St. John's Wort Relative?

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2010 jim otterstrom

This flower is blooming in a gas station planter next to the sidewalk we use to get into town. The plant is a low growing perennial shrub which appears to me to be some sort of commercial hybrid related to St. John's Wort.

The light was just perfect last Friday morning when I saw this beauty just begging to be photographed. I added watercolor brush effects in Photoshop.

A Mother With Her Nine Ducklings At Sunrise

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2010 jim otterstrom

Last Friday, shortly after sunrise, Peggy, Dallas, and I came across this family of Mallard Ducks gliding along beside the footbridge at Stanfield Marsh.

The dim early morning light required me to use a fast & rather grainy ISO setting of 400 to capture this moment which I later softened with a light touch of watercolor effects in Photoshop.

The results are beautiful to my eye, portraying the scene with an artful interpretation beyond what the photograph captured.

The Flowering of Earth Home Garden...

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2010 jim otterstrom

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2010 jim otterstrom

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2010 jim otterstrom

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2010 jim otterstrom

Saturday, June 19th, finds our native plant garden erupting with the local colors of summer. The above photos picture the flowering of penstemons, Indian Paintbrush, Blue Flax, and California Poppies.

Wild Blue Iris

Iris missouriensis

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2010 jim otterstrom

A Wild Blue Iris (Iris missouriensis) blooms near the shore of the Stanfield Marsh this morning.

I sometimes find myself blushing in the presence of such sensual beauty, so feminine in its expression.

I spent half an hour with this Iris today and that wasn't near long enough.

I laid down close to it, touched its soft tender petals, took in its delicate scent, and painted its graceful beauty into my memory. And then I photographed it to share with you.

Georgia O'Keefe was inspired by flowers like this to create some of her most passionate and controversial work.

I share Georgia's love for the passion and sensuality in nature, it's what drives evolution and the perpetuation of life.

~Long Live Sensuality, Passion, And Life~

Every Day Is Earth Day...

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2010 jim otterstrom

We came upon these two male Wood Ducks along the shore of Stanfield Marsh during our morning walk last Friday.

Peggy and I were loving the spring weather last week, working in the garden and the greenhouse, while today we are enjoying a brief return to winter with 4 inches of fluffy new snow on the ground.

Every drop of precipitation makes for a more bountiful spring as over 100 species of well established native perennials bring our wild garden back to life.

Today is just one of 365 days in which the year 2010 gives us the opportunity to celebrate the miracle of life on Earth.

~HAPPY EARTH DAY~

First Day Of Spring!

Procreation is in the air, and, the water...

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2010 jim otterstrom

During our first walk of spring today, Peggy, Dallas, and I came across this pool of Spotted Brown Trout trying to make it upstream to suitable spawning grounds.

We have seen trout in this pool before, during early spring of previous years, but it still takes my breath away when we come upon them.

These beauties were at least 14 to 16 inches in length.

Today is one of only two times during the year in which the day and the night are of equal length, and, once again, I bow in humble respect to the wonders of nature.

A Joyful Vernal Equinox to you!

In the First Gloaming of the New Year...

~From Our Deck~

January 1st, 2010 ~ 5:01 p.m.

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2010 jim otterstrom

The Sons of the Pioneers---back in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s---sang of Tumbling Tumbleweeds, Cool Clear Water, and Blue Shadows on Timber Trails, invoking harmonic poetic imagery which defined with great clarity the open prairies and rugged mountains of the Southern California I grew up in.

In several songs they also sang about, "The Gloaming", a term you don't hear much anymore which describes the light of the sky during those brief moments between day and night.

Nowadays we would usually think of that time as dusk, or twilight, but whenever I see a sky like this I am definitely, 'In The Gloaming', and I can hear those sweet cowboy harmonies ringing through eternity.

~A Joyful New Year To All~

Here Comes The Sun...

Solstice Eve Sunrise

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

Looking east from the frozen shore of Stanfield Marsh yesterday morning at 6:39.

Peggy and I are heading out with the dogs in a few minutes to see what our world looks like this morning, on the shortest day of the year.

Tomorrow the days begin lengthening again.

Hooray!!!

~HAPPY SOLSTICE~

My Best Eagle Photograph, or...

...what I did yesterday Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

This magnificent American Bald Eagle is a resident of the Moonridge Animal Park here in Big Bear. The eagle has been injured, is blind in its right eye, and can no longer survive in the wild.

My original photo has the plywood ceiling of the eagle enclosure as a background. I replaced that background with the actual color of a Big Bear sky from one of my other photos because I couldn't bear to continually look at such a gorgeous creature in captivity. So, I set the eagle free, at least in the Spirit of a Photograph.

It took me more than 5 hours of working in Photoshop, pixel by pixel, to redefine the feathered edges of the bird to my satisfaction, a chilly afternoon well spent if you ask me.

The original photo was made on the same August day in 2007 as the Turkey Vulture photo below, these birds are next door neighbors. The sky color was taken from the Red-Tailed Hawk photo below the Turkey Vulture.

Red-Tailed Hawk

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

Monday morning, during our walk along the shore of Stanfield Marsh, Peggy and I were privileged to catch this Red-Tailed Hawk on the dead tree where I've also photographed a Bald Eagle now & again. I've seen this bird here a few other times in the past couple of weeks but this is the best photo I've been able to get.

Goodbye Farmer's Market...

...until next year

Click on photos to enlarge © 2009 jim otterstrom

Yesterday was the final Tuesday for our Farmer's Market this season and the vendors won't be back up here until next Spring. We'll miss having this weekly produce market just a block and a half from our front door.

