February Showers Bring Santa Monica Flowers

It's the second or third straight day of rain in Santa Monica and this is December weather!  When the rain went from cold shower to drizzle, I took the opportunity to do my daily (sort of) walk-about.  I noticed that blossoms have started popping all over despite the still-cool temperatures!  

I don't know the name of most of these lovely plants but I am delighted by them just the same. 

Yellow flowers seem to trumpet their beauty.

Blossoming jade plant.

Even Birds of Paradise have bad hair days when it rains. 

Then there's this adventurous blossom, first on the tree to show its delicate pink, happy face.

I just love the flora and fauna of Santa Monica.  It's never dull and I am always charmed by the surprise of newly opened flowers or cactus blooms.

It's like Spring only without the Spring temperatures.  

I don't know what this is but it's wonderfully fragrant. 

This handsome, regal cactus has an about-to-blossom red bulb where a flower will soon peek through.

A wild and wonderful orange-red plant, dripping in rain. 

Santa Monica Rain

Roiling grey-black clouds

Paints macadam-like bottoms

`cross blue-sky canvas.

Rain clouds. 

Storm's here.

Walking Santa Monica

Today, I saw two interesting things during my almost-daily walk-about in Santa Monica: coins in cement and a big blue angel.  I'm somewhat aware of the story behind the big blue angel but not the coins in cement.

The big blue angel is actually a human-size sculpture that, I believe, was created as part of the 2000-2001 "Community of Angels" art project that sponsored the creation and placement of hundreds if not thousands of angels -- each one with a unique theme and name -- all over the City of Angels. 

This angel currently lives outside Santa Monica's  Angels Attic on Colorado and 5th St. 

The basic angel shape was pretty much the same although some had halos, tin man bodies or other minor variations but each was "dressed" by different artists.  There are several of these angel sculptures around Santa Monica.  I have yet to find the name of this angel (close up it looks like it's covered in mostly blue marbles).  As I recall, after the art project was officially over, many of the statues were auctioned off and moved to various locations around the Los Angeles basin.  The book, "A Community of Angeles: Los Angeles" is a photographic history of the project and its resulting angels.  Several web sites offer photos of some of these truly wonderful and imaginative angel sculptures.

Then, there are the five coins in cement.  I would never have noticed them except I happen to have stopped right by them to contemplate the state of my untied shoe.

Five coins (top to bottom, left of center) cemented into the sidewalk along Wilshire Blvd., between 11th and 12th.

I would have had to get on my hands and knees to get a really good look (and photo) of the coins but from my vantage point, they appear to be five U.S. coins that were pushed into wet cement. The coins appear to be (from curb to store front): penny, penny, nickel, penny, dime.  One wonders about the story behind the eighteen cents. 

Today in Santa Monica

I'm so lucky.  Truly lucky.  I live in Santa Monica, CA, and I LOVE where I live in Santa Monica.  To be honest, I hate how the traffic has become horrendous and dangerous because the Santa Monica City Council did not plan well for the tremendous building growth the Planning Committee has allowed -- and I hate all the ugly "industrial" high-rises the Santa Monica Architectural Review Board has inexplicably approved -- but I love living in Santa Monica.  I live just under one mile from the beautiful Pacific Ocean.  I can (and do) walk to the grocery store, dry cleaners, deli, drug store, local tavern with 2 pool tables (I just learned to play), bank, post office, Coffee Tea and Bean (or as I like to call it, "Coffee, Tea and Me") and every specialty boutique shop you can imagine.


Today as I walked to the bank, deli and grocery store, I took iPhone pics to share a little of why I love living in and walking around Santa Monica. 

Lovely pups waiting for their pack leaders to pick them up from "Healthy Spot".  

Local tavern, PJ's Sports Bar & Grill,  with 2 dart boards, 2 pool tables, jukebox, a grill and full bar.  

For the longest time I just called this place, "the bar on the corner of 11th and Wilshire"; its signage is relatively small and they have no web site -- yet it manages to do a brisk business. It's just a neighborhood tavern in the middle of Santa Monica!

This is my dream "store" 

where some of the most wonderful classic cars are shown (and sold) -- and then there's...

this wonderful red truck with palm tree reflections in the window. 

More little Santa Monica surprises to follow.