The Veins Of The Earth

The Southern California desert flows with arid sweeps of sand, running down the bones of the mountains and rocks and forming the skin of the earth in the valleys below.

But in this seemingly lifeless wilderness of curving buff and tan and beige appears a thin straight line of deep blue, rising from the nothingness and running for miles before disappearing again into the empty sand.



This is the Colorado River Aqueduct bringing water, the lifeblood of Los Angeles, 242 miles across the desert to nourish a thirsty city.





On its journey across the Mojave Desert and the Coachella Valley, along the Little San Bernardino Mountains and through the San Jacinto Mountains, the water travels through 92 miles of tunnels, 63 miles of concrete canals, and 55 miles of concrete conduits from its starting point on the Arizona border at Lake Havasu.



Lake Havasu is a 45 mile long reservoir on the Colorado River, named after a Mohave word meaning "blue water".



It is formed by the water trapped behind Parker Dam, one of the deepest dams in the world, extending 235 feet into the sand and gravel of the riverbed into the bedrock below.



Every day a billion gallons of the Colorado running across the wasteland, water in the wilderness, shining in the sun, flowing through the man-made veins of the earth.

Orange County, California

The two things that I think are important to do in any place I visit are 1) go up high and see what everything looks like from above and 2) go on a boat or at least a beach or a dock and see what everything looks like from the water. Luckily, my aunt and uncle, who gave me the tour of Orange County, included both in the itinerary.

I wanted to take some pictures of the snow-covered San Gabriel Mountains but things like freeway signs and buildings kept getting in the way. So we drove to the up to a restaurant which is perched at the top of a hill, up this winding road.



Here is a good portion of Orange County, in all its suburban glory:



And this is the reason why we drove up to top: a great view of the mountains.



Next, we headed to Newport Beach and took the quick ferry ride to Balboa Island. Since I live on an island (Long Island) and work on an island (Manhattan), it was nice to be back on an island after being on the mainland for oh, twenty-four hours or so.



Boats in the channel:



Now, those two events would have been sufficient for me to declare the visit a success. But there was more. We drove into the canyons to see the effects of the wildfires that had raced through a few months before. A couple of houses were burned completely to the ground with just the foundation and a chimney remaining. Cactus and scrub was scorched and we happened upon this plastic fence that melted in the heat of the fire.



Although in many places the roads were lined with bales of hay and sandbags to prevent mud from sliding down the burned slopes onto the roadways, in some areas the canyons looked absolutely idyllic.



And I have to wonder if the horses who live along the roads are enjoying the free hay!





But finally, the best thing of all was having breakfast with my cousin and his wife and their new little daughter who spent the whole meal staring at me from across the table.

Welcome to Los Angeles

Behold the mythical Los Angeles!

Home of smog and surf...



... freeways and palm trees...





...mountains and monotony...





..where even the boats at rest proclaim: put the top down, grab hold of the wheel and race full-throttle into the sunset.





Welcome to LA.