Category Archives: The Natural World

Oily delights

Posted on April 9, 2012 by jdewyze

For all the passion and publicity that’s been showered on locally grown food, I’ve been struck by something missing from the farmer’s markets in San Diego County: olives grown here and olive oil processed from them. This has mystified me, … Continue reading →

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A Bee Adventure

Posted on April 6, 2012 by jdewyze

I understand that colony collapse disorder — the mysterious plague that’s wiped out half of America’s bee colonies over the past half dozen years — is a continuing problem. So it’s nice to hear a tale like the one my … Continue reading →

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The Big Bad Pigs

Posted on April 2, 2012 by jdewyze

I’ve been intrigued by wild hogs ever since reading a 2005 New Yorker article by Ian Frazier about the animals and their destructive habits. So when I heard that the San Diego Tracking Team and Western Tracking Institute would be … Continue reading →

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No More Sneaking In

Posted on March 1, 2012 by jdewyze

For years, the only entrance to the section of the Scripps Coastal Reserve that overlooks Black’s Beach was to duck under or climb over a temporary looking wooden gate. The area was open to the public (at least during daylight … Continue reading →

Posted in Beach Culture, Free and fun, La Jolla, On the Waterfront, San Diego Sights, The Natural World | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Highs and Lows

Posted on December 13, 2011 by jdewyze

I’ve written before about the unique pleasures of San Diego’s winter low tides, but last Friday I discovered another facet to them : biking on the wide, hard-packed sand.  My friend Howard Zatkin has organized an informal low-tide beach ride for … Continue reading →

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The Forests Below

Posted on June 14, 2011 by Jeannette De Wyze

If I had to come up with a short list of the coolest plants in and around San Diego, the giant kelp that grows just offshore would have to be on it. One of the fastest growing organisms on Earth, … Continue reading →

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Second most overdue

Posted on June 1, 2011 by Jeannette De Wyze

Hats off to the Voice of San Diego‘s Morning Report for alerting me to meteorologist Rick Knabb’s provocative declaration on the Today show’s website this morning that San Diego is the US city that’s most overdue to be hit by a hurricane.  … Continue reading →

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The Nature of Louv

Posted on May 7, 2011 by Jeannette De Wyze

The campus of Pt. Loma Nazarene University is becoming synonymous in my mind with literary pleasures and pursuits.  That seems fitting, given the fact that 100 years ago, this site atop the point overlooking the ocean was the intellectual heart of San Diego.  The property served … Continue reading →

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About 10 inches

Posted on April 15, 2011 by Jeannette De Wyze

For years, I’ve told visiting tourists that the coastal region of San Diego gets “about 10 inches” of rain per year.  As an approximation, that’s true enough. But I’ve always felt a bit guilty about not being more precisely accurate. … Continue reading →

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On Top of Old Mt. Miguel

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Jeannette De Wyze

I tend to think of Jerry Schad as a god, omniscient about all good hiking trails in Southern California. So I was shocked when it was recently pointed out to me that His Bible (Afoot and Afield in San Diego … Continue reading →

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