At the Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach.

Transparent kitten.

We do.

(Baby tuna sashimi in ponzu sauce at Sushi Nozawa. Sublime.)

At the Natural History Museum, an almost intimate space. You enter into a sort of relationship with the dinosaurs and their bones.

Maybe it's just a residual city-kid mindset, but I still marvel at the idea that you can grow a peach tree in your back yard. (Not mine, incidentally; this tree is in my cousin's yard. So full of peaches it became hard to pick them all before they dropped to the ground and became mulch.)

Bring 'em on in.

Everywhere underfoot.

A suburban back yard?

Well, hello.

Oh, soft.

Photo Friday this week: critters.

A petting zoo.

At the Descanso Gardens on Saturday.

For Photo Friday: multiples

Our neighborhood sometimes reminds me of a turn of the (last) century Russian village. The park a block away is always filled with old Russian men playing cards and dominos all day and into the night. The women sit on park benches and gossip or just... well... sit.

In case it wasn't obvious, yes, I tweaked this image to better capture the old fashioned feeling.

I love the Beverly Hills library.

Dante's not exactly delighted. Fascinated, though. Kitten (as yet unnamed) wants to make friends but thankfully knows the proper etiquette (ie: go slow, don't push your luck).

Despite appearances here, the kitten is extremely friendly and took to Damian right away.

See?

Kitten in motion.

Kitten still for a moment. Sweet kitten.

When we moved here, I thought California was without seasons. But February came and the streets were drenched with a heavy scent. It smelled like someone had spent the evenings careening around the city tossing glass bottles of cheap perfume out the car window. That was night blooming jasmine.

And then came April and the trees turned purple. Entire streets in Beverly Hills lined with them, but everywhere you see these stately trees with their ferny leaves and their vivid lavender petals. It was a revelation. Everyone knows about the cherry blossoms in Washington DC. Who ever heard of the jacaranda in Los Angeles?

Why didn't anyone tell me (until today -- thanks, Katy!) that the "back" button wasn't working on the individual archive pages? It was fine in Safari and dumb me, I forgot to check in IE until now. Anyway, fixed now. Simple once I looked at the code.

Next time, though? Tell me, guys. I won't bite. I'll even be grateful.

This week's Photo Friday theme: "transportation." This car has carried us like a good, if at times irritable, steed for fourteen years now. A hunk of metal imbued with a small dollop of personality, if only from years of shared history. Everything from a giddy ride up windy coastal route 1 to baby barf and beyond. Creaky in its old age now, needs more time at the shop maybe, but still not a bad ride.