One of our favorite sections in the South Coast Botanic Garden is the Cactus and Succulent garden. There are many interesting and beautiful varieties from all over the world. The Giant Yucca is from the Americas and thrives here in Southern California. This huge yucca is twenty feet (six meters) tall and is currently in bloom. In the left foreground is a variety of agave and in the center right bottom is a Madagascar Palm. Click the image for larger view.
While vacationing, I periodically made an attempt to capture some of the scenery in 3D. This one of the Desert View Watchtower came out pretty good, so I may add it to my 3D Gallery.
Quietly, in the bottom of the sidebar to the left, is a widget that displays the times of today’s solar events. An ephemeris is a tool used by navigators and astronomers to predict celestial events, like eclipses, moon rise, occultations (planets or stars crossing paths) and the like.
My widget (home grown - written in PHP scripting language) accurately predicts solar events at the longitude and latitude for Torrance, CA, but will be approximately correct anywhere within a fifty mile radius.
I’m working on a version of this where you can put in your zip code or longitude and latitude to get your local solar ephemerides. Still in work, but possibly will materialize soon.
How do I know it’s a ‘33? Click to enlarge.
Seen in homeward-bound traffic this evening.
These opened just in time for Labor Day. They added to the pleasant atmosphere in the back patio as we enjoyed our holiday barbecue.
