Plant: Petunia.......in my garden..

Pretty petunias in the summer container garden of my patio..

Observation: Sky view from my patio garden..

Sky...from my patio garden.....

The speck is a raptor flying among the clouds...

A plane passes by........

"Nature is a mutable cloud which is always and never the same." –Ralph Waldo Emerson

Fauna: David and Goliath............

A crow and a hooded oriole........

Mocking bird and humming bird.......

A palm..........and a Century plant spike....its a perspective, other wise one is way much towering than the other....

Thought: How marketing gimmicks are jeopardizing human health..

Now-a-days, when I feel like watching something, I do watch 'Mad Men'..
Those who don't know, what it is, it's a television series based in 1960s' New York.
A bunch of ambitious, unscrupulous advertisement guys would stoop to any level to sell their products, and climb the corporate ladder.
My profession is just the opposite..healthcare..promoting awareness..week after week, I have been cancelling my weekend outdoor plans, for I am stuck with some or other research/ publication tasks..
So, why do I watch? Their confidence and understanding of human psychology is interesting. The way they keep saying, 'Society has a secret death wish'.....and....'People desperately need to be told what to do' I kind of feel its true..
 Just last year, I have been visiting several stores for I needed a particular deoderant...the mist type..cucumber fragrance.
Today..after some eye-opener insights, my bath cabinet is completely empty... I look back, and think, it was a type of 'death wish'.. from sheer ignorance..
Now, settled in my study in South California, I read about the severe air pollution in Delhi...and how the residents have been advised to stay indoors during Diwali..
I don't think most people will stop bursting crackers..they will add further to the particulate matter load...unfortunately, religion has been a priority over environment and nature...'a kind of death wish'.. 

Place: Cape Flattery.........

Cape Flattery is the North West point of the contiguous US (barring Alaska)..
We visited it during our trip to Washinton..........
A scenic place with rugged shore line......

With binoculars, I spotted this group of otters.........

Place: Quinault lake..........

Quinault lake in Olympic national park............
Lots of waterfalls, accommodations, hiking trails around it..
Its one an evening in late August..

Fauna: Urban wildlife viewing in Irvine....

Some animals are better-adapted to live in urban setting than others...
As go on my walks in the neighborhood, I see these creatures quite often...
Dove..

Crow..

Finch..

Mourning dove..

Woodpecker...

They have got used to human way of life...