Friday, March 28, 2008

The Peace And Quiet Of A Mile Away

The title of this post is kinda weird, huh? Yeah, well, a mile from our apt. is one of my favorite places to get away from the LA lifestyle. The El Dorado Nature Center has a few trail you can walk that are amazing. Full of wildlife, ponds and nice people. I shot out there last weekend for a couple hours and truly enjoyed life.

I am thankful I got to see so many wonderful things and got to soak in the beauty of what God has given us. So many times I take it for granted. I was blessed with seeing lizards, flowers, soft-shelled turtles, and birds (of course). The most amazing was an osprey that was fishing. I got some photos from across the pond (too far away for clean shots), but it was beautiful. He was so graceful as he plunged into the pond and came up with a huge... nothing! He missed the fish, but got a bath!

Here are a handful of images from my personal adventure walk. I just might have to do it again this weekend.

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And here is a fun shot. Taken with my new Sigma 10-20mm. This is virtually in my backyard!

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I love Southern California and the beauty it has.

5 comments:

kymberli q. said...

These photos are beautiful, honey. I especially love the flower and the last one.

Jim, "Homer" said...

The El Dorado Nature Center is a great place to take a walk and just enjoy the surroundings. It's a great place to get away from the day to day city stuff that clouds our minds.

Very nice shots Al and thanks for sharing.

cassandra-m said...

Al...i always love all your nature shots, but the snake freaks me out...ha.ha. these are amazing though!

cassandra-m said...

PS...the last one is so peaceful and made me a little calmer after meeting with my tax guy this am ;)

Al Quackenbush said...

Jim,

We should meet up over there some afternoon or early morn. I'll bet we'd catch the animals feeding and frolicking around.

Cassandra, It's crazy that you said snake. So many people have said that to me. If you look closely the little guy has legs. He was an incredibly large lizard, but even as I walked by him I thought he was a snake. Freaky and awesome at the same time! I can't wait to go back!