Category: Photos

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The outside of the former Great Maple restaurant at Del Amo Fashion Center. It opened with the new upscale wing of the mall, and closed suddenly about a year later. (Like, people showed up to work and the door was locked.) Nothing’s moved in since then, and of course nothing’s likely to move in for a while now.

The outside of a building with several tall screens of square patterns in front of it.

The facade reminds me a little of the facade on the old medical building that used to stand near the corner. It was demolished for the parking lot that came along with the mall expansion. And I have to wonder if someone was actually trying to keep a little bit of the old building’s character alive?

A two-story building with tiles and several vertical screens with square-and-diagonal patterns and an awning.

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A Pokemon looking at a door with a sign saying that the place is closed.

Sneasel is disappointed that the museum is closed.

A turtle-like Pokemon on a rock in a pond, near a real turtle on a concrete berm.

Turtwig has found a new friend.

(I had such a hard time trying to get it to face the right direction, which is why it’s still a little bit off. At least I didn’t need to worry about the real turtle wandering away while I set up the shot.)

A frog-like Pokemon next to a real statue of a frog.

I don’t have a clever caption for this one, but thought it was cool that I caught the Croagunk right there while trying to decide what to do with the frog statue.

Incidentally, the frog statue is a Pokestop. And so is the historical cabin in the Sneasel picture.

A spherical Pokemon with lots of protrusions next to a sign about Covid-19's ability to stay on surfaces.

I think Koffing is supposed to look like a magnified grain of dust or pollen…but it looks an awful lot like a coronavirus, too.

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Finally made it out to the botanical gardens up in the hills for a hike. They’ve actually stayed open this whole time by requiring reservations to limit the number of people on the grounds at a time. (Also face masks, distancing, and closing off benches and some sections.)

Ironically there were more people there than I usually see. The limits must be against an increased demand due to the fact that they were actually open!

More photos on Photog.Social and from this and other visits on Flickr.

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Hummingbird on a wire with blurred wings.

A hummingbird spotted a couple of days ago. I don’t often get good photos of hummingbirds, since they tend to move so quickly (and sometimes when they do pause, it’s somewhere I don’t feel like I should be aiming a camera, like a neighbor’s yard.)

I still wouldn’t call this one a good shot, but it’s at least an interesting one!

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I mentioned last week that Manhattan Beach had closed all their parks outright, rather than just closing equipment and facilities. Over the weekend heat wave, they reopened at least Polliwog Park, taking down the caution tape from the perimeter and instead wrapping individual playgrounds, gazebos, sculptures and even picnic tables with metal fencing.

And signs. Signs and fences everywhere.

Park with signs for pandemic rules and fences around everything.

I’d been able to see at least some of the signs from the side of the road last week, reminding you of the Covid-19 mantras: Cover your face. Keep six feet apart. Stay home if you’re sick.

And then there were signs like the one above explaining that yes, the park open again — but only on a trial basis, and you have to follow the rules! There was even a police car parked on the lawn to show they meant business, though I’m not sure where the officer was. It’s a big park.

And then there were these, posted on all those portable fences.

Empty playground with a temporary fence and a sign reminding you just how long the coronavirus can last on surfaces like, well, playground equipment.

Some cities around here have just wrapped their playgrounds in caution tape. Manhattan Beach wants to make sure you know why it’s closed.

Even the interactive art installations.

Red gate/ring sculpture/bench with a fence around it.