Photo by Kevin Cole:        Big, Bad & Ugly Surf Contest 2009

Photo by Dennis Young:        Morro Rock

Photo by Malcolm Riordan:        USCG Surf Boats

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Peregrine Falcon image on banner by Cleve Nash

Art Talk by Jayne Behman

It is uncommon to see paintings of Palm Trees or Cacti in coastal galleries.  Not so strange a sight in Palm Springs, California or Hawaii art galleries.  Gallery walls in Wyoming show off Cowboys and portraits of American Indians are a standard fair in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is quite befitting that our local galleries tout our familiar scenery; cows, hillsides, barns, the ocean, and sea life.  Read More

Genie's Pocket by Jeanie Greensfelder

Mary's Gold (Flowers once offered as coins to the Virgin)

Driving down the highway
an orange line on the horizon
becomes a field of marigolds,
rows and rows of blooms
planted to parent blossoms
around the world.

And now in June they create
a California gold rush.    Read More

Great Shots by Jerry Kirkhart & Steve Corey

Our photo editors bring you some of their favorite coastal images for the month. This month's featured local photographers include Ashala Taylor, Linda Tanner, Jerry Kirkhart, Donald Quintana, Mimi Ditchie, Steve Corey, Beth Sargent, Nan Calora, Cleve Nash, Ken Bondy, Cheryl Strahl, Pam Link, Teddy Llovet, Anita Ritenour, Howard Ignatius, Mike Baird, James Crawford, Dawn Beattie, Sandy Harris, Matt Beechan, and Rob DeGraff. See More

Observations of a Country Squire by George Zidbeck

Fatal wildlife casualties regularly present their carcasses along our north county roadways. We may not inure ourselves to the slaughter of gophers, squirrels, miscellaneous birds, raccoons, skunks, possums, coyotes, and deer, but we seldom decelerate our steel chariots from our appointed rounds. Moreover, road departments generally clear the remains in short order. Hardly ever do we view any singular corpse for more than a day. Sometimes though, for those of us who live off the main thoroughfares, we observe many animals who, albeit seriously crippled, survive an auto collision. Read More

Photo by Howard Ignatius: Valencia Peak