iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Sunrise/moonrise 10-04-2026. Santa Cruz, California. Captured by my wife Janice (aka Mimi) using her iPhone 9 while walking the dog. She says, "Cheers everybody, stay cool today!" (predicted temp 100 ºF; 89 ºF realtime.

Pretty good for an iPhone 9. Clouds yellow to orange, pretty spectacular. View is of course to the east, trees in foreground.

Me? Fast asleep!

Moonrise taken with iPhone 9 at same time as sunrise photo. Nicely framed by the trees, Mimi!

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Touch of fall, Santa Cruz, California, 10-03-2026, 01:10 PM; 93º F in the shade. Have a cool weekend!

Fall colors, mostly yellows, reds at upper right.

Fall colors, mostly yellows, flanked by reds.

Bougainvillae, back yard, facing riparian corridor.

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

El Niño at the moment; Monterey Bay, CA. 😁

El Niño report, 3:34 PM, 9/25/2026. Monterey Bay, California. Dazzling, clear blue sky, sun. Framed by various trees. Hope your weather’s like this! 😁

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Inspired by the brilliant Katie Phang (@katiephang.bsky.social)! 1. Mom (Ruth, "Ronnie") & Pop (Henry, "Hank"). 2. Pop, the boy from Brooklyn, was thrilled by his promotion to 1st Lt. (Anti-aircraft battalion, 90mm) 3. Me giving out orders to troops. 4. The buck stopped here! (see ALT).

My parents! I was their first kid, followed by my awesome brother and sister. Pop lived to 98y and mom, a true redhead, tragically succumbed to ovarian cancer in her early 50s.

Our ancestors escaped from Russia during the late 1890's, most ended up in Brooklyn. All of my uncles served in WWII. I'm so proud of my "service" to our country as depicted in the following images, which I tried to restore to the extent possible.

Pop, ooops, 1st Lt. Tronick, giving me my first orders and teaching me army jokes. December, 1944

That's me screaming at the troops telling them to obey orders (or maybe I was just coming off a New Year's hangover).

1st Lt. Pop was stationed all over the US, ending up in the Philippines; and after being stationed in LA, my Brooklynite parents thought living in LA would be Heaven. Pop was a die-hard Dodgers fan, even selling peanuts at Ebetts field.

We were so excited when the Dodgers moved to LA! Now we're waiting for another World Series victory. (Mom always ironed through all the games for good luck.)

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Beautiful shot! Note that it’s “Steamer.” 😁 Cheers! Steve

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Monarch Butterfly "Tree" Natural Bridges State Park, Santa Cruz, CA. December 2011. Overwhelming! Hope they'll return in such numbers this year! Have a great week!

Pine trees covered by Monarch butterflies (red-yellow). Grove is directly across from the Santa Cruz Lighthouse. I'm not certain that I previously posted this image. In any case, it's always fun to view. (PS tweaks; original TIFF = 19MB, this image jpeg = 2MB.

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Happy #Caturday! 1. Sasha charging up. But I don't know if she lost her calendar or just gave in to showing herself or thinks she's always invisible on #Caturday. 2. Sasha fully charged but isn't wasting energy.

Sasha waiting to use the battery charger, and maybe she'll organize the cables.

Sasha fully charged but conserving energy.

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Behind our back fence, but wish they would stay in the forest vs eating our plants in the front yard garden. From 12/2/2024.

I may have already posted this image, sorry if you've seen it before: Mom, center, and nursing baby black-tailed deer behind our house. Anyone know how to arrange posts in reverse chronological order?

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Overlooked! Pygmy Nuthatches are so abundant where we live that I realized I hadn't posted a photo (out of zillions I've taken).

Pygmy Nuthatch sitting on the birdbath, out of focus red flower to the right. They gather in bunches at the feeders and in the birdbath.

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Camouflage Failure! Sasha, you don’t have much time to turn invisible!

Sasha’s failed the #Caturday invisibility test. Her pal Ella immediately found her under the rocker.

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Downy Woodpecker!! We've been hearing Downy woodpeckers (Merlin Bird ID'd them) but never see them. We recently put out a suet/peanut feeder, and they magically showed up. The image needed some work - had to shoot thru glass at an angle, so PS was applied. We were vary excited!!

Downy woodpeckers finally landed where we could see 'em, due to using suet with peanuts ($6 with & $1 without peanuts, respectively). I think the blurry white feathers on the back could be due to DOF, non-ideal shooting conditions, etc. Anyway, we were very excited! (Did lots of research on distinguishing Downys from Harries.)

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Lonesome dahlia. Why? Front yard, 09/03/2026

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Sasha Reharging on #Caturday! Today it was in the 80s F, and Sasha was enjoying the heat but needed recharging (and I closed the blinds).

Sasha was lovin' the heat at the west-facing window, but eventually was starting to get fried and needed a recharge. Foreground - flash, then battery chargers (3 different types), then Sasha.

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Cognitive Decline I gave my wife this bouquet for our anniversary. Could've been worse, but I mistakenly chose one that plays Happy Birthday!

Happy Anniversary card (not shown), wait, what do you mean it plays Happy Birthday?! The card I gave her sings Happy Birthday not Happy Anniversary. Roses and dahlias are the main flowers. I'm never going to stop getting maximum flak from the kids & grandkid. I'm going to get some neuron/synapse booster.

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Two of three missing photos that I wasn't able to upload to BlueSky yesterday. The last photo in this burst still won't upload - I changed file properties with no luck. Anyway, hope you're enjoying the weekend. Anna's Humming bird.

