blue whale skeleton

 

In case anyone forgot, the famous blue whale skeleton at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History is real. Above is a photo I took in 2020; below are the ones I took recently in 2026.

peculiar forms

Banana yogurt is so rare these days, I'll take it in whatever peculiar form it comes in.

local dinosaurs

Within days, a Tyrannosaurus rex appeared in Ojai and Santa Barbara.

the escape route

I do not recall seeing this sign before. Good to know the escape route.

Brakey Road revisited

Maybe this is what living in a free society is really all about??

garden flowers, part 2

As is often the case, the African (Fynbos) Garden was probably the most colorful. The term "fynbos" is comparable to our "chaparral" - both California and South Africa having a similar mediterranean climate.

Puya

When I first saw Puya chilensis back in 2017 at the Adelaide Botanic Garden in Australia, it was the most exotic plant I had ever seen. Little did I know that the Chilean section of my local botanical garden would one day be a Puya hotspot. Seen here is Puya coerulea, which I have blogged about previously.