NRU, California Sights

Apparently there is a caretaker at Ormond Beach ... clearly many people know this, especially those who take Walter food and cash... but it was a fascinating gem to read about.  I am particularly enamored of his history with birding.  It is a wonderful hobby for both solitary and group enjoyment.

This is a fascinating piece on what the LA Times is calling the Latino Urbanism influencing the taming of Los Angeles' streets.  And there are some beautiful pictures included with the piece.

Here is another piece about the drought and the farming in the Central Valley.  This is my favorite quote:  "'I've seen so much stupid in my years that I can't remember all of it. But pumping the earth dry? We're killing ourselves, plain and simple.'" Just priceless.  Mr. Turner, the protagonist of this piece, is full of gems, and the journalist who captured those gems clearly enjoyed this assignment.  Here's another one, speaking of his wife who passed away in 2008:  "'She wasn't one to let people walk over her, but she could make a man look forward instead of back," he said. "I miss her.'"  I have never met Ernestine, but I miss her too!

I wanted to see if there were any reports on the funeral on Wednesday, so I checked back to the LATimes.com coverage of the unclaimed.  I found this piece I had missed on how the searchable database came to be.  I had no idea.  I thought I had just missed the database last time I read about the burial because I had read a paper copy.  I might be the only one who claimed the remains, or I might be the 100th.  But I am truly grateful to these two reporters for staying with this story.

Not sure if you can make it out, but I took this picture of the courthouse entrance (employees only at this point) because it has this inscription:
"Righteousness exalteth a people.  Solomon"