Category Archives: The Natural World

Our Local National Park

Posted on March 13, 2010 by Jeannette De Wyze

  California is so rich in national parks (we’ve got 8), it’s a little startling when you realize that the closest one is a solid 3-hour drive from San Diego. That’s Joshua Tree, which wasn’t even a national park when I … Continue reading →

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Horses and Helicopters

Posted on October 21, 2009 by Jeannette De Wyze

There’s a truism that San Diego has more horses per capita than any other county in the US. I don’t know if that’s true today — if it ever was — but certain parts of the county still have a strong equestrian … Continue reading →

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Fossiliferous

Posted on October 6, 2009 by Jeannette De Wyze

Within the confines of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park are one of the richest and most varied fossil repositories (for its time) in all the Western Hemisphere. The finds span most of the last 7 million years, and they include … Continue reading →

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Dark News for the Denizens of Borrego

Posted on August 4, 2009 by Jeannette De Wyze

Residents of Borrego Springs Friday got the news many had long been hoping for — namely that the town has just been designated an International Dark Sky Community by the International Dark-Sky Association. An organization with members in 70 countries that … Continue reading →

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Stellar

Posted on July 1, 2009 by Jeannette De Wyze

I’m always amazed by how easy it is for me to ignore the universe.  Not to mention the Milky Way. Or even the solar system. Sure I’m aware of the sun, but all the rest that’s up there — the incomprehensible distances, the astounding numbers … Continue reading →

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Marshall South Online

Posted on June 13, 2009 by Jeannette De Wyze

Few of us have had as flamboyantly romantic a vision as Marshal South. Around 1930, with the US sinking ever deeper into Depression, South and his young wife Tanya packed their few possessions into their Model T Ford, drove to … Continue reading →

Posted in Desert Life, Free and fun, Looking Back in Time, San Diego Sights, The Natural World | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Border Tourists

Posted on May 20, 2009 by Jeannette De Wyze

The US-Mexican border is so many things to so many people, it’s easy to forget you can go right up to it and touch it.  Sort of. It wasn’t so many centuries ago (less than one) that it was only an … Continue reading →

Posted in Mexico, The Natural World | 6 Comments

Tern Return

Posted on May 16, 2009 by Jeannette De Wyze

The first least terns of the season have returned (as they do every year in the late spring) to build their nests next to the runways at Lindbergh Field, according to the airport’s e-newsletter.  Although I suppose a sharp-eyed passenger … Continue reading →

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Spring Lace

Posted on February 24, 2009 by Jeannette De Wyze

San Diego needs rain, so the recent storms had only one drawback, as far as I was concerned.  All that wind helped to strip off the petals of the flowering pear trees — which are one of the delights of early … Continue reading →

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Rebirth of a Wetland

Posted on February 2, 2009 by Jeannette De Wyze

Of the 17 coastal wetland areas within the San Diego region, the San Dieguito Lagoon once ranked among the biggest. The marsh area alone is believed to have covered more than 600 acres.  But fish and marine creatures weren’t the only ones … Continue reading →

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