Fascinating | Worth Viewing
The extraordinary final test to become a Shaolin master | Sacred Wonders – BBC #Fascinating #Shaolin #KungFu
A few select shots from morning walks at the refuge –
Great Egrets Gather.
All pictures taken by Joel Bornzin on Iphone 8 #nofilter.
The Art of Restoration
My favorite house in Los Angeles has been fully restored!
For many years when I lived at Sunset and Normandie this incredible home was on my evening walking route in the Los Feliz hills. The home had fallen into disrepair and it was looking run down and sad.
It was featured in many films inc. Bladerunner and it was the The House on Haunted Hill.
Very happy to see the full restoration. Only 23 million, that’s all you’ll need. Love this house!
I was down in Los Angeles for a recent vacation and we hiked into Joshua Tree National Park for an overnight backpacking trip. These pictures were shot on an iPhone 8 (not 8 Plus) and no filters we’re used (or animals harmed) for these photos in the making of this adventure. All shots are todo natural. You cannot go wrong when such incredible beauty is surrounding you…all you have to do it point and shoot!
We hiked the Boy Scout Trail to Willow Hole and the Wonderland of Rocks area.
The trail starts up into a rocky valley, which you have to hike into, and then up and over (about 1000 foot elevation gain) to gain the expansive valley floor of Joshua Tree park (where the actual Joshua Tree’s start to manifest). It’s a beautiful, relatively moderate hike, and it starts here –
When you get high enough on the ridge, the view towards Yucca Valley and Twenty-Nine Palms starts to open up –
When you get up and over the ridge, the park opens up to a otherworldly land of Joshua Tree’s as far as you can see –
There’s also a view in the distance of Mt. San Gorgonio, the highest mountain in Southern California at 11,503 feet elevation. It’s called “Old Greyback” for a reason and is the highest mountain going out towards Palm Springs (on the left if you are on the 10 Freeway). Center of photo –
This is what the trail looks like. It wasn’t too hot on the desert valley floor (about 72-74 degrees or so). The sun was hot though, since there is no shade at all.
There were incredibly majestic Joshua Tree’s all around us, as far as you can see –
“The name Joshua Tree is commonly said to have been given by a group of Mormon settlers crossing the Mojave Desert in the mid-19th century: The tree’s role in guiding them through the desert combined with its unique shape reminded them of a biblical story in which Joshua keeps his hands reached out for an extended period of time in order to guide the Israelites in their conquest of Canaan” – Wikipedia reference cited here.
The desert was in bloom with many beautiful flowers and signs of life – lots of flowers everywhere!
And a barrel cactus too –
We saw lots of wildlife. Desert cottontail rabbits, hundreds of ant hills, a RED western rattlesnake (look really close in the picture) and two desert tortoises (we kept our distance). The desert felt healthy and alive. We also heard coyote’s howling in the distance in the evening. A bit unnerving however, still a welcome and joyous sound in the desert.
We hiked into the Wonderland of Rocks area and there were massive ancient rock formations everywhere. It was like a Flintstones world. I felt as though a Pterodactyl was going to fly up over the rocks any moment…seriously.
The shadows were getting longer as evening in the desert came on –
Shadows Getting Longer
Home for the night –
I felt this was the evening’s best picture of a Joshua Tree that I was able to capture. I was really pleased with the way that it came out. My personal favorite – no filter.
The sun can be an oppressive force, so I was pretty well screened up with desert hat, white long sleeves, and sunscreen on my face (I like the Badger brand right now)….and lots of water. We packed 11 liters between us for two days.
When we were driving back there were some ominous looking clouds (sort of reminded me of like Ghostbusters) gathering over Mt. San Jacinto.
Rebuilding
I thought this was an interesting share-worthy read
– https://www.cnn.com/style/article/notre-dame-restoration-gothic-cathedral/index.html
Be Happy
….there are small ways to improve any job, and those incremental improvements can add up to major increases in job satisfaction.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/07/smarter-living/how-to-be-happier-at-work.html
April 6th. Merle.