Our garden is done for the year too...
...goodbye sweet summer.

C'est la vie!

Alpine Pedal-Path Morning---Slightly Smoky

~Wildfire Smoke from Upstate~

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

For the past couple of mornings smoke has been blowing into the valley from the wildfires burning in the more northern parts of the state, near Santa Cruz, and Santa Maria, to name a couple of them.

We started off this morning intending to ride around the lake but breathing the smoke at our end of the lake (east) was already bothering us a bit, and when we saw how thick it was on the west side, over the dam and Fawnskin, we decided to alter our plan and ride the Alpine Pedal-Path along the North shore instead.

So, our near 20 mile planned ride turned out to be somewhere between 10 & 15 miles instead, but still very enjoyable, as you will see.

~Sagebrush Delight~

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

It seems that everything has it's benefits, the smoke from the fires made for a gently-muted light this morning, almost as if I had a light-diffusing color-saturating filter on my camera.

A Meadow Along The Bike Path
Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

We stopped for awhile by a little stream to contemplate the soft loveliness of a smoke-tinged light falling on this meadow, all the time acutely aware that the sources of this very smoke are causing great anxiety in other parts of California ( and I hope our friends in those parts are out of harms way).

Ancient Juniper - A Veteran Of Many Wildfires
Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

This Western Juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) along the bike path is probably somewhere between 500 to 1,000 years old, and possibly older, which means it has lived through many, many wildfires during its life, and, as raggedy as it looks at the base, it's still very much alive. One tough old tree!

Enjoy your day...

Today Is The First Day Of The Rest Of Your Life...

...How Did You Begin Yours?

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

Peggy and I have been sleeping on the deck, outside, under the stars, for the past few weeks. We wake up about 5 A.M. and have been alternating between long morning walks and bike rides around the lake.

This morning we left the house on our bikes, at 5:45, and found another beautiful sky waiting for us. We could see rain in the distance ahead of us so I stopped at Von's deli and asked for a plastic bag to put my camera in, just in case.

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

In the enlarged picture you can see rain falling over to the west of us, and, as we got over near Boulder Bay, the roads were wet but the rain had moved out ahead of us.

You may also notice a rainbow coming down through the clouds in the right side of the photo. It appears to be touching down near the Serrano Campground on the north shore, near the solar observatory, and sure enough, when we got over to the bike path that runs through the campground the ground was still wet.

Boulder Bay

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

As we rolled west the clouds moved to the horizon and blues skies opened above us.

Near The Dam, Looking Southeast
Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

Shortly after crossing the dam, and heading back eastward toward home, we stopped for a water break at this overlook.

A Couple Of Hours Later...
Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom
Tuesday is the day our local little Farmer's Market sets up shop, just 2 blocks from our house, so after our ride we leashed up Dallas and headed over to pick up some fresh produce.




Click on photos to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

All this fun and we were home before 9 A.M. looking forward to working in our own gardens.

~We Hope You Are Enjoying Your Day~

Peace & Love
Jim & Peg

Good Morning from Big Bear...

Four Photos From This Morning's Walk

Click on photos to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

The pictures speak for themselves, a sunrise walk to remember, bathed in gorgeous light.

Just Another Day...

5:49 A.M.

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

7:24 A.M.

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

7:47 This Morning.

LOOK MA! NO HANDS!

Click on photo to enlarge - ©2009 jim otterstrom

Peg and I enjoyed a nice relaxing 17 mile ride around Big Bear Lake on this perfectly beautiful summer morning.

The photo was taken on Highway 18, along the north shore beside Grout Bay as we approached the little town of Fawnskin.

And, no kids, I'm not really riding hands-free!

I stopped and had Peggy pass me while I took the picture. We left home at 6 A.M., stopping for pictures and a cup of coffee along the way, and rolled back in the front gate at 9:20 feeling refreshed and ready for a day in the garden.

This evening I'm planning on posting a bunch of photos from our recent Santa Barbara train/bicycle trip.

We were up there for 4 days visiting our friends Alver & Judyl.

June Twelfth Sunrise

Stanfield Marsh 5:54 A.M.

Click on photo to enlarge - ©2009 jim otterstrom

Morning dew and a dappled sky grace the marsh during our morning walk.

Echinocereus triglochidiatus

Click on photo to enlarge - ©2009 jim otterstrom

A Hedgehog Cactus flower photographed in the native plant garden yesterday.

Sky Blue Penstemon

Penstemon azureus

Click on image to enlarge - ©2009 jim otterstrom

Pentemon azureus, a native of California, is found in Yellow Pine forests and foothill woodlands from the Southern Sierra Nevada to the Oregon border at elevations between about 1,000 and 8,000 feet.

It is one of the few plants in our native garden that is not actually native to Big Bear but we couldn't resist those beautiful blue flowers. Ours came from Bert and Penny, at Las Pilitas native plant nursery, the good people who supply our local Hunter's Nursery with native plants.

As you can see, I'm still having fun with my pictures in Photoshop.

Year 'Round Resident?

9:30 This Morning

Click on image to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

This mature Bald Eagle posed patiently for Dallas and I this morning on the dead tree perch at the east end of the Stanfield Marsh and I saw a juvenile perched in the same place just over a week ago.

Bald Eagles are usually just winter visitors here and I'm wondering if we might possibly be getting some year 'round residents.

An un-Photoshopped version of this photo was given to a local US Forest Service biologist for inclusion in the Bald Eagle slide presentation she shares with visiting youth groups.