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Palomar Mountain Camping with Cub Scouts

Large granite boulders at the Palomar Observatory Campground where the cub scouts camped.
Large granite boulders at the Palomar Observatory Campground where the cub scouts camped.

Boulder pile

A pile of boulders in the campground was the highlight of a Palomar Mountain Cub Scout camping trip.  A visit to the observatory and walking about some gorgeous forest already made it a great event.  The kids spent hours inventing all kinds of things to do.  They ran, they climbed, they built, they organized themselves, they jumped, they threw, they danced, they even ate.  This was despite all kinds of other fun things planned for them, like making Halloween creatures and walking around the mountain, to whittling and axe and knife throwing.  Safely, no fingers lost or even nicked.  We did lose a knife in the leaves or branches somewhere.  Someday an archeologist will find it.

Large granite boulders at the Palomar Campground where the cub scouts camped.
Large granite boulders the Cub Scouts played on while Palomar Mountain Camping.

Palomar Mountain Observatory Campground

While Palomar Mountain was the backdrop, it doesn’t look that much different from other camping spots we’ve visited.  The bathrooms are primitive, but maybe slightly nicer than other campgrounds we’ve visited.  It’s still sleeping in a tent on the ground, which isn’t that bad if you layer your mats properly (crate-style on top of inflatable).  The camp-created food is fairly simple, but quite tasty.  To allow everyone to leave faster, we canceled breakfast on Sunday so we only had camp-stove coffee, which was still better than the diner where we eventually ate.

My favorite cub scout building something behind this massive rock.
My favorite cub scout building something behind this massive rock.

Independence for kids

Perhaps the boulder pile’s appeal was the independence it gave the kids.  The adults shooed the kids away from the pile during meals and after dusk, but otherwise the kids could do mostly what they wanted.  In the rocks, there was no constructed activity and little adult guidance.  The kids were essentially on their own while still closely watched by the adults.  The scouts were so engaged, the adults didn’t go forward with some of the additional activities originally planned.  

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Letting kids learn despite the risk

Usually, the parents manage the scouts closely to keep them occupied and safe.  Of course, parents keep track of their kids in an effort to bring them whole and safe to adulthood.  And the boulders did create risk: someone could’ve fallen and even broken bones.  There were scrapes and splinters. It was an opportunity to let them just be themselves and find their own organization.  As important as getting the kids safely to adulthood is letting them figure out what person they are and what they are able to do.  Letting them be their own people in their own society teaches them things they can’t learn anywhere else.  That is worth the risk of a broken bone.

Ily and Max singing on the hill.
Ily and Max making silly.

Unmanaged time

The spontaneous exuberance of the kids when left to their own devices is a benefit of unmanaged time.  It’s tough to do regularly, so it’s great when we can!

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San Diego County Fair color in a new way

Gondola ride with layers of pink.
I gave the swings in front of the ferris wheel a vintage feel.
I gave the swings in front of the ferris wheel a vintage feel.

Swings and Ferris Wheel “hand-colored”

The original images from the San Diego County fair were pretty flat so I had to look at it a new way with strong color being my favorite.  So I tried a painted black and white look on the swings.  This is based on the hand-colored black and white images photographers used before printing papers were readily available with dyes for true color.  Photoshop can recreate the look – of course!  While I like the resulting image, it was too soft and painterly for this subject.  The fair was a loud, crowded and pretty raucous place to visit, especially on the midway, so it seemed to need a more intense approach.  I increased the color saturation until the color popped and added dense grain.  This created a slightly gritty vintage look that suited the subject matter and I was happy with it.

Bright county fair color improved the mood of the ferris wheel image.
Bright county fair color improved the mood of the ferris wheel image.

Ferris Wheel and rides to purple

The next image I worked on was the ferris wheel.  Interesting shape and I liked the American flag, but it was flat with the grey sky.  At this point, I just started playing to find something different.  I intended initially to just color the sky, but I accidentally masked the background instead of the foreground.   I can never remember which is masked for some reason, which is easy to fix by just inverting the selection.  This put color over the subject which I really liked!  It muted the flag, but it is such a strong subject that still shines through the color.  So I combined my happy accident with the original bright color background for this electric color image.  I really liked the almost pop-art flatness and the sort of disco over-the-top-color.

