View from the Black Mountain, San Diego

 

Fire in San Diego viewed from San Clemente

Cabrillo National Monument, San Diego

San Diego Bay

Tijuana viewed from Point Loma

Point Loma, San Diego

Fire in San Diego as viewed from San Clemente Beach

San Diego fire

Everything started on Sunday, October 21st. In the morning Lyuba and I went hiking to Torrey Pines State Park. We came late at about 10 am and it was unusually crowded. I noticed that the waves were stronger than usual. However nothing indicated what was going to come.

I was driving from Carmel Valley to a store in Mission Valley area at about 14.00 in the afternoon. It took about 40 minutes to get there and to do shopping. When I was driving back, at the merge of 5 and 805 I saw very dense smoke that was extending many miles North. The bizarre fact was that there was no smoke at all 40 minutes ago on the way there.
Everything indicated that there is a gigantic fire somewhere. I started to look for the news on the radio and TV, but nothing showed up. American football was everywhere; the usual Sunday stuff.
The first news came from the internet. People in Carmel Valley UTC and La Jolla chat room (at the San Diego Tribune, the local newspaper) were wondering where does the smoke come from. The answer came back that the fire is actually in Ramona, which is about 50 miles east of Carmel Valley. Only then I realized that the winds are extremely strong and carry the smoke and fire at the rate of 20- 40 miles/hour.

Then it became clear that even costal areas can be potentially affected. We left the city for two days, but according tho those who stayed, the fire propagated forward (West) with incredible speed. It reached Rancho Santa Fe in the West. The communities of Rancho Bernardo and Poway were badly hit.

La Valencia Take 2

Museum of Contemporary Art, La Jolla

Solana Beach-Del Mar, San Diego

South of Swami Beach

Just North of Swami Beach, San Diego

Just South of Swami Beach, San Diego

Playing soccer

I played soccer yesterday I have to admit I cannot keep up with the younger guys. The worst of it is, I am getting hurt. I was stumped on my foot with the cleats and my thumb is badly swallen.

Стихи

Ночью слышал я топот.
Это ходят слоны.
Ливень лупит огромные спины
И в слонових глазах
Отражается свет от луны
Лапы строят запруды из тины.
На веревках у дома
Мокнет чье-то белье
Рыб немые стада достают свои зеркальца
Там на берег выходит
Все лесное зверье
И под их языками вода еле слышно колеблется.
Там выходят улитки
Чтоб подставить под дождь свои спины
Там лежит на песке человек измождён.
Выползают на гальку
Крабы в панцирях крепких и алые звезды морские
И дрожат их тельца под дождём

1978

Badminton

Once I played doubles badminton with a very good player (he played competitively in the past). We were doing well but lost eventually ------ I was clearly the worst out of the four on the court -- as physisists put it, I was worse than the rest by one order of magnitude. My partner told me:

" Alexey.... you do not move.... and when you move you move in a wrong place"

Interior of the Church. Island of Gotland, Sweden

Windows Arch, Utah

Delicate Arch #2

Мария Каменкович

Мария Каменкович- молодая недавно умершая поэтесса. Родилась в 1962 году в Санкт-Петербурге, умерла в 2004 году в Германии. Я почти ничего про нее не знаю и стихов ее читал очень мало. Мария написала три книги стихов и занималась переводами.

Я был поражен свежестью ее поэтического голоса - стихи льются как река как будто уже где-то были написаны -- и непонятно почему мы их не знали до этого.

Стихи в журнале Новый Мир

Мария читает свои стихи

Father, Son and The Holy Spirit, from KIrillo-Ferapontov Monastery

Orchestra of Baja California, Mexico

Orchestra of Baja California in Tecate

Multnomah Falls

Canyonlands NP