Traveling around in #SanJose and #NearbyToSanJose at 825 mph on our spinning planet.
Nearby to San Jose, California
I came across this mural on an adventure in Watsonville, near the Monterey Bay.
It is called “Watsonville History Mural” by artists Ome Garcia and Paul De Worken. (https://www.artscouncilsc.org/teaching-artist-directory/ome-garcia/, https://www.artscouncilsc.org/teaching-artist-directory/paul-de-worken/)
Sure, we have all seen shoes on a wire. These ones amused me because I just did not expect them out next to the Guadalupe Reservoir. It would be a bit of a walk or drive without shoes from where these ones hang near San Jose.
I really like this mural. I had seen it once on social media and wondered where it was. I tried searching for it online with no luck and keeping my eyes open for weeks. Recently, I went for a drive just to get out of the house for a bit. While driving back towards home through Morgan Hill, I saw it! So excited! The search, the wait, the find… so many things go in to pleasure.
I learned that it was designed by Morgan Hill Art School (www.morganhillartschool.org) and, I believe, painted by volunteers. Some great location icons are in the mural, too. In addition to the firefighters, you will see Lick Observatory atop Mt. Hamilton, the Box atop Mt. Umunhum, and the Beacon atop Mt. Diablo.
I am glad that I do not need to be a firefighter and so grateful that there are firefighters protecting us.
The predecessor to this mural at Day’s Market in Santa Cruz was the second mural I became aware of and that I would look forward to seeing. This is the third version of the mural that I have enjoyed on this wall over the years.
And this is a recently created new mural with mosaics next to Sea Bright Beach.
I love the color, textures, and lines that presented themselves all within this one little space and time.
John Muir himself planted this redwood tree about 120 years ago. This is his home in Martinez on the San Francisco Bay. I was happy to learn how close it is and happy to find that you may walk around the property and throughout the entire home at leisure here during open hours.
A statue of John Muir in the visitor center on the property of Muir’s home, now a National Historic Site maintained by the U.S. National Park Service.
Muir has an impressive story you can read about elsewhere. For a few reference facts, he co-founded the Sierra Club, wrote numerous naturalist books, and played important rolls in the creation and protection of Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks. If you can imagine, John Muir took then President Theodore Roosevelt on a three day back county camping trip to convince him to make Yosemite into a National Park. It worked. I find it amazing to imagine a time when a president would agree and be able to go off on foot with a naturalist to just camp and be in nature for three days out in the back country. It is a pretty fascinating form of lobbying.
John Muir himself use to ring this very bell from this cupola above his home to let the workers on his orchard know to come in for lunch. Today, you are welcomed to go on up and ring the bell as much as you like! Of course, they keep the windows closed now. Not that there are acres and acres of orchards anymore to call in the workers from. From the windows of the cupola you can now see part of the town and a 7-11 across the street from Muir’s home. Times change and so it is all the more wonderful that this part of the property is preserved.
Each bedroom had it’s own sink.
The view out the front window onto the porch.
It’s neat to imagine John Muir also using this door knob to enter his front door as I use it.
Part of the Muir property includes this historic two story adobe house called the Martinez Adobe built in 1849 as part of the Martinez land grant.
These are the thickest, and presumably the oldest, grape vines I have ever seen up close in person.
Door knob to the Martinez Adobe where John Muir spent plenty of time visiting his eldest daughter and her family who lived there.
Visiting and exploring this park and historical site was a treat. Walking around, touching and appreciating nature, thinking, and absorbing a part of a glimpse into another time in our history was wonderful. Muir’s life is fairly fascinating and intriguing to learn about. To walk around and within his home was special.
Inside the Pacific Grove Natural History Museum, one of the many interesting things to look at is this well aged donated collection of carefully labeled sand from around the world. There is a list with the location of sand origin and the corresponding label number.
There are a lot of sand samples that this collector had gathered.
Sandy, the gray whale, was celebrating a birthday during our visit. Sandy was used for years as an educational model that could be disassembled and reassembled to spread knowledge. Today, Sandy rests permanently assembled to greet visitors of the museum.
