the salton sea

jake and i made a trek out to the salton sea in december of last year at the behest of mdr and beccs. true to their word, this abandoned lake is truly one of the strangest places i have ever been.


in the 1960's some entrepeneurs envisioned the salton sea as the las vegas of california and began building the yacht club on the north shore and other attractions. roadways were developed around the lake to accomodate for the anticipated construction boom. what no one took into consideration was the dangerously high salinity of the lake and the fact that within just a couple of years, the lake would cease to sustain life. compounding the problem, large quantities of silt and polluted run-off from the adjacent coachella agricultural valley began flooding into the salton sea, making the lake, once teeming with wildlife, a stinky, inhospitable cess pool.

















today, the planned neighborhood roadways built decades ago are crumbling and lead nowhere.





the lake emanates a repugnant sulphuric odor and the white beaches are merely the bones of fish and shells, bleached by the unforgiving desert sun.








once waterfront properties have sunk into the primordial sludge and float ethereally on newly formed lagoons. seagulls take to the skies in droves and wade in the shallows, their interminable squawking the only noise breaking up the hush that has settled over the valley. the place is full of ghosts and is undeniably creepy.



there are some permanent residents who call the salton sea home. they are an interesting mix of meth manufacturers, migrant families that work in the nearby date palm fields, retirees who scoot gleefully around in their golf carts while visiting each other's trailers and some middle aged folks who own large trucks and speed boats, decorate their lawns with plastic sunflower windmills and glare suspiciously at 'out of towners' wearing black rubber boots with tripods in tow.



while we never made it all the way to the yacht club (which once boasted a huge cowboy statue whose head tumbled to the ground and therefore made for some great pictures), we were entirely satisfied with our very strange afternoon at the lake. the visit can pretty much be summed up by the helpful gas station attendant who said, "i don't know why you'd wanna go out there now...ain't nothin there. but i heard that back in its day, the salton sea was really somethin".

san diego retrospective...

while i have an enormous cache of san diego photos, these were a few from 2005 that jumped out at me this evening. there will be more. that, i promise you...

coronado








the backside of the legendary california theater in downtown san diego, now in grave disrepair


belmont park

the delta...

cob and i embarked on a brief afternoon exploration by car of the delta while visiting friends and family in the central valley after one of my doctor's appointments. at jim's behest, we ventured out to ryde and locke, towns that nestle up precariously on the levee of the delta's many water ways, about 40 minutes northwest from downtown stockton.

while tiny downtown locke hasn't changed much in the last 90 years or so, some of the original buildings that were erected in 1912 by chinese immigrants are still standing today, although most have been converted into art galleries and curio shops.


one of three original buildings, now a chinese restaurant, it was once the locke saloon











the building designs harken back to the times of wooden plank boardwalks and shuddered facades to keep the sweltering delta heat at bay. while most of the buildings have been given temporary facelifts via recently applied coats of paint, many of them sway and lean somewhat dangerously with age.



















i couldn't help but be mesmerized by the feel of california history evident in this tiny cross-section of the delta. i laughed to myself remembering that my 4th grade visit to old town sacramento was not nearly as compelling as my crush on jay epenbach who i openly flirted with through every musty, historical exhibit we visited.





on our way home, we met some goats. you can imagine how happy this made me.

anza borrego springs

last december, jake and i went for a spontaneous drive out to anza borrego to take pictures of the desert. we intended on making it all the way to the salton sea, but not realizing how long it would take us to get there (we took the route through Julian and stopped for a leisurely latte and their unbelievable doughnuts), we got over the mountain just in time to capture the fading light of the golden hour as it deepened the desert's colors before giving way to dusk.

del enjoyed this adventure as much as we did, but he was pretty bummed on all the stickers that i had to pull out of his paws with pliers. they were the gnarliest stickers i've ever seen...the size of lichi fruit and very lethal. he took it all in stride, however.

we also came home with a dutch apple pie from the infamous Julian PIE Company. i don't think i need to tell you that it was unbelievably good, so much so that we did not share with the neighbors.

you probably think i'm crazy

in my effort to be sophisticated and have 2 blogs (because 2 blogs is obviously better than 1), i have managed to completely confuse myself. initially only wanting a photo blog, i started color and texture when in india last year. but after returning home, i realized that i wanted another blog to write all manner of random things that quite simply, tickle my fancy for various reasons. thus, bits & pieces was born. but then i discovered that therein lies much crossover and so i started posting photo/random stories on each blog lest the reader miss something (i.e. my birthday cake posting which contained both photos of MA's amazing food, my mother's delicious cake and my narrative).

i'm going to do my best to keep them separate, so you just have to promise me that you (my trusted reader) will endeavor to visit both sites if you so choose. i, in turn, will promise to keep you entertained, or at least i shall try mightily. finally, i hereby declare that this shall be the last double posting in the hopes that you will cease asking yourself, "didn't i read this already?"

i may get older, but the cake gets sweeter...

MA was ever the gracious host of this year's carmel birthday, where we (MA, the bird...aka mom, and the birthday girl) proceeded to enjoy some fine champagne and all of MA's delicious fare.




MA's delicious mustard-heirloom tomato tart


bird's "bestest girlfriend" (and bird)



my birthday cake is somewhat of an awesome feat of tradition. my mother has so far made 32 of the most perfect carrot cakes ever created for me, and only me. while many people have begged her to make the cake for them, she steadfastly refuses (get your own cake!!!).

she has used the same bundt pan every single year, the same pan that as a child, seemed to weigh about a thousand pounds because it's the real deal. she NEVER uses said bundt pan for any other, let alone anyone else's cake.

the cake is moist on the inside and chewy around the edges and the frosting is perfect, tangy cream cheese with a hint of lemon. the sprinkles are ideally multi-colored as pictured here, but in a pinch, silver balls will do fine.

last year, there was a bit of carrot cake panic as the original recipe went missing. on a yellowing index card the ingredients are listed and instructions detailed in the admirable penmanship of my mother's 16-year old hand. the card had always lived in her recipe box until the previous year when she made the cake at my house. i treasured that card until i was forced against my will to give it back.

i look forward to this cake for the better part of each year, as do the many friends who have been fortunate enough to share it with me. some have even enjoyed it fedex'ed when time and space kept me and the bird apart.

thanks MA for the hospitality as always. and thanks birdy for always making me my special cake.

and to everyone else, get in line!