Paperback Stories

After I rescued this #hummingbird from my cat, he decided I was his friend and he stayed with me for a while. (at Escondido, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CQeuETIny1E/?utm_medium=tumblr

The thing about an omelette is, once you have the egg technique down, which isn’t very difficult, you can fill it with any old left overs for an impressive breakfast. #egg #breakfast #omelette https://www.instagram.com/p/CPvxaXznVYH/?utm_medium=tumblr

Alfonso Algeria, one of the founders of Algeria Brothers Entertainment, reached fame in the 1940s as a lion tamer, known for taking 18 lions at once. To this day his family still carries on the circus tradition, traveling throughout the U.S. as Circo Algeria. #circus @circusalegriaa (at Escondido, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1AHsvhnh9x/?igshid=tqn1edqr1x0z

For me, growing a garden is an education. Each year I plant the staples that I know we will enjoy; tomatoes, strawberries, cucumbers, radishes and jalapeños; but every year I plant experiments, plants that I try to develop a knowledge of. Every plant is different, and requires different techniques - watering, soil and care. This year, my experiment is Bhut Jolokia, the Ghost Pepper. This variety of chili was originally developed by the inmates of an Indonesian insane asylum, and from 2007 to 2011 held the Guinness Book of World Records record as the hottest chili in the world - 400 time shorter than a Tabasco pepper. #garden #ghostpepper #bhutjolokia #pepper #chili (at Escondido, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0xDhFNHoea/?igshid=1pa540aeis7m8

Beneath a few kilos of tomatoes and various strawberries and jalapeños is another five kilos of grapes. People ask me, how many vines do you have on your vineyard? One. #garden #tomato #grapes #strawberry #jalapenos (at Escondido, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0xCO6ynYEu/?igshid=jnor92njddfd

I found these at the local market, now all I need to do is track down a bottle of Red Horse! #skyflakes #crackers #sanmig #redhorse #philippines (at Escondido, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0rWW4xn_nZ/?igshid=mvnv9f54z4m7

@cygnettheatre always puts on a good show, but this is going to be hard to beat - they put an actual bar on the stage. It’s the ultimate in convenience. #sandiego #oldtown #theater (at Cygnet Theatre Company) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzoSBhzHMNg/?igshid=105ysbgcmk9o6

First cucumber harvested this year. #cucumber #garden #vegetablegarden (at Escondido, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzeWNqWHhA_/?igshid=bijcqgpoiqkh

Introducing my latest team: Kendrake the Magnificent, his lovely assistant Wanda, Mysterio the Hypnotist, and their driver Mr Giggles. #miniaturewargaming #pulpfigures @officialpulpalley #pulpalley @pulp_figures (at Escondido, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzE2ug8Hscc/?igshid=1a8v0uumxginv

The San Andreas Fault is a 750 mile crack in the Earth’s crust separating the Pacific and North American tectonic plates, and gives California its reputation for earthquakes. The fault runs between San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains, creating Cajon Pass, a 3,777 foot high mountain pass that links Southern California with Nevada and Utah. In 1851 Mormon settlers dragged their covered wagons through the pass and saw the sandstone formations thrust up by the fault, and named them the Mormon Rocks. #roadtrip #travel #california #cajonpass #mormonrocks #sanandreasfault (at Cajon Pass, CA (I-15)) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByyGP36HDYt/?igshid=kxch9ei041yb

The deserts of Southern California, once considered useless for agriculture, are home to a new kind of farming - electricity. Thousands of hectares of solar panels, and forests of windmills generate gigawatts of juice for big cities like Los Angeles, and provide prodigious prosperity for the local population. #roadtrip #travel #desert #california #electricfarming #aliteration (at Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve) https://www.instagram.com/p/Byx7k3cHM85/?igshid=1gmoqvwlfs4f0

The center of Californian geography is dominated by the Central Valley. 60 miles wide and 450 miles long, the Central Valley is the most productive agricultural region in the world. The southern end of the valley is delineated by the Tehachapi Mountain range. The Tehachapi Mountains are the line that separates Southern and Central California. It’s a line that’s not only geographical, but supremely cultural as well. As you approach the southern end of the valley, you can see the Tehachapi Range a hundred miles away, growing larger until the valley gives up its final challenge - a four-thousand foot vertical climb called the Grapevine. #roadtrip #california #tehachapi #centralvalley #tejonpass #travel #grapevine (at Grapevine, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/Byx2RFeH8iU/?igshid=395ku2j65bqy

Suddenly I feel like drinking a black cherry soda. #mountshasta #shasta #travel #roadtrip (at Mount Shasta, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByqddkonSRb/?igshid=13wivm45zypfn

Before the logging industry moved out west, no logger had ever seen trees like giant sequoias and coastal redwoods. New tools and techniques had to be developed to fell the giants of the Pacific Northwest. Trees so large could only be logged by giant men, like Paul Bunyan, with the help of Babe the Blue Ox. #travel #roadtrip #paulbunyan #treesofmystery (at Trees of Mystery) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByjXv50HOWD/?igshid=1k2pb925q2vwo

Not far from here, in 1967, Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin filmed a sasquatch walking along bluff creek. The Patterson-Gimlin Film, or PGF as it’s known amongst squatchers, remains the single most important piece of evidence for the existence of Big Foot. The Willow Creek-China Flat museum is a Mecca for Big Foot enthusiasts, and students of roadside-America, like myself. Unfortunately, after driving for 9 hours, it was closed by the time we got there. #bigfoot #bigfootmuseum #sasquatch #willowcreek #roadtrip #travel #humboldtcounty #humboldt”smokeemifyougotem”county (at Big Foot Museum) https://www.instagram.com/p/Byg54zKnrG-/?igshid=1o7p5ny1ugm9u

In 1933, on Highway 41, Caltrans cut the Wawona Tunnel. At nearly a mile, it’s the longest highway tunnel in California, and it serves as the most magnificent introduction to Yosemite Valley. When you exit, you’re greeted with Tunnel View, an expansive vista of the entire Yosemite Valley, framed by El Capitan on the left, Bridal Veil Falls on the right, and Half Dome centered in the background. #yosemite #roadtrip #travel #elcapitan #halfdome #bridalveilfalls (at Tunnel View) https://www.instagram.com/p/BygavVInaRl/?igshid=8hxa87cd0y3o

America is so big, and the landscape is so diverse, it amazes me every time I drive across this country of ours. The Imperial Sand Dunes look so much like the Sahara, but are so much closer to Hollywood, that they’ve stood in for the North African desert in movies since the silent era. #imperialcounty #sand #desert #sanddunes #dunes #imperialsanddunes #travel #roadtrip (at Imperial Dunes, CA) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByBcmD2HHnI/?igshid=1d7txo8vu4fdl