Waking in the desert

I long for it

It's been a year since I left California for Colorado for what became one of the most important and eye opening periods of my life thus far. After living in Boulder, Colorado for five months and experiencing the magic of seasons and the blissful perfection of living at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, all I can do is miss it and dream of it nightly. It's becoming increasingly difficult living in an area that I don't feel inspired in.  I have much still to explore locally and I'm in good company, so all is far from lost. Although everything is temporary, I feel like I'm stuck in a state of dreaming of somewhere else, and that's never healthy.

A typical late Colorado afternoon.

Summer Evenings.

The simple pleasures of life.

Blooming.

{click photo to enlarge}

Potato.

Apparently if you put a plain old potato in a jar of water, it will reanimate and spawn branches. Sick.

Foggy Ridges

June gloom rocks. I am not ashamed to admit this. Unless it's the June gloom that sits around all day and completely denies the sun, I get stoked waking up in the summer to a little marine layer. It's a nice break from the heat looming right above the clouds. On one of these grey, wet mornings, I decided to climb up to the top of the Santa Ana mountains near my home. I got to the top and found myself engulfed in a moving fog bank. It was great hiking through the clouds that were moving in a way that they seemed to pour over the ridge. Attacking my olfactory department was the heavy smell of ash from a controlled burn the fire department had done along the ridge the day prior. The fire cleared the area around the trail that was once surrounded by grass, brush, and small trees.

Fathers Day.

Frank Balogh, Florida, circa 1969.

Thanks Dad for helping share the stoke of surfing and all of the knowledge you've passed on to me.

GoProing

I've taken the GoPro out hiking with me twice now, and I'm totally sold on it. I've used it to shoot vistas, as a still camera, and on a head mount (think miner's lamp style) while rock climbing and going through dense undergrowth, and it's preformed flawlessly. I'm working on putting together a quick video with some of what I've shot thus far, but for now here's some screen shots of what I've shot. Click on them to enlarge, it's worth it.

Telephoto lens test

I must admit, it's quite convenient as a surfer to have a father who can use a camera proficiently. Case in point: after getting a new telephoto lens, he was equally as stoked to shoot with it as I was to surf and see the images. We both agreed the lens performed well. Click on the images to expand them.

Oops, I disappeared to Joshua Tree

The desert greeting us after arriving not long after dawn. We were running off of four hours of sleep and coffee at this point, but seeing this added a huge boost to our energy levels.

Yucca plants in full bloom near Desert Queen Mine. It is hard to describe the large scale of the blossoms on these plants.

Bigfoot's face happend to adorn this late 1800's water tower we happened upon while hiking in an area of the park that was once a ranch to the Ryan family. Truth be told, we were looking for rumored multiple graves in the area we when came across this.

A peace sign on the opposing side of the same water tower, along with a better look at said Bigfoot. What I'm bummed I didn't shoot was graffiti scratched into the metal itself that read "Respect the Earth our mother."

(surf)Art

I painted the surfboard piece sometime last year, and it's just now made its way to my wall.

Essentials

There are some of my possessions that have proved their value time and time again on the road. My tent, suitcase, and Little Martin guitar are some of those items.

Airstrips and shade rocks.

I'm happy to say that after a three hour car ride spent straddling a guitar and holding bongos, I'm officially safe and sound, back at home from a weekend camping in the Anza Borrego desert. The suitcase is unpacked, and my camp gear stashed for the next trip. For now I'm going to catch up on some rest and let my skin take a break from the relentless desert sun.

The road calls

Well packing is about done. Only a few minor items left to throw in the car, then I will be ready to get out of here for the next few days. I've never camped in the Anza Borrego desert, so I'm pretty excited to be somewhere new. The weather is lining up to be perfect, and this is the time of year when the desert is in full bloom, so as of now things are looking to go well. The almost three hours it will take to get there will be just enough time to settle into the car and enjoy some good music and the desert scenery passing by. Tonight I'll be staring at stars.

Great songwriting advice

I was having a hard time writing a piece of the song last night, and while thinking of ways to break through a wall of blandness, this randomly popped into my mind. I like it. It may become my new musical motto.

{fuck songs into submission.}

Recently

My room.

The land before time.

All things must end.

The difficult part is trying to figure out how to let things end.

Fuel for the fire

These are two things I'm pretty stoked to have in my possession at the moment (although Mr. Kerouac is only mine temporarily). Hoping for fresh thoughts to propel the ensuing music recording that will be done.

Trustworthy

It's difficult to describe the usefulness of a Swiss Army Knife. My father gave me this very one for my sixth or seventh birthday and it has not once let me down.

Welcoming the fall colors with open arms

Not really having seasons is something you must overcome when living in southern California. Being there my entire life I could only say that I had seen mere glimpses of seasons; a little rain and some cold in winter, a short bloom of green come spring, then heat until winter. Fall damn near doesn't exist some years. Being here in Colorado I'm just starting to get my first glimpses of what fall will be. These are from this mornings bike ride. I'm stoked thus far. Much more to come I'm sure.