Picture of the Day - Museum Fire at Dusk

Museum Fire outside Flagstaff, AZ, after sunset tonight. *Update: 1,927 acres at 12% containment but no growth. Photo courtesy of Jeremy Perez (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Quartzy Whale Vert

Today I went fossil-collecting at Field #2 in Templeton and found this petrified whale vertebra that is highly silicated. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Dan's Ghost Dance

Tonight I attended an outdoor birthday party for my friend Donnie. It had a distinct Big Sur Jade Festival vibe to it and like the Jade Festival it featured my other friend Dan The Man doing his hilarious but sincere cultural appropriation of Native American culture dancing around a nocturnal fire in a quasi-ecsatic state partly helped along by the White Man's firewater. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Noyes Rd

Today I visited the South County Regional Center in Arroyo Grande late this morning to meet with the organizers of the upcoming inaugural"Gems by the Sea" Gem & Jewelry Show at that venue September 7-8, 2019. This was my first time looking at the venue and I advised the organizers of things they need to do and offered my help. We are behind the curve on this but it will be what it will be. On the way home I wended my way through the backways of A.G. and existed Oak Park/Noyes Road. For the side streets I used Google Maps on my iPhone-8 and left it on even after getting on Oak Park just to see what was around me on the map. At one point I noticed I was between Noyes Rd identifiers and had to screencapture it. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - McMillan Fire Aerial View

In closing out my discussion of my unexpectedly exciting chase of the 1,764-acre McMillan Fire a few days ago, above is an aerial image of the entire fire area as viewed from Air Attack 340 out of Paso Robles Air Attack Base. At bottom left is the roadside rest area along Highway 46 from which I shot half of my video and still images. Photo by Cal Fire (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Yesterday's Haul

This morning I organized my finds from yesterday's expedition to the Gaviota Coast. I found 46 pieces of petrified whale bone at two beaches we visited (I gave three away as samples to other's I met at the beach) and 3 pieces of petrified wood. Some of the whale vertabra I found are some of the most beautiful such I have ever found. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Straight Rainbow

Today I worked Day Two of the wine club pickup party at Le Cuvier Winery outside Paso Robles on the West Side and espied this unusual (to me) flat-ish rainbow to my north over San Miguel, CA. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Halcon Road Washout 2019

Today I drove mom down to Halcon Road in rural Atascadero to check out the annual washout of this unpaved road for our first time this year although this washout occurred last month. This roadbed normally washes out here in Winters of average to above-average rainfall which is to say it hasn't washed out much this decade. The clouds from the approaching next storm are visible in the background. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved)

Picture of the Day - Post-Storm #3

Today I decided to sneak onto one of my favorite rockhounding spots (#3) in Templeton and see what I could find after the recent rains washed away more soil but after things had dried enough to walk on the dirt. It was almost too muddy to be there but I did find two pieces of Miocene-era petrified whale bone and a gorgeous brecciated jasper with agate fill which I plan to have Galen polish for me. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Lava Lamp and Rocki

Today I pulled my old giant lava lamp (last fired it up in 2009) out of storage. By the grace of God I found a light bulb (100W R-20) which I still had which used to be in it). After much cleaning up the base and bottle, I fired it up. Tonight I captured this scene as my feline friend and I enjoyed the new ambiance in our living space. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Zombie Apocalypse PSA

Today at Atascadero High School, I encountered this poster on the door to the staff restroom adjacent to the Student Health Center. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - CAL FIRE Aerodrome

I found this Google Earth image on Twitter tonight. It shows numerous CAL FIRE aerial assets parked on the tarmac at an unidentified airfield. In this image we see six of CALFIRE's 23 Grumman S-2T 1,200 gallon airtankers and 10 of its 14 OV-10A airtactical aircraft (air attack planes).
Image courtesy of Google Earth (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Mark Is #1

