It’s Been One Month …

May 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment

And, I love my job, I miss my friends and family, and I have started to explore my new home. Oh, and I can get a few places without the assistance of GPS.

Today, I participated in a MeetUp group loosely affiliated with the Santa Clara Open Space Authority. We explored a recently purchased property for the Authority in Coyote Valley. It was a beautiful sunny day with just the right about of wind to keep us cool while we walked.

I learned a few things today:

  1. The official California state rock is serpentine.
  2. There are Juniper’s growing in the hills here that doesn’t really belong.
  3. Cow pies really smell!
  4. Cows don’t have blue eyes, contrary to David’s belief.
  5. Coyote Valley has some of the country’s oldest oak trees.

Here’s a few of my favorite photos from today. You can see them all in my Flickr stream.

A view up the valley

 

A look through the top of the Oak tree.

Filed Under: My Neighborhood, Take A Moment Tagged With: , ,

A Grand Adventure

April 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment

If you had asked me three months ago where I would be, I would have said the following:

“In a new job somewhere in Orange County, Calif. Somewhere that I can use my skills in marketing communications.”

No where in that statement does it say, living in Northern California. Yes, it’s true. I made a move and now live and work in the San Jose area. My new job is with a fantastic company that is interested in utilizing my full skill set and values my thoughts and opinions.

So aside from a few new things in my vernacular, what do I need to know about Northern California? Here’s what I do know …

  1. Traffic is AMAZING, especially when you can take side streets to work.
  2. People here don’t put “the” in front of the freeway number.
  3. It’s much colder than down south. My twos have never been so froze.
  4. Just about everything is 20 minutes away.
Filed Under: My Neighborhood Tagged With:

A New Perspective

January 23, 2012 By Leave a Comment

This weekend, David and I went to the park at the top of Signal Hill. We’ve been there dozens of times, but this time we parked on the opposite side from usual and walked. What we saw was a quiet, cute neighborhood, and several memorials and sculptures the neither of us knew were there.

By getting out of the car and walking, we both noticed things we wouldn’t normally have seen. The new perspective forced us to be part of the experience and be present. Below are some of the new things we noticed, and some of the scenery. The light was fantastic.

The Unity Monument dedicated to the victims of 9/11.

An image of the sky on Sun., Jan. 22 looking North West.

Sculpture titled, "A Tribute to the Roughnecks." That's Bruce on the right and Jerry on the left.

So, what did you do over the weekend? Did you explore your neighborhood? What did you find?

Filed Under: My Neighborhood, Take A Moment Tagged With: ,

Lifes Moments Captured

October 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I paused for a moment on the fourth floor of the parking structure at Cal state Fullerton. The colors really made me take a moment and marvel at the world.

Filed Under: Take A Moment Tagged With: , ,

Stop and Explore Your Neighborhood

October 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Today, I stopped near the Long Beach, Calif. airport at one of the many Boeing buildings. I paused, because on the corner of Lakewood Blvd. and Carson there is a Veteran Memorial dedicated by the employees of McDonnel Douglas Corporation. This circular memorial of black rock, surrounded by tall palm trees does a beautiful job of blending the work done in Long Beach on war planes with the history of each war fought from World War II through the first Gulf War.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve driven past this corner in the last three years or so, but today I took a moment to observe and remember.

Inside the Veterans Memorial.

Outside the Veterans Memorial.

What did you learn the last time you stopped to explore in your own neighborhood?

Filed Under: My Neighborhood Tagged With: , , ,