I combined the bright color and the grain in the swings.
I combined the bright color and the grain in the swings.

Swings to pink

The next experiment in county fair color was the swings. It had strong lines, but the color was flat and the random bits behind the swings didn’t contribute to the composition.  Removing them was an option so I started to mask everything but the swing itself.  I didn’t remove the background items after laying color over them, liking the layered effect. The lines really come through and as a bonus, it emphasized the interactions of the people on the swings.

Gondola ride with layers of pink.
Gondola ride with layers of pink.

Gondola ride to pink

After the success of the swings, I used a similar approach for the gondola ride passing a large inflatable (not entirely sure what that thing was…).  I used split toning and layer blending for the different parts of the image.  By treating them differently, it made the foreground different than the mid-ground.  The color over the background created further separation.  I also liked the slight fringing in the people’s hair that made an interesting purplish halo.  And the banding of light to shadow on the inflatable made it look substantial, like a small mountain.

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Green leaves on swing ride with flags

The next two images had less-clearly defined subjects so I couldn’t take the same approach.  I considered abandoning these two, especially since these were more difficult to mask.  The flags and chains had a very complex outline.  Stubbornly, I continue to play with different approaches.  I used various blend modes on different portions with a variety of grain and texture additions for the leafy ride with the flags.  This created a more subtle sense of depth with enough inherent crazy county fair color to hold its own against the saturated background.

Layers of discordant color around the Daytona driving ride are unified through amplifying the original county fair color story.
Layers of discordant color around the Daytona driving ride are unified through amplifying the original county fair color story.

Daytona ride

The Daytona ride also didn’t have enough sky to be separated from the background.  I thought about leaving the sky unedited, as there was enough color in the subject.  The out-of-focus background created a blurry edge which was quite tricky to mask.  I tried coloring the sky though and it was better.  I had to continue…  To separate the foreground from the mid-ground, I used different textures and blend modes.  The end result has been growing on me.

Spiral swing has altered county fair color, texture and patterns to capture the frenetic atmosphere of the day.
Spiral swing has altered county fair color, texture and patterns to capture the frenetic atmosphere of the day.

Spiral Swing

The last experiment almost didn’t happen.  I loved the image but, again, not the sky and just started playing with it.  Unfortunately, the deep depth of field meant a variety of focus levels.  So the sharper portions were easier to mask, the more out-of-focus quite a bit harder.  I almost gave up.  I ended up using overlays when I couldn’t get the masks as good as I wanted.  But I wanted to add the layers in the image and keep the exaggerated, augmented color.  So this image brought out my perfectionism and took a huge time investment.  I’m just glad I could finish it.

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County Fair fun for kids

Little girl is helped from the carousel by her mother.
Little boy shooting hoops at the county fair.
The county fair fun includes games that are addictive and hard to win. This basketball game is no exception.

County fair fun and games

“I want to play  basketball! It’s my sport!  I can do it.  It’s easy!  Not sure why I keep missing… I just need to make a basket.”

”I want a snack.  Can I have popcorn?  Is there chocolate?  I really like chocolate.  Look — chocolate cookies!  With sprinkles”

”They have Star Wars hats!  And Pokémon!”

“Can I get a princess cape?  Or a purse?  Maybe a backpack.  It goes with my earmuffs and my shoes.”

The county fair fun has a beautifully detailed and atmospheric carousel.
The county fair fun includes a beautifully detailed and atmospheric carousel.

What to ride at the county fair

”The cars are my favorite. Will you go with me?  Or the train.  That’s my favorite too.  Look! The carousel — I love the horses.  Maybe there’s a unicorn.  If there’s a unicorn, I want to ride it!”

