USS Benfold, Seal Beach, California

The USS Benfold, a guided-missile destroyer, was at the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station last weekend. The public was allowed a tour of the ship (top deck only) so I decided to go there but I ran into a long line of cars entering the parking area, then a long line of people going through the security checkpoint, and finally another long line to board the ship. I did not realize there are that many people interested in seeing an active-duty destroyer!

My step-nephew served onboard this destroyer for three years before he was given a permanent shore assignment.

The ship is capable of arming and refueling helicopters but it does not have a hangar to keep them.

This kid will be riped for recruitment after high school.

The Navy's secret weapon. One look and you are ready to surrender LOL.

Hurley US Open of Surfing, July 2009

Yesterday I went to Huntington Beach to take some pictures at the US open surfing competition which has been going on for several days already. When I got there, I found out that my subcompact camera is inadequate for the task because the surfers were too far out of its range. How the heck did I come up with the idea that I can take decent photos of surfers riding the waves with my tiny gadget? LOL. I dropped my plan and decided to head home but thought I might as well snap a few photos, here and there, before I hit the road.


These are serious photo enthusiasts. They were there very early to claim their spot and they were armed with cameras fitted with powerful zoom lenses.

Look at that zoom monster!

This is the south side of the pier were the competition was being held.

Same side, behind the grandstand, where the sponsors have their booths to showcase their products or services.

North side of the pier, where the beachgoers were just relaxing and taking in the sun, not caring a bit about the surfing competition.

I don't know what he was cooking on the griddle, it did not look appetizing but a long line of people waiting to get a bite of it do no agree with me.

This guy was not selling anything, he was just giving them away!

Another freebie

More free samples

Orange County Fair 2009

It's that time of the year when the county fair is here again. I can't help checking the place out at least once during its month long run. This morning was a bad day to come because the temperature was in the high eighties (deg. F.) My wife and I only stayed there less than a couple of hours then left with the plan to return in the evening. However, I found a more interesting thing to do the rest of the day - watch TV and go to sleep LOL. The fair visit will have to wait another day.

I pity the guy whose job is to tend the barbecue pit - the poor guy works under the sun and every so often endures the blast of heat from the pit to check the meat .

My favorite watering hole

I am in awe at what some photographers can do to make an ordinary subject looked extraordinary.

Snake!

I was looking at an assortment of old pictures stored in a cardboard box when I saw one of me taken by a buddy years ago when we were fishing at a lake in San Bernardino National Forest. He took the time to take this photo with a film-based Canon slr before he told me of the snake emerging slowly from a cave-like structure a few feet away!

We have been camping, hiking and fishing together for years and both of us do not have an unhealthy fear of snakes and other animals we encounter in the field, but I still did not appreciate the fact that he took his time to get the camera and took my picture before alerting me to the snake LOL. He instantly knew at first sight that it was a non-poisonous snake and I did, too, after I saw the snake but still........grrrrrr. If it were a rattlesnake, I would have taken off with my van and let him walk all the way to civilization, notwithstanding the fact that we both know that snakes do not act aggressively unless they felt threaten or their protected space is intruded upon.

Happy Fourth of July Everyone!

Grandchildren

I have three grandchildren, two of them live in the same city we do and a third one lives in San Francisco. The San Franciscan barely knows how to swim, while the other two are already well on their way to being good swimmers. Since they are already out of school for the summer, I thought I'll go ahead and have our grandchild from San Francisco spend a few weeks with us and have him enrolled at a swimming school. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately (not to my wallet though), the swimming classes within a convenient distance from our place were all filled up already, so we (my wife and I) decided to hire a private swimming instructor to teach him how to swim at our community pool.

The arrangement worked wonder for him. The one-on-one instruction was all he needed and within 8 consecutive sessions of 30 minutes duration, he was able to swim freestyle, backstroke and butterfly for six laps with a little rest in between!

At the end of the school year, my granddaughter earned a 4.0 gpa. She was also an elected member of their student council during the year. Her parents rewarded her for her accomplishments with a cell phone and my wife and I decided to take her out to dinner at a restaurant of her choice. We wanted to give a message to the two boys that they need to play less and attend to their school works more LOL.

We have been to this restaurant before but she and the boys always get a kick out of watching the cook perform his cooking wizardly in the process of preparing our food.

It is not uncommon in California to see a Mexican cook in a Japanese restaurant, but if you are after authentic Japanese cuisine, it is best to settle for a Japanese cook, preferably one trained in Japan LOL.

My other grandchild loves sport and he enjoys playing baseball, soccer, touch football and basketball. Sometimes I worry about him getting hurt because playmates of his age are bigger and taller than him. However, the supervising adults always emphasize sportsmanship, clean play and routinely downgrade the importance of winning as the ultimate goal in team competition.

When a player gets hurt, the game is temporarily stop and the players of both teams in the field sit or hunker down until the play resumes.

Winning and losing teams high five each other after the conclusion of the game.

The parents and fans traditionally welcome their players with a human triumphal arch, win or lose. This is so different during my time in Pinas. Most of the time, the team sport we participated in was only basketball - our uniforms were ragtag or shirt on and off to differentiate team members. The emphasis was on winning by whatever means and rough plays were not only condoned but encouraged. Maybe I am just talking about my experiences and what I observed during my time. I hope things have changed from "who won, to how the game was played and enjoyed by every participants."

Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, Huntington Beach

Bolsa Chica ecological reserve represents a victory of the environmentalists over the relentless effort of the developers to turn this area into a housing and business complex. A lot of work is still needed to be done in this reserve but it is coming along fine. The day I visited, the migratory birds were probably still on their way in or they already packed their bags and left for their seasonal destinations LOL. It was also low tide, so I did not see any fishermen trying their luck in areas where fishing is permitted. I saw a few bird watchers armed with binoculars and cameras fitted with powerful telephoto lenses but I did not see any subject of interest for them to photograph, at least while I was there.

This is one of the two entrances to the reserve.

A couple of bird watchers with their camera mounted on a tripod ready for any action

Just beyond the wooden bridge, there used to be a lot of active oil wells but they have all been plugged off and abandoned except for a few. The oil deposit underneath (Huntington Beach oil field) is almost depleted now but with modern technology they are still able to wash off the oil clinging to the oil sands and extract them.