Cherries!

Check out these cherries from Brian and Ivett's cherry tree.  Fruit does grow in the desert!  The bush with the red flowers is another type of fruit, but I can remember the name at the moment.

A visit to the UCLA Campus

We took a drive to Westwood to visit the University of California, Los Angeles campus.  UCLA is huge!  It has nearly 40,000 students on a 419 acre campus.  It's so big, you can buy a bicycle in the campus bookstore!  The university was founded in 1919, and the buildings have a stunning brick architecture.

The library entrance was so nice, that was had to see the inside.

This alcove seemed like a great place to take a picture.

Brick arches.  Splendiferous!

The reading room makes me want to ... read.

Even the stairs leading up to the reading room inspire your imagination.

As I said, the campus is big, and it's also very green!

UCLA sports teams are known as the Bruins, and bruin is another name for brown bear, which you probably already guessed by looking at the picture of this bronze statue.  The flowers and photos are part of a memorial for John Wooden, who coached the UCLA Bruins basketball team to 10 national championships.  John Wooden was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach.

Snake!

The other day a snake showed up in the back yard.  Brian found it when the dogs started barking at it.

We didn't know if it was a rattlesnake or not, so the situation was a bit tense.

The snake was coiled up and making a lot of noise.

Fortunately, as you can see, this guy (or gal) is definitely not a rattlesnake.  Clue #1: the head doesn't have a wide triangular shape (to hold all of that venom).  Clue #2: the tail doesn't have a rattle.

The snake's motion is very graceful, but the dogs don't seem to appreciate it.

Even if it's not a rattlesnake, it should be given plenty of space!

Poppies!

We went on a road trip to see the California Poppies, which bloom every year and turn the hills a beautiful shade of orange.  The poppies close their petals when it's cold or windy, as you can see in this photo.  The wind was so strong that it held me against Brian's hand.  I felt like I was flying!  

We followed some dirt roads out in the desert.  The Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve gets overwhelmed with Poppy Peepers (the multitudes of people who drive out to see the poppies), so we found a  poppy field of our own.  It was nice and peaceful. 

I wanted to drive, but I don't have a license.

Poppy fields also make great grazing grounds for sheep.

Taking a closer look at the poppies.

Taking a very close look at a poppy.  Beautiful!

Just hanging out with the poppies.

Taking in the entire scene.

Blue sky, green field and orange poppies.

Poppies are everywhere!

Poppies aren't the only fantastic flora to see in the Mojave Desert.  The Joshua tree, or if you prefer its scientific name, the Yucca brevifolia, is a member of the Agave family, but it looks like something from a Dr. Seuss book.  These magnificent tress are also protected, and the Joshua Tree National Park is nearby.

Joshua's have beautiful flowers.

What happened to the truck?

The traffic on the way home was brutal!

Rocket Science

Ivett and I went to Purdue University to visit Prof. William Anderson, a renowned rocket scientist at Purdue's Zucrow Laboratories, which is the nation's largest university propulsion laboratory.  Prof. Anderson is experimenting with a new hydrogen facility to help NASA improve the cooling efficiency and performance of the J-2X rocket engine.  The J-2X engine is a critical piece of hardware for future missions to Mars and the moon.  Here is a picture of Prof. Anderson showing me one of his research facilities.  Colin, I must say that researchers are doing a great job paving the way for future space exploration.  It's going to be up to you and your generation to pick up their work and create a future where human civilization extends beyond the earth.  Study hard, my friend!  I can't wait for my great grandson Flat Stanley the V^th to tell us about his trip to Mars!

Prof. Anderson is showing me his research facility at Purdue.

SNOW!!!!!

This picture was taken on April 12 just after a fresh snowfall in the mountains!  Check out the snow line.  Even though  Ivett and Brian's house is at an altitude of 2500 feet, it still wasn't quite high enough to get any snow.  That suited me just fine.  The snow was pretty to look at, and we didn't have to shovel it!

  

Cheers!

 ~ Flat Stanley

Orchids!

Hey Colin!  This post is long overdue!  Sorry that I'm so tardy.  I have a lot of pictures to show you.  Check out these orchids that Ivett is growing.  Orchids (known scientifically as Orchidaceae) are a huge family of flowering plants with well over 20,000 species!  In fact, this wonderful planet of ours has more orchid species than bird species.  The orchids that Ivett has cultivated must be the most beautiful.  

It turns out that the kitchen window is a great place to grow orchids.

Both of these orchids are Phalaenopsis, even though their coloring is different.

Be back soon,

  ~ Flat Stanley