“What ride can I ride?  Is there a maze?  Maybe a slide.  I don’t know if I like the slide.  My leg hurts from the slide last time.  What’s that spinning ride?  Is it scary?  I don’t know what ride I want to go on.  Not the rollercoaster.  That looks too scary.  I didn’t like the Ferris wheel last time.  Oh I can’t decide.  Definitely not the roller coaster.”

Little girl is helped from the carousel by her mother after a county fair fun ride.
After riding the carousel, it is time to leave to the immediate requests to “do it again.”

”I want to do the bungy jumpie.  There’s the bungy jumpy!  We can wait!”

“I could ride the cat.  Or the leopard.  There’s even a dragon.  It doesn’t go up and down though.  It’s better when it goes up and down.  The horse with the flag!  Or the roses!”

 

"Unicorn popcorn": multicolored candy popcorn frozen by nitroglycerin.
The theme at the county fair was candy and the unique food items were unicorn themed. This was “unicorn popcorn”: multicolored candy popcorn frozen by nitroglycerin.

Nitro popcorn

“I see rainbow-colored popcorn!  Is it on fire?  It’s smoking!  Why does the popcorn do that?”

”Unicorn popcorn?  Do unicorns eat popcorn?”

”Can we buy a unicorn?  I always wanted a unicorn.  Or an otter.”

”Is it almost lunchtime?  Are we eating here?  I want to eat here.  The popcorn was really good.  I’m hungry.  Maybe we can get a snack? I like hot dogs.  Can we get strawberries?  And some candy.  Unicorn candy to go with the unicorn popcorn!”

”I want a hamburger.  No cheese.  No mustard or onions or pickles or tomatoes.  I don’t want any salad.  Strawberries are good. Or pears. Or watermelon.  But not that other melon.  I like oranges and apples too.  Can you cut them up?”

A slice of county fair fun for kids: enjoying the carousel in altered color.
A slice of county fair fun for kids: enjoying the carousel in altered color.
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Altered color on Santa Margarita Road

A spreading coast live oak in enhanced color.
Filing cabinets in extra saturated colors tumble down the hill near Santa Margarita Road., color altered and saturated to bring out the texture.
Filing cabinets tumble down the hill near Santa Margarita Road.

Less altered color

These are rusting filing cabinets — I’m pretty sure — in a tumbled pile in a hidden ravine next to the dirt Santa Margarita Road. Likely they arrived when a supply person reasoned this was the easiest way to get rid of the old furniture.  An office furniture-knowledgeable person may be able to more definitively identify the metal’s past life and maybe how long they’ve been there.  It’s hard to know because rust comes quickly despite the relative lack of rain here.  It is regularly damp from dew and fog.  Coast live oaks are in the backdrop with some cactus. All this adds to the “texture” in this area of wilderness.

Because of this texture, I initially thought to make this a black and white image to best capture the variety of plants and the shapes of the branches but the red of the rust played well with the tones in the grasses especially when I toned down the inherent goldness.  The increased green-yellow of the cactus then balances the increased red.

Coast live oaks near Santa Margarita Rd in enhanced and altered color.
Coast live oaks near Santa Margarita Rd in enhanced and altered color.

Enhancing and shifting the colors already there

These oaks were originally black and white as well.  The grove is full of majestic, large trees with many dead branches, likely due to years of drought.  The branches give the trees an ethereal look with a lot of movement and texture, just calling for black and white.  I did try it and liked it, but gave it a fresh look when I reviewed my edits.  After enhancing the shadow color of the branches, the cyan/aquas just stood out.  After that, it was just a matter of determining what the rest of the image needed.  I desaturated the color almost to black and white, leaving some green and adding back tones to the grass to keep from being too stark.

A spreading coast live oak in altered color.
A spreading coast live oak in altered color.

‪Evolution of the image

This oak was also originally black and white as the shapes and textures were great but there was little color.  When I returned to adjust the tones, I started from scratch.  After playing with it, I discovered the shadows were much improved in purple.  The green leaves didn’t work so I desaturated them and emphasized the shadows to deep blue.  I brought back the warmness of the grasses in places to keep it from being too stark, and kept some of the golden leaves for some hits of a complimentary color.

