Excursion Day 2 - Balboa Park, San Diego

If you are reading this, then you've come back for more.

This is one of those pondering statements, not unlike that of the chicken and the egg or the whole time travel conundrum from...say...Terminator (the original and the best).

I mean, think about it - guy travels back in time to save the mother of the man who starts the revolution against the machines, BUT he ends up being the father! This stuff will make your head explode!

So, forget about time travel and chickens and eggs (although, an omelet would taste yummy about now...don't it? With cheese and onion and a bit of hot sauce....O.K....MOVING ON.)

Let's talk about Day 2 of my San Diego trip.

Our Friday Journey, Day 2, started here at the Spanish Art Village. I do love art, but wasn't in the mood to browse.

AND I wasn't allowed to take pictures of the really interesting pieces...Hawk Lady was watching.

The Art Center is in Balboa Park. Go there, Balboa Park that is...it is well worth any detour while in SoCal (Southern California for all y'all that don't live in my home state). You can look at the link, but really...just take my word for it.


Have you ever really looked closely at a flower? This is a bouganvilla, a lovely vine plant that has some wicked thorns. I love the whole idea of beauty with a bite. Getting up close makes you feel that you are staring into a face, a living being...it's pretty cool. Of course, if you have a naughty mind...then...well...you can use your imagination.


I just think this is pretty, the red & mud colors. I took this picture before I had any cocktails. Before the day became exhausting...so, my question to the universe is this....WHY THE HELL AM I SO FREAKING CROOKED? Keep your eyes peeled, you'll see that MANY of my photos are off kilter.

Perhaps a reflection of my personality?


I want this as a walkway leading up to my house. What does THAT say about my personality! (Rhetorical question, thus the lack of question mark.)


Cactus plants are infinite - far more so than some other 'flowering' plants. When you look at the core of these plants, there are layers upon layers, just waiting for their turn to bask in the sun. This plant, of which I know not the name or species or anything, reminds me of shark teeth - which are also somewhat infinite. A shark loses a tooth, one folds forward to replace it. This gorgeous 'flower' does the same - it pushes upward from the stem, the furthest (older) leaves folding down to make room for the new. It keeps going as long as it is nurtured by the sun and occasional watering. It really is rather glorious, don't you think?---not rhetorical, there is a question mark, so you can answer it if you like.
Your choice.
No pressure.
You think about it and I'm gonna move on, there are still lots of pictures left.


Topper to a chain link fence post. Not much to say other than...well...all fence post stoppers should be this whimsical and colorful. This just made me happy.

I have lots...LOTS...of pictures of buildings. I'm sparing you by only posting the photos that I think are worthy of blog real estate. You're welcome.


When my aunt first saw the figure, she said it looked like a man. That spurred a short conversation about the social status of women in the time period (think ancient Greece) that these figures would have been modeled after. Meaning, the models were men and not women. This building isn't from ancient Greece, the builder stuck to the spirit and created a masculine form with a more modern bosom - they certainly nailed the gravitational effect on a woman's anatomy.
This building has flowers in it. LOTS of flowers. I would have liked to take a picture of every one and then wallpapered my house with the photos. The roof is redwood, open to the elements (but it's San Diego...weather is nice ALL the time). The urge to skooch everyone out and have the whole place to myself was overwhelming - but I shared (you're welcome again). I want one of these in my back yard...to put next to the Sea Dragon from yesterdays post.

Following are flowers that reside inside the botanical building. The beauty inside is amazing and plentiful, I'm only showing a few of my favorites.





So, the last two pictures are unusual in that they are not 'flowery', but more bulbus and...um...worm-like. It is the unusual that makes these beautiful to me. The picture above is of roots that slither around the base of a tree - they just seemed to breathe...as if they are fauna instead of flora. It was amazing.

This is my favorite. Weird, right? It was the spider web that caught my attention...just lovely - delicate and enveloping. I love it.

Oh, it was hard. Really, really hard. This practically screamed "TOUCH ME, OH YEAH BABY!!" But I didn't, because I respect the rules necessary to protect these amazing living entities from stupid people who find it necessary to touch them to see if they are real. But damn...it was hard. Phooey.

This says it all...try it, you'll like it. Open mind, free heart. This isn't implying anything naughty...get your mind outta the gutter, honestly...(eye roll).

Wherever you go, look around corners. Hubby ventured around the side of a museum and found this...an old entrance. Original wood, original glass and the beautiful peeling, rusted paint of the bars. People walked through those doors...perhaps just years ago or perhaps decades ago. It is beautiful to me.
I wish I could have captured the true oxidized color, the age...locks are rarely this lovely.

So...how ya doing?
Need to take a break...maybe grab some coffee? Potty break?
S'ok...I'll wait.

Envision me sitting here, waiting for you to return. I'll have a lovely decorative Café Olé in hand (yes...I copied it from another site, cause I couldn't figure out how to add the accent marks...you are smart. What gave it away...the different font? Ya, you caught me...)

I like this close up even more:



As for this...don't ask, I don't know...it was strange, unusual and therefore begged me capture it and bring it to you.
As did this little fella...he was rather cute...
Sparkly, glittery crocodile climbing structure (the ground is really squishy to absorb the impact of children that slide off the slick glass-like structure). If you visit, bring band-aids.

Aw...the image I wanted to capture is too small. Reminiscent of a satyr it was rather creepy...sinister even, but Blogger made it too small (ahem...despite me saying LARGE image while downloading), so you may not get the full effect. Stoopit Blogger....

This archway is huge. Inside an organ sleeps, waiting to sing to the crowds that no doubt gather on warm breezy nights. The stage is amazing, I have more photos...on Picasa, but this one is the one that stole my heart.

I have this...um...thing, maybe a vertigo disorder of sorts...that makes it difficult for me to be under massive structures and look UP! I get very dizzy, like fall down dizzy. I HATE it. It just sort of sunk its claws in me and won't let go. It sucks...and it makes me angry. So, I took deep breaths, made sure I took a sturdy stance and then...pointed my camera up, took aim and click, click, click.

So, i just want to take a second to talk about this vertigo shit. I was NEVER afraid of heights (I crawled up buildings just to walk around on the roof when I was a kid). I could not get enough of fast, spinning, whirling rides. Bring. It. On. Baby.

Is that what did it? Did I whack out my equilibrium? Short out the section of my brain that controls balance (I took psychology, but who the hell remembers what side that is on)?

When you find the answers to those questions above, get back to me...will ya?


I'm going to leave you with one final image and one final idea.
When you look at this image, what do you see?

Want to know what I saw?

Aside from just 4 palms?

I saw a lone palm, defying the others, dancing to a boogy beat that only it could hear.

I kid you not.

That is exactly what popped into my head.

I'll leave you with that, at this...the end of Day 2.

Boogie on...to your own beat....Peace!