Tag: Ventura County

Out Walking

Last night was the “super moon,” which I didn’t realize, until I went out to take some pictures with the Df and the Tokina 17mm. This morning, on my weekend perambulation, I took the Nikon V1 and the 6.7-13mm lens. Because I am hitting the Pacific Northwest in the near future, I am checking my cameras and lenses. If it weren’t for these cameras, I don’t think I would be “oot and aboot” as much as I am these days.

Last night, I was checking out the newest lens in the stable: the Tokina 17mm f3.5 AT-X Pro. I want a prime wide angle; research came across this one, and I found one on eBay that is very nice. I took this picture (below) with the Df and 17mm, using iso 1600! Turned out pretty good . . . the colors, though enhanced a bit, really did have this gentle glow.

Sunset Along the Trail

This next one is an HDR done from 5 images using the bracketing on the Df. Same lens. Bracketing is super easy to do – it sort of happened by accident, to tell you the truth. The moon is the little blob coming up over the crest of the hill. I really wish I had brought another lens with me to catch it. The moon was coming up while the sun was still going down.

Moonrise

This morning, a friend and I went to the other side of the mountains, just a few miles from our home town. Weird as it sounds, it was the sound of water that we found most attractive. California is in the middle of a drought at present, and since the first of the year, I think we may have had an inch or two or rain (like 5 cm!). Not much. So, the sight and sound of water in a creek is not the norm! Even the trail had a different smell, a bit more damp and not the herby, resinous smell I love along our local trails.

We leave around 7 in the morning, and head out. With hotter weather, it makes sense. It also adds a lot to the photos to be out so early. Here are pictures I took with the Nikon V1 and the Nikon 6.7-13mm lens, pushed a bit (or two much?) with HDR and other post-processing tricks.

The Sun is Up!

The funny thing about California, and the desert, is the temperature ranges which occur. Night can be chill – it was in the low 60s last night – but then it can easily change to over 90 by midday. As a result, you are cold in the shade, and too warm in the sun. We actually saw our breath as we started out along the trail! We were in a canyon, so the sun took its sweet time to lighten up the landscape.

Oak Trees at Sunrise

The contrast of light and shadow is so delightful in the early morning. And so different than the evening. Because we were along the creek, the scrub was dense, and so was the foliage. The light through the leaves was really beautiful. Eventually, we moved away from the creek, and found ourselves in a more typical (to my way of thinking) California landscape in the back country – grasslands and oak trees between scrubby hills.

The Living and the Fallen

A Spot of ShadeThis last one was a welcome spot on the way home . . .

An Excursion into My Backyard

I have lived in Ventura County for a long, long time, and have watched changes come about, as is inevitable.  Mostly it is the loss of open space and farm lands, with houses replacing fields.  Traffic congestion has gotten considerably worse.  Certainly we all see this.  However, there are some things which do change for the better.

One thing which has changed is our level of discrimination.  Overall, we recognize it as wrong.  Years ago, people of different races and religions were buried in sections of cemeteries reserved just for them; other times, the dead amongst given ethnic groups were refused the right to buried at all.  In Ventura County, and throughout much of California, Asians were denied access to cemeteries, public or private, and as a result, were forced to create their own.

The Japanese community was one group, and so they had a small one for their own community.  In 1908, out in the middle of nowhere, they laid their dead to rest.  Some were Christian, some probably Buddhist or Shinto.  Only a few years ago did the historical recognition come, and some funding to help rebuild the cemetery.  Throughout the past century, the Japanese community has maintained it, but over the years, vandalism and age have taken its toll.

I have long been coming to this cemetery.  It is small and mysterious, with stones with kanji only, others in English, and others with both.  Years ago, photographs were attached to some of the more grand stones, but these have disappeared with time.  Other markers were simple white posts with faded writing.

There is another cemetery nearby, only a few hundred feet up the road, and probably dating from the same time.  It, too, has fallen into disrepair, but nothing has been done to renovate it.  More than obviously, it was once a going concern, probably well maintained.  The layout shows this, with clearly marked concrete borders for family plots. There are more fancy headstones, yet none except one has any flowers in front of it.  Instead, there is litter and debris.

Interesting how differently two communities remember their members.

The Little Luxuries of Summer

I love simple food in the summertime.  Fresh vegetables, fruits, breads, grains, yogurt.  There is a richness in flavor that is best at this time of the year because the world is full and abundant.  Self-indulgence in these areas is not a bad thing.  And when one is recovering from a cold, and the mere thought of handling food or eating is not at all interesting, it is a good time to go out and buy unusual and wonderful things.  So I did . . . and ended up with:

  • yogurt from St. Benoit from Sonoma County, CA
  • Wensleydale cheese with blueberries
  • organic rolled oats for granola
  • a custom-made sandwich with, among the ingredients, red onion marmalade and arugula
  • Firestone Wookey Jack Black Rye IPA

I’ve never heard of St. Benoit, but did a bit of research on them, and think they are really onto something.  You can learn about St. Benoit and see what you think.  Dinner tonight was a bit of their yogurt, a nectarine, and chopped almonds.  Very satisfying.

I used to make my own yogurt.  I’m rather tempted to again.  Yogurt is especially good with granola, too.

And, at the moment, I am baking a batch of granola in the oven, as I love the crunch of granola and the sweetness of fruit for breakfast.  The biggest problem with most granolas is they are horribly sweet if boughten.  I prefer to make my own.   Formerly, for sweetness I chose real maple syrup, but my husband doesn’t much care for maple.  I don’t like sugar in granola.  One day I ended up with some agave syrup and a craving for granola, and used the syrup.  The result was a bit of sweetness without a maple flavor (I like maple, personally . . . ) nor the intense flavor brown sugar can give foods.

Granola Recipe

6 c. organic rolled oats
2 c. walnuts
1/2 c. dried cranberries
1 1/2 c. raisins
1/2 c. agave syrup
1/4 c. canola oil

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix together all ingredients in a dutch oven, and bake, stirring every 15 minutes, for about an hour, until toasted to your liking. Let cool to room temperature.

You can substitute or add whatever you want. This is what I had available.

Looking for Organic & Local

All this self-indulgence started making me look for what is around here in Ventura County.  Agriculture is a big industry in our county – the history of the county is tightly bound to raising crops, such as avocados, berries, citrus.  We have a couple of excellent producers of organic produce –  McGrath Family Farms and Underwood Family Farms are two with whom I am familiar.  I looked up local honey after reading about the potential that a lot of honey may be tainted and illegally imported.  Not a good thing.  Locally, it looks like we have a good source nearby at Bennett’s.  Meat is another issue.  We have free range beef from Watkins Cattle Company.

At heart, I’m a backyard farmer.  I would love to have the time to produce more of what we eat, but I have to work, and our backyard is too dark and shady at present for any real crops.  Instead, I try to support the local farmers rather than the large chain stores.  We also try to cook most of what we eat from scratch, but of course, not everything can be done this way.  When we go shopping, we never cease to be amazed at all the packaged foods people buy as the mainstay for their meals.  Our baskets are filled with very few boxes or frozen foods.

Kind of snobby, huh?  I guess I literally put my money where my mouth is.