As I was working on this image, I thought about Danny, my brother-in-law.  He was diagnosed with lung cancer three years prior and lost his fight the day before.  I continue to be surprised when I realize I will not speak with him again.  After 30 years in the Navy, he is returning to sea.  This tree for me, with it’s cool and peaceful shade provided a resting place for him to prepare for this last journey.  I will share Nate’s comments about his relationship with his brother in another post.

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Purpleness of Beets

The purpleness of beets in simulated motion.
The purpleness of beets is astounding and my favorite feature.
The purpleness of beets is astounding and my favorite feature.

Purpleness of beets

Perhaps strangely, my favorite thing about beets is that they are purple.  Besides that it is my favorite color, the intensity of the color and the flavor I like. The purpleness of beets might be what I like most, perhaps odd considering they are food. But they “taste purple” if that is possible, and purple makes me happy.  So while I like golden beets, I really prefer the richness of the purple ones.

Gorgeous purpleness of beets highlighted by acid green new leaves.
Gorgeous purpleness of beets highlighted by acid green new leaves.

Healthy too

I’ve read beets are really good for you.  Like any fruit or vegetable, they have fiber, antioxidants and vitamins. Beyond these benefits, beets lower blood pressure, improve brain function by increasing blood flow, fight fat accumulation in the liver, and improve endurance.  Great for triathletes.  I don’t need another reason to eat one of my favorite vegetables.  I’ll still happily take better health and more endurance as an excuse to add more purple into my life.

The purpleness of beets in simulated motion.
The purpleness of beets in simulated motion.

How to cook beets

The purpleness of beets is best appreciated by preparing them yourself instead of opening a can.  Although, I have found a few sellers of some very nice pickled beets available (Pernicious Pickling is one.)  However, throwing them into a hot oven for an hour after wrapping clean beets in foil is really easy.  Once baked until soft, I toss them into the fridge, pulling them out, to peel and sliced as needed.  I combine with other tasty things depending on what I have.  Tomatoes are another favorite, especially since they don’t mind a bit of purple dye.  Green things, especially if they don’t pick up the purple are good too: celery, green onions.  Also bits of meat for a whole meal.

A bit more work is to cut each root into smallish slices, roll in melted butter with salt and pepper and spread on a sheet.  Put into a 350 degree oven (ish is in effect — hotter won’t hurt but just need to watch more closely).  They’ll go about 30-40 minutes before slightly browned around the edges and softened through.  Turn them at least once for the reward of slightly caramelized sweetness tempered by the salt and pepper.  I based this on a Cooks Illustrated recipe for squash which apparently works with other vegetables too.

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Conversations between Kids on the Swings

Flying high on the swings.
Conversations between kids while chatting and twisting the swings.
Kids chatting and twisting the swings.

Playground conversations between kids captured in kid-attracting sunlit candy tones.

Recent conversations between kids while playing at the park.

“Is that a dog?  I like dogs.  But I like cats better.  Especially our cat.  He’s so cute!”

“I think it is a dog.  Maybe it’s a coyote.  Do you think it’s a coyote?  Don’t they look like dogs?”

“Maybe it’s a horse.  We see lots of horses.”

“It’s because of the stables.”

“I like the trails and the hills.  Mostly the flowers.  And the butterflies.”

“I found some cool rocks.  Think we can polish them?  Also, I have a really good stick.  I want to save it but not inside.  Do coyotes like sticks as much as dogs do?”

 

Conversations between kids while also teaching how to twist the swings.
Conversations between Kids while also teaching how to twist the swings.

Discussing the best swinger

“I’m the champion swing twister in my school.  In my class at least.  This is how I do it.  You have to twist like this and then it goes for a really long time.”

“I like twisting too.  The swings on our playground are different and don’t twist as well.  Matthew twisted himself into the swings and fell down and didn’t even cry.  Then we had to go back inside so I didn’t try it and then I collected sand toys later.”

