I took this photo on June 19th at Huntington Beach where I monitor endangered birds every Tuesday morning. I really liked the way the photo came out and vowed to find the surfer with the long hair and give him a copy. Several weeks have passed and I still had not seen him on the beach. Since the birds have all fledged, today is the last I'll be heading down to the beach to watch them. As my friend and I are getting out of my car to start our two hour walk to monitor the birds, I see the long-haired surfer loading his van with his distinctive surfboard. He's there with the other guy in the photo, his wife and two kids. I try desperately to find the photo on my phone but cannot so I approach him anyways and tell him about it. I say if he gives me his email address I'll email the pic to him. He says cool, he'd like that very much. He then inquires about our role in saving an endangered bird so we tell him about the program and other birds we monitor as well. He said he has a home in Costa Rica and a turtle sanctuary and release center on both coasts of the country. Would we be interested in being a volunteer in Costa Rica helping bring back the numbers of Leatherback and Green turtles to the world? My friend Tina and I look at each other and say, heck yes! Who knows ... We may be living in Costa Rica for a while sometime in the future. But for the time being, I'll stay local and continue to take beach photos. :-) This post was edited by jodi_in_so_calif on Tue, Aug 20, 13 at 20:43

I haven't seen a Monarch yet this year. Nice one! This is one of many little round "button" fungi that popped up after our long rain. It was the largest--less than an inch in diameter.

Plumeria. The photography leaves a lot to be desired, but I love the colors of this one. Rusty

4 years ago I planted the white Phlox 'David' and 20 feet away from it, I planted the deep pink Phlox 'Nicky'. They apparently got together and had children in several shades of pink.. This one is my favorite.