Sunday, July 30, 2017

strange birds of a feather

I spent the past week in sunny Southern California for work. It might actually sound pretty glamorous, until you realize it's still, well, work. And we were actually in Anaheim - a town I'd been to previously (for this same conference back in 2010, actually) and that I remembered to be actually slightly odd.

all disney signs cropped out haha
You don't realize the strangeness of this town all at once, tho. It kinda creeps up on you. The first natural instinct is to be dazzled by the teeming palms, pristine landscaping, and broad flat avenues.

ditto the above. also are these not the most manicured palms you've ever seen?
Everything is very, very orderly. And tidy. And exactly designed to please the eye. It's quite pretty!

birds of paradise are a common sight
But there's something sinister going on in the home of Disneyland, I'm sure of it. It's a place crawling with tourists and kids, and everything that goes along with that. Endless expanses of parking lots (all hidden from street view tho, natch). Plus tons of tourists and kids = tons of restaurants, cafes, trash and bits of dropped food.

actual birds tho?
Sure, everyone there seems programmed to hyper-level trash clean up mode and the streets are very tidy (tho, uh, why yes that is a homeless man dozing under those shrubberies...). But still. The most striking thing? There's virtually no birds. It's eerie, unnatural.

You don't even necessarily realize it until that one lone sparrow starts scratching around under the al fresco cafe tables. And it dawns on you: "omg where did you come from how have I not seen another single bird before now??"

rare enough to render them interesting photography subjects
Even this pigeon seemed alien hangin out around the parking lot of a 7-Eleven. Bc like... c'mon, where are the rest of you? How does this sunny, pleasant resort town manage to get away without even a single sea gull?? It's a conspiracy. I'm convinced. #soundcannons

charlie did fine without me - he quite likes being herded around by buddy Tip
Anyway, Charlie basically got to spend the weekend relaxing and doing nothing. He had worked something like 10 days straight over the preceding weeks, so some time off was maybe warranted. We hit the trails at his barn the day before my trip - but otherwise he mostly did nothing. And - for once - did not maim or otherwise wreck himself during my absence. Good boy.

snail!
We've been busy tho since I got home. That teaser about a "significant change in our day to day life" finally became reality yesterday, so I'll have more to write there soon.

For now tho, we're enjoying the rest of the weekend as I ease my way through the jet lag. And wonder of wonders - some storms blew through the area, dropping temps back to very reasonable and pleasant 70-80* weather. Ground is a little wet, but otherwise it's pretty perfect riding conditions!

Hope you all have a great rest of your weekend too!

13 comments:

  1. Where are the birds? That would be weird. But enjoy your time away. :D

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    1. It's definitely very weird haha. I'm happy to be back in the land of birdsong!

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  2. Oh come on!!! :D What is the change?!!!! Hahaha!

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    1. Have no fear - I'm taking the last requisite pictures today!!!!! ;P

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  3. Anaheim isn't close enough to the coast to really get a lot of seagulls, and none of the palm trees are native! It's an arid desert and the trees were all bought and brought in years and years ago so yeah it does feel pretty sterile in that overly stepford resort kinda way.

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  4. Can't wait to hear about the changes!! I hear you on the work travel. There's some fun to be had but mainly it's still work.

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    1. More to come on the new change tomorrow! I took approximately 18 thousand pictures but will only post about 24 lol. So.... Still lots of pictures haha!

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  5. Beautiful photos! You could seriously market those haha

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    1. Ha thanks - I legit think the pigeon is my favorite ;)

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  6. THAT IS CREEPY. But omg that snail photo - I would print that out and frame it and hang it up! So cute!

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  7. Glad you had a good time in SoCal.

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