Poppy , waves in the petals
Pink Jasmine – smell so sweet
Purple in Green
San Jose Facts
Serpentine is the state rock of California. California was the first state to select a state rock. (1) In San Jose, serpentinite (which is technically the name of the rock while serpentine is the name of the group of minerals that make it up) is plentiful. A great place to see lots of it is in Santa Teresa County Park in south San José.
“In 1965, the California legislature chose serpentinite as the official state rock. …No one knew serpentinite, so emblematic of California, isn’t native to the state. Arguably, no rock is native to California since virtually the entire state is built of imported geology. …Wherever you stand in this state, if your feet are on bedrock, the odds are that you are standing on an immigrant, reeled in by subduction from the far reaches of the Pacific in the process of assembling California.” – Dr. Keith Meldahl, professor of geology and oceanography. (2)
Sources:
1. https://statesymbolsusa.org/symbol-official-item/california/state-rock-mineral/serpentine , 2020.
2. Rough-Hewn Land, book by Keith Meldahl, 2011, page 18.
Up close to a trimmed Palm
Yellow Ball Flower
Baskets
Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks
Those above are Sequoia trees, the largest trees in the world. They are incredible. Incredible.
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks offer so much beauty. The Sequoia trees themselves are amazing. They grow stunningly tall at over 280 feet, though they are not the tallest trees on Earth. The tallest are the Coast Redwood tress along the coast of California with one measured at over 380 feet tall. However, these Sequoia trees on the Sierra Nevada Range in California are taller than most trees and are additionally the largest trees by total mass on all of Earth; they are massive and make adult humans look puny beside them. They can have trunks with a circumference over 100 feet. Also, they grow very old; over 2500 years old.
It’s not just the Sequoia’s that are beautiful in this wonderful place. There are other trees, and rocks, and creatures, and weather, and so much more.
This is an overall beautiful place. I like staring “into” the above picture quite a bit and still it does not compare to the air and view in front of me when I took the photo.
Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park have separate names and entrances from back in the old days when they started as separate locations. In time, land added to the parks connected their borders. Technically two separate parks, they are managed jointly today.
Up close with a Sequoia. These are breathtaking trees and none of my photos captured the grandness of them though I feel close to this one through the above photo.
San Jose Facts
There is an asteroid flying around our sun named after the city of San José. Asteroid 6216 San Jose was named after San José, California in gratitude for the city choosing low light pollution options for street lights over the decades. This has helped nearby Lick Observatory to continue with its astronomical observations and research into space. (1) When you look out at our city from a hill at night and notice the lower intensity yellow permeating glow instead of an intense white glow above, that is to help our nearby telescopes and space aimed instruments.
Sources:
1. https://mthamilton.ucolick.org/public/lighting/Cooperation2.html , 2020.
2. https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_orbit?utf8=%E2%9C%93&number=6216&designation=&name=San+Jose&epoch=2020-05-31.0&peri=28.0827085&m=240.32697&node=30.3655836&incl=3.7642136&e=0.099990391&a=2.7575585&commit=Interactive+Orbit+Sketch , 2020.
Fluffy Clouds