“Usually this works for a really long time.  I think these swings are different. But I still like swinging.  And the trails.  Maybe we can go to the pool later.  And have some ice cream.  We still have ice cream, right?  Ice cream is my favorite dessert.”

Conversations between kids: how many ways to use the swings?
More conversations between kids: how many ways to use the swings?

Conversations about Numbers and dogs

“I’m good at lots of things at school.  I’m really good at reading but my favorite subject is math.”
“Yeah, me too.  I’m good at math.  1 plus 4 is …. 5.  3 plus 5 is … 7.  No, wait — it’s 8.”

“Yeah well, I can multiply.  I like multiplying by 5.  It’s really easy.”

“I haven’t learned that yet.  But I can draw cats really well.  Especially smiling cats.  They like jumping.  And sleeping.”

“I still think we should get a dog.  I would walk it every day.  Maybe twice a day.  Or some fish.  Could we take the dog to the pool?  Dogs like to swim?  I’m a really good swimmer.  I’m faster than Josh.  Sometimes I run faster than he does too.  And I can build ninjas with legos better.  And faster.  Maybe we could build a city later.  And a car and an airplane.  Something cool that looks like a robot.”

“I’ll make a kitty to ride in the car.  Who is purple and can drive.”

 

Flying high on the swings.
Flying high on the swings.

Gatorade and Popsicles

“I’m higher than the house!  Higher than the whole world!”

“When do we go home?  It’s hot and I want to read my book.”

“I’m so high I’m in the sky!”

“I’m tired of drinking water.  Can I have some Gatorade when we get home?  I hope we have the orange kind.”

“I’m too high!  I need to get down!”

“That’s my favorite Gatorade.  The blue kind.  Also blue Popsicles.  No actually, the orange ones.”

“Thanks for getting me down.  I love swinging so high.  I was so high I could see the clouds and the bees.”

“Maybe I’ll have a blue Popsicle and orange Gatorade.”

“I like pink Gatorade.  No, pink lemolade.  Do we have lemolade?”

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Santa Margarita Road

Small boulder next to the dirt road in the Santa Margarita river basin.

Santa Margarita Road Turn-around Point

Santa Margarita Road starts out as a paved road, becoming a dirt road spur, then a trail before disappearing completely.  The map doesn’t differentiate this progression which might explain all the traffic we saw recently.  Also, a turn-off onto the dry riverbed appeared recently closed.  The drivers of the four-wheel drives may have been used to making their way through the area in the past.  This day they drove in and soon after drove back out, the drivers looking apologetic.  Further on, several trucks passed us although the road was rocky and washed away in parts.

We encountered a pick-up truck turning around in this section.  The driver asked if we’d seen his dog.  We heard the dog later but didn’t see him.  Hopefully that meant they found each other, especially since we didn’t see the dog wandering around later.

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Shadows across the Santa Margarita Road

Shadows dapple the road not because the trees had lost their leaves in autumn.  They are oaks with lots of dead branches.  Otherwise, they looked quite healthy, just wild and unpruned.  Perhaps this is typical of live coast oak in drought conditions.  What this means to the health of the trees or the forest is unclear.  The dead branches did make photogenic patterns.

 

Black and white image of shadows across Santa Margarita Road.
Shadows across the Santa Margarita Road.

Small Boulder on Santa Margarita Road

More obstacles on the road that didn’t deter the truck traffic.  Honestly a very small boulder but visually arresting and something for little ones to practice their balance.  The terrain was just ragged enough to keep us on the road and amplified the impact of everything located on it.  The boulder was now a real point of interest for the kids, both having to jump on it walking each direction.

Black and white image of a small boulder next to Santa Margarita Road in the Santa Margarita river basin.
Small boulder next to Santa Margarita Road in the Santa Margarita river basin.

 

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Cooking with Sand is Serious Business

Kids sorting the tools for cooking and building with sand.
Kids cooking with sand and building sand structures on the beach.
Kids cooking with sand and building sand structures on the beach.

