Yesterday was gorgeous. It was pouring rain in the morning, and wet and misty all afternoon.

Today, however, I have to put up with this crap.

In celebration of Blog Action Day, thousands of blogs around the world have chosen to write about the environment. The topic is open, as long as you discuss ways that we can protect the precious planet we live on. Here is my submission.

When David and I got home the other day, we noticed a back of plumbing parts hanging on the front door. Apparently the plumbing fairy had stopped by the house with his bag of goodies - and I hadn’t even put an 0-ring under my pillow the night before…

Inside the bag we found two sink aerators, a new shower head, and a big blue plastic bag that sort of looked like a hot water bag you might use if you weren’t feeling well…or if you were constipated perhaps. But I digress.

Opening up the bag we discovered an assortment of inexpensive (and incompatible) goodies. We had the two faucet aerators that I just mentioned, one for the kitchen sink and one for the bathroom sink. Unfortunately, they did not fit. Apparently we have non-standard faucets, even though they are relatively brand new and from Home Depot. Is it wrong for me to assume that Home Depot would carry products with standard fittings?

So as we tried to save the environment in Sacramento, the score started out in the negative. Aerators - useless.

On to the shower head. Miraculously, the shower head fit just perfectly. It has settings for massage, and normal, and because it’s a water saver, it actually gives us more force in the smaller amount of water it sends out -so we don’t even notice that it’s low-flow. This one is a win, score one for the shower-head. Plus, it’s a very good brand - Niagara. That stands for waterfall, so you know it’s going to be good.

Next up, the toilet tank bank. I don’t know why they call it a bank, but the front of the bag says “deposit and save water and money”. I’m not sure if they wanted us to put pennies or water into the bag, but we opted for water, even though the pennies would be put to better use sitting in our toilet tank than at any retail store.

The big blue bag is now full of water and hanging inside the toilet tank, reducing the amount of water in each flush. Another win for the City of Sacramento Department of Utilities. (a quick update - David actually removed the bag after a few flushes because it kept getting caught inside the tank - note, if you have a relatively thin watertank on your toilet, this product wont’ work for you)

Toilet Tank Bank - useless.

If every person in the neighborhood actually uses some of these products, it should go a long way in reducing water consumption in our area - and I am all for it. My part of town isn’t metered at this point, so these products won’t save us any money on our utility bill, but they will help save our environment and provide more water to those who need it (and pay for it).

Wrapping up our Santa Cruz Trip (Day 1, Day 2), we left the Chaminade and drove up Highway 1 North toward Half Moon Bay, and eventually the Pigeon Point Lighthouse.

I’m all about mountains and water. I’m not particularly fond of the beach and sand, but the California Coast is somewhat unlike the coast on the eastern side of the country where I’m originally from. It’s much more severe, with sharp cliffs and rocky shores where the waves come crashing in. Oh, and the sharks.

Otherwise, it’s absolutely gorgeous, and I’ve never seen anything like it.

We started up north, not wanting to immediately head back to the Sacramento area, since we were on vacation and such…Rachelle, however, has a very different concept of sight-seeing than I do. Her version entails us going between 80 and 90 mph as we fly past miniature forests, rolling green hills, scenic overlooks, and oh yeah, the entire California Coast <– more pictures.

At one point we were forced to slow down because of a man who actually was as old as a triceretops, who could not make his car go faster than 35mph. We were amazed.

Suddenly there was scenery all around us that we hadn’t noticed before because it was just whizzing by so fast. Trees, mountains, pumpkin patches, all sorts of picturesque things to take pictures of!

We found a few scenic overlooks, which were actually just dirt roads leading off toward the water, and wandered around in the strong breeze taking pictures of the crashing waves and some campers who found a nice sandy spot for an overnight stay.

We stopped at a little diner for some lunch, then continued on our journey. Next stop on the list was the Pigeon Point Lighthouse (and youth hostel).

Unfortunately, the lighthouse is closed due to damage to the structure. They are hoping to raise funds to restore it to original condition, but for now there is wire strapping holding the top together, and the lighting system has been replaced.

The view was gorgeous, and we both decided we wanted to build a house right next to the lighthouse and live there forever - assuming we won the lottery several times.

Eventually, the coast grew monotonous and we took an easterly highway back to civilization, passing through Walnut Creek, Concord, and back onto highway 80 to Sacramento.

All in all, a wonderful mini-vacation on the coast. Good times. Good times.

Day 2 of the Santa Cruz trip had two main components.

First, the Mystery Spot <– more pictures.

This is a mysterious and mystical 150 foot circular area of the forest where strange things happen.

Level surfaces aren’t necessarily level, and the laws of gravity seem to have taken a vacation. People lose and gain height depending upon where they are standing, and generally things are just odd.

I am quite a skeptic, but there were two things that did seem more than just odd to me at this place. First, there was a pendulum hanging in the house that swung more in one direction than another, and was difficult to push in one direction. Second, was that at one point I was taller than 3 people standing to my right, but when they moved to my left, we were all the same height even though we were all standing on a level surface. Spooky. If you haven’t been - it’s 45 minutes of entertainment for $5. Doesn’t get much better than that. (Even if it is a hoax)

After the Mystery Spot, we made our way to the second main stop of the day, the Beach Boardwalk <–more pictures.

Unfortunately, the boardwalk rides are not open during the week, after Labour Day. That wasn’t a huge deal - we enjoyed walking around and seeing (and hearing and smelling) the sea lions and the folks playing volleyball on the beach.

There were roller coasters, haunted houses, ski lifts, and all sorts of fun little shoppes that would have been interesting to see had they been open.

It’s definitely a place to go on weekends or during the summer time when it’s hoppin’ with high school and college kids on break.

We also drove around the city a bit and saw this.

There really aren’t any words to describe this.

Moving on.

Day 3 is up next, with a trip up the California coast on Highway 1, through Half Moon Bay and to Pigeon Point Lighthouse.

What strange and wonderful thing could this be?

Tentacles?

A halo of long and spindly branches with seeds on the end, reminiscent of bean sprouts?

A deep green throat with a bundle of fibres ending in a tentacled urchin-like mouth?


Let’s back up a bit.

Why, it’s a flower! Wonderful white silken leaves surround the throat of this amazing blossom.

Layers upon layers of tissue-paper petals that let through the most subtle amount of light, illuminating the green orifice.

Where does a flower like this come from?

From a cactus.

Unfortunately, within 24 hours of blooming this flower will wither and die. You’re lucky if you get two of these blooms in a year. My favourite flower of any plant in existence.

If you’re interested, here are some other stunning photographs of cactus blooms.

The end.