Without Lifting A Finger

Slept in till 6:30. Woke to this. The usual trek: Bucks, Lagoon, Back. *     



I figured the mountain peaks: Modjeska and Santiago should get one more showing--after all they led me to her. These are not as good as the rosy putti I never captured (I'm sure they'll return when I'm without my camera), but I "collect" sunrises and this one isn't too shabby. 

The LA Times had a big spread on Ganna Walska (born Hanna Puacz)--a Polish opera singer (1887 - 1984)--and her garden Lotusland (Montecito, CA) a few years ago. I've not yet been to her Lotusland (every time I go to Santa Barbara the "usual" things take precedence): http://www.lotusland.org/ . * Yesterday, trying to name my Mont Sainte-Victoire, I came across Modjeska Peak (one of the two peaks forming the Saddleback in Orange County) and thus Helena Modjeska (1840 - 1909). And so, at least until today, I had made the two women one. * Helena Modjeska was born in Krakow, Poland (her birth name was Jadwiga Benda) and she was a renowned Polish Shakespearean actress who emigrated to the United States in 1876. Her home from 1888 to 1906, Arden, is located in Modjeska Canyon, CA (eastern Orange County) and is a registered National Historic Monument. Modjeska Peak is also named after her. * Wikipedia mentions that Modjeska plays a part in several literary works. Th...

Pretty sure that's what I can see from my home: Santiago and Modjeska Peaks (The Saddleback). Again I missed my intended shot: when I walked out of the garage (just before 7:00) there were plenty of rose-colored putti floating above the Saddleback on the horizon. That was the shot I wanted but didn't get. By the time I returned with my camera (I originally had thought: Naw, don't need it), the sun had already climbed over the peak and slaughtered the innocents. Oh, well, here's what I was left with (from 4th St. and Park): And a little later (from a hill alongside Rogers Middle School):