last weekend, Oakhurst, CA (click to enlarge; xanga does a number on the compression of my images)

The new growth in the plant swelling against the sheath, which at the same time imprisons and protects it, must still be the truest type of progress. Jane Addams

Lions Lighthouse for Sight, Long Beach, California

A mother’s happiness is like a beacon, lighting up the future but reflected also on the past in the guise of fond memories. Honore de Balzac

Moonstone Beach, Cambria, California 2004 (click to enlarge)

Enlightenment does not ask you to be perfect; it simply asks you to find perfection right where you stand. Alan Cohen

Historic Lafayette Hotel in downtown Long Beach, built in 1929.

Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness. Frank Gehry