It was a fasting lab, so I had to skip breakfast until after I'd given blood. So....as my blood was drawn for a cholesterol check, and I was starving, how about a cholesterol-laden breakfast at Hot 'n Tot, "a local landmark since 1947"? It's not a greasy spoon, but pretty close to being one. It's now owned by Koreans, who tend to be a bit "abrupt", so she sternly yelled "Hold on, I'm busy!" as she had to seat me. (She did warm up later, even cracked a real smile -- which was more than the "blood vampire" did.) One seated, I looked at the breakfast specials -- ahhh, THIS is what I want!  2 eggs, hash browns, a biscuit, coffee -- and the best part, chicken fried steak slathered in gravy. My cholesterol count probably went off the charts after eating this... But it was good, and I haven't had chicken fried steak for years. Surprisingly, I didn't feel like I had a bowling ball in my stomach after eating this, so I comfortably went to the South Coast Botanic Garden. The Garden had been created on top of a former landfill; there are pipes dotting the landscape which vents out gasses from the decomposing trash underneath. It was originally thought that what was under the Garden would have an effect on nesting birds, but in recent years it has become known, at least locally, as somewhat of a "bird magnet". Many rarities have been seen there -- a Thick-billed Kingbird, usually seen only in SE Arizona, stuck around for a few months in 2009, and I "discovered" a Least Bell's Vireo a few years back, along with TWO Mississippi Kites, in 2007 and June of this year. So it's become one of those places where you never know that you might come across. The setting can be spectacular, especially in winter when the mountains in the background are topped with snow --

There are a variety of habitats there, from desert plants to pine "forest", so you can get a wide variety of birds. And it's well known for its resident hummingbirds, including Allen's; the Palos Verdes Peninsula, where the Garden is located, is somewhat isolated from the Los Angeles basin, so the birds stay here -- 

There's a paved road that circles around the Garden, and lots of dirt roads in the interior. Being a botanic garden, it's known mostly for its flora, and you can get pretty photos with blazing color; this is from a callery pear tree, which when blooming apparently smells like a dead fish -- 

There were some good raptors at the Garden today. Red-tailed hawk-- 

S-T-R-E-T-C-H --- 

The 2 resident adult Red-shouldered Hawks; here's one -- 

The Red-shouldereds in California are of the "elegans" subspecies, and are found only in CA. And, somewhat of a surprise, two Peregrine Falcons in the same eucalyptus tree -- 

I was at the Garden for about 2 hours and saw 19 bird species; not bad for winter there. Here's a Hermit Thrush in flattering light -- 

And I used the bird calls on my iPod Nano to bring out this House Wren; they're always responsive to the recorded call, probably because the aggressively defend their territory -- 

After the Garden I took the coast road winding along the Peninsula. It was a clear day, so I thought I'd get a few shots of the LA basin and looking up the coast. The Palos Verdes Peninsula can be quite scenic, especially when set against LaLaLand's packed urban landscape -- 

Even the LA basin has a natural beauty all its own. Notice I said NATURAL beauty; I've always wondered what it would look like, say, around the turn of the 20th century, with the LA River winding through the flat land that's ringed by 10,000-foot mountains. The Palos Verdes Peninsula is actually related to Catalina Island off the coast, as it used to be an island too. And it's obvious that it's isolated from the rest of the basin. So in a way, if one had to live in LaLaLand, this would probably be the most "rural" place to do it.  But the density, and urban-industrial landscape, always reminds me of the world of difference between this and the one person per square mile average at home, on the east side of the Chiricahuas -- 

Downtown, taken from the same vantage point as above with the 500mm lens

From the sea to the mountains

The "fabled" Hollywood Sign 

So after viewing the glut of packing houses, oil tank farms, and general urban sprawl, it's always a refreshing reminder to think of what is waiting for me back home -- 

And this scene is only 15 miles from Faranuf... 

And I'll leave you with this "thought of the day", contributed by my friend Debbie at the Wild Birds store here -- well, it's really from the inside of a bottle cap she gave me --

"In the state of Arizona, it is illegal for donkeys to sleep in bathtubs". 'Nuff said...