So there is a new safety webcam on my alley.... to test how vigilant is my Slumlord Sauron and his All-Seeing Eye, at a random moment I visually let him know he is #1 in my book, which he summarily captured for posterity. Image courtesy of Slumlord Sauron a.k.a. Mark (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - XXXIII-Year Chip

Earlier this evening I attended an an "open" (as in non-alcoholics are welcome) speaker's meeting (A.A.) in Atascadero. The older fella (66 years old) sitting next to me was wearing his most sentimentally important chips, including his latest chip (33-year chip) in a cool custom badge-like epaulet on his road bike jacket. I christen him "Jerry Garcia" and he served in Vietnam nearly getting himself killed more than once as an army truck driver. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved)

Picture of the Day - Crystal Gayle

Tonight at the event I worked I had the distinct privilege of watching Crystal Gayle and her sister Petty Sue perform at a private birthday party of a prominent local person.
Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Easter Cajun Omelot

This morning en route walking to the downtown park in Paso Robles, I revisited a spot at which I enjoyed a shrimp cocktail & 3-mimosa for lunch yesterday. Since then I plotted this morning's breakfast strategy and indulged in a pre-Easter Sunday service breakfast at Spring Seafood Bar & Grill. Their Cajun Omelot is cheap at $14 given what it is. I took my orange juice straight today. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Model A Downtown

While walking along the periphery of the downtown park in Paso Robles today, I chanced upon this functioning museum specimen, a Ford Model A (1927-31). Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Marlyn Moonroe

Today I felt lost with what's happening in my family and needed to reboot my mind by leaving town and heading south to San Luis Obispo for a couple of hours. I had my breakfast/lunch/dinner combo in the form of the sampler plate at Mo's Barbecue Steakhouse, my first such visit. I also visited BooBoo Records and Phoenix Books, although I purchased nothing. On my walk back to my car as I passed along the south side of the SLO REP, I espied one of the Cow Parade cow statues on permanent display. I do not recall seeing this one before which made it an added treat. As some of you may or may not recall, I worked both the public display event for the Cow Parade at the Madonna Inn in September, 2016, and the private auction of the cow statues at Oyster Ridge Barn outside Santa Margarita.

Picture of the Day - Haile's Rare Pepe

Today I subbed at Atascadero High School. Two of my students from last year's student teaching experience were in study hall. Haile began to draw the outline to Pepe the Frog, my all-time favorite meme. She remembered from last year when I revealed my Pepe-fetish to my classes and shared some of my favorite Rare Pepes. As she neared completion I handed her a green dry-erase marker to color in Pepe. She created a great Pepe image! Thanks, Haile! Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Twisted & Glazed

Today was a particularly fulfilling day for me as I experienced a number of minor successes in sharp contrast to how things have felt for quite some time. I also wanted to cheer myself up after suffering a big let-down when I visited Loved One this afternoon. After celebrating by grabbing a burger & shake at a downtown diner I took a walk to burn off some of those calories. I unexpectedly kept walking much further than I had originally intended. On the fly I elected to walk at sunset from my 15th Street address all the way down the main drag of Spring Street to First Street/Niblick Street and turn around and walk back on the opposite side of the street. I was waylaid in that endeavor just past 6th Street when I walked southbound on the southbound side of Spring Street in front of a specialty doughnut store at 521 Spring Street with the carb-ominous name "Twisted & Glazed". Previous to this and recently, my brother-by-another-mother Wibergman let me finish half of a doughnut he acquired from this place and I was impressed and noted to myself that I needed to visit the place. Of course, I then proceeded to forget all about it.... until earlier this evening. Somehow I got out of their with only three calorie grenades at $2.50 a pop. Yes, the one at left has bacon on it, the one at top has Fruity Pebbles cereal on it, and the onte at bottom right has wafers and chocolate and such on it. Note: I did not actually eat any of this tonight preferring a full pour of red wine and two Rum & Mexican Cokes for dessert and to numb my pain. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).