How to cook with sand

The business of cooking with sand is serious, especially when done on the beach.  It involves various textures of sand (wet, dry, part wet, really really wet, not so wet, was wet a few minutes ago).  Sometimes, it also needs some water and a variety of containers.  Container color is important and can show what ingredient goes in it.  The red one holds pepper; yellow, salt; green either thyme or basil depending on the dish and the smaller ones contain sugar, maple syrup and ketchup.  The order of adding ingredients also makes a difference, especially considering the texture of sand (see previous list).  Wet on dry tends to make soup while dry on wet is more likely a cake.  The actual result is always at the discretion of the chef, of course.

Kids sorting the tools for building and cooking with sand.
Kids sorting the tools for building and cooking with sand.

Keeping things running

Keeping track of all the materials and tools required constant attention and was a full-time job for at least one of the kids.  Particularly the water.  One child fetched water regularly if there wasn’t an adult doing it.  This was quite exhausting, since water gets heavy the further from the waves it gets.  Even lightening with spillage, the beach is wide and there was a ways to go before reaching the kitchen.

 

A bit of shade in the beach sun.
A bit of shade in the beach sun.

Rest in the Shade

After a long day building and cooking, it was time for a drink of cool water and a break from the summer sun in the shade.  The kids took periodic breaks as the day became quite warm.  It was hot even, further away from the water.  A snack was very welcome too, especially one that was cool and nicely frozen.  It’s too bad their creations weren’t edible or they could’ve designed their own treats!

 

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Buda Palace views

Kids enthralled by the Buda Palace views from the plaza.
Kids enthralled by the Buda Palace views from the plaza.

Buda Palace Views

The kids were fascinated by the Buda Palace views of the Danube River from the hillside in the oldest part of Budapest.  This included anyone else visiting as well, some from around the world.  It was honestly hard to look away.  Most significantly, the river was beautiful and there were views of a variety of buildings from many eras.  An expert could’ve created an architectural history lesson easily from where we were standing.

We also had other great views such as the cafes down one terrace and the rest of the castle structure wrapped around the hill studded periodically with statues.  Part of this view included the Citadel at the peak of the hill. The funicular was just below like an up-hill train. We also saw a changing of the guard and several mounted groups ride by.  Parliament and St. Stephen’s Basilica were prominent on the Pest side of the river.

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Variety in the Rebuilding

As we walked around Buda Palace, we entered a courtyard of the palace showing the layers of rebuilding over its history in the various materials.  This variety starts with the earliest, roughest Gothic stone, transitions to Renaissance brick, then baroque-style recent at the highest point.  Also, there are modern rust-textured metal stairs from the last few years.  It looked like there were several areas under construction adding even more new things to see in the future.

 

Buda Palace viewed in a "postcard" style.

Buda Palace viewed in a “postcard” style.

Postcard views

This is a postcard view of the palace from the Elizabeth Bridge.  It is a gorgeous walk across any of the bridges from the relatively “newer” Pest side to the older Buda side.  The views are of boats, historical buildings and hillsides on the Buda side of the city.  It is also wonderfully breezy down the river giving a break from the summer heat.

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Playing in the water

Two little girls play together in the water
Two little girls play together in the water

The kids spend a lot of time playing in the water whenever we are at the beach.  Shade is also great when we have it.  The sand gets really HOT so the feet don’t like to spend a lot of time in it.  The sand doesn’t look very dark, but apparently it is dark enough to soak up some sun.  This makes the sand feel like a fresh-from-the-oven cookie sheet.  Which is actually kind of nice in small doses to warm up from the cold water.  In late summer, the water is almost a perfect temperature for those not expecting tropical temperatures and we played in it for hours.

At Del Mar Beach, the waves are reliable and can have some serious push — and pull– behind them.  The surfers and boogie boarders love this of course, but it is also great for the body boarders. Just bouncing around in the water is great fun while also a nice workout.  Even standing in the waves is some work, although not too hard.  This makes it feel like you did something active even without completing a “real” workout.

Two boogie boarders seek the perfect wave playing in the water.
Two boogie boarders seek the perfect wave playing in the water.