Dan's Outside

I go, I see, I do, I walk, I think, I like…

Time for a Photograph

I just noticed that there are no photographs on this home page – that doesn’t happen very often, so here is a recent photograph.


Bird Rock and Winter Surf, Dusk. Point Lobos State Reserve, California. December 30, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

(A reminder: Photographs are posted daily at my photography web site.)

January 27, 2008 Posted by | Commentary, Ocean | Comments Off on Time for a Photograph

Dare We Hope?

Last year’s rainy season in California was a bust. Precipitation was half of normal in many areas of the state and much lower than that in many parts of southern California. Last April I returned from Death Valley and drove home up the east side of the Sierra on Highway 395 – in early April it looked like mid-summer already with almost no snow left. By late summer parts of the southern Sierra were as parched as I’ve ever seen them.

This season started out with some surprise early season rain and snow storms – I saw snow several times during October visits to the eastern Sierra. But then the tap was shut off and it looked like we were heading into a second drought year.

During the past few weeks things have really turned around. First, the early January “storm of the decade” dropped a lot of rain and snow all over California. Since that time the wet weather has continued almost unabated. It has rained much of the past week, it is raining today, and it promises to remain cold and damp for the rest of the week.

Maybe, just maybe we’ll have something like a normal season this year? Spring flowers? Desert flowers in April? Sierra wildflowers throughout July? I’m becoming more optimistic!

January 27, 2008 Posted by | Commentary | 3 Comments