Anna's Humming Bird - One of the photos I couldn't upload to BlueSky yesterday. Part of a burst. Note the positions of the opened wings.

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Best I could do on this #Caturday, with Sasha bird watching and not being interested in turning around.

Sasha: in the highest tunnel; black & white markings, and long hair, watching the birdies. I wish you Happy #Caturday on her behalf.

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Anna's Hummingbird waiting to use the sugar & jelly feeders (shutter speed 1/1000). Happy Weekend!

Anna's Hummingbird(s) make daily visits to our sugar water and grape jelly feeders as well as to our fuchsias (no luck with the latter). I had 3 more similar photos, but the images didn't load!? (1-2 MB files). :(

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Back Again! Haven't seen or heard other orioles, except for this one. Note the jelly in its beak. So it likes it here vs San Diego (smart bird!)? (The lighting was insufficient, so I had to "rescue" the image with PS.)

I thought the orioles left Santa Cruz, migrating to the San Diego area. This image was underexposed, and I did the best I could with a Photoshop rescue. The bird is at the center - yellow belly, black and white wings, jelly in its beak. This photo was taken today. Think of a name if it decides to apply as a citizen of Santa Cruz.

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Still here!! Thought the oriole was going to stay "hidden," but were surprised that it didn't.

We thought all of the orioles had left us, but this one has been staying around. The bird is behind the bushes, midleft; and I included the red flowers (midright edge) as a flash of color.

The oriole (midframe) decided to give use a nice view. Red flowers at the midleft and -right positions provide a nice color contrast. Hope the "O" sticks around for a while.

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Last oriole of the season! Actually, another one just flew by. See you next spring!

Juvenile, female oriole (Bullock's?) perched on a deck rail; out-of-focus yellow tree serving as background color. So sorry these beautiful creatures are going south. We'll miss their chirps - see you next spring!

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

These little beauties have been around the house for a while, but not visible (per Merlin Bird). This is a house finch, not a purple finch (per Audubon, Cornell, etc.). Haven't seen more since last week.

The house finch shown here is often mistaken for a purple finch, so I made certain before concluding that this is a house finch. For the techies, you may notice the not-great background and a bit-off sharpness, although a bit of grain sometimes helps. Nevertheless, I was excited to see them, instead of just hearing them.

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

These photos were initially not intended for posting, but Surprise!, a likely unwelcome dinner guest was observed trying to find a place at the table (look very closely). Hope you enjoy the weekend!

I've been trying to capture "cute" photos of this "mommy-O" and her offspring (perching on jelly dish). When I was editing them, I noticed a potential dinner guest. Look very closely to the areas near the yellow tree. Note that I had my "viewing by forensic image analyzer" filter turned on.
The jelly dish is about 30yo and has helped raise hooded orioles & grosbeaks, but it doesn't make for great photos. (I lost the straightened version.)

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Not surprising. www.latimes.com/environment/... Here are some representative photos (not "winners" by any means) for you to consider. Monterey Bay, California, USA

Monterey Bay "Food Chain." Gulls flying above 3 orcas surrounded by sea lions (dinner guests or the main course?).

Orcas making it rain! Overwhelming to watch. I count 5 spouts.

If I was the ship's (The Sea Wolf II) captain approaching the orca, I'd start my turn now (and hope that giant fin doesn't follow!). Hope future generations will still be enjoying unintrusive whale-watching cruises.

This young orca (just behind adult's dorsal fin) seems to be enjoying making it rain.

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

Happy Weekend! 1. Sasha was getting tired of hiding on #Caturday and/or not receiving sufficient (by her standards) Likes. So she included her Doppelgänger. 2. Sasha back to "work" organizing my cables/devices, etc.

Happy #Caturday! The "real" Sasha's on the left and her Doppelgänger on the right. Note her special hair treatment on the lower far right. She was actually waiting to be fed. Note that this photo was not properly "tweaked," because I thought she might run away before I got my iPhone out.

Sasha (upper right by green light) caught sleeping on the job (cable/device tech). I didn't know she was back there, until given away by here snores!

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Can anyone ID this oriole? Searched "forever" (Cornell, Audubon, etc.). My guess is that it's an immature Bollock's (black streak behind the eye). Note the Audubon's remark: ..."but some are not safely identified." Thanks!

I think this is an immature Bullock's oriole, The light black behind the eye is characteristic of a Bullock's. I must've looked at every oriole posted online and consulted the Audubon, Cornell, etc. This was its only encounter so far. And the orange color is not grape jelly!

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Oops! Forgot to attach photo! 2.1 lbs.

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Lift-off! Male hooded oriole. I don't remember if he was taking off or landing. I may be reflected in his eye and top off his beak. Nevertheless, I think I nailed the DOF, shutter speed, and exposure😀.

Adult, male hooded oriole, taking off or landing - don't remember. We've had a great summer so far watching the orioles raise their young and serenading us with their different beautiful calls.

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Happy August! These buds (dahlias) are for you!

First bloomer! Dahlia and her developing siblings. Captured using a Nikon 70-200mm. All photos in this post were taken under ambient lighting.

Dahlia and more of her developing siblings. Ambient light. Captured using a Nikon 70-200mm, which doubles as a great macro. Dealing with variable lighting conditions is always a fun challenge.

Four bloomies are here, but you can see two new "buddies" behind the "tallest flower" (left) and to the right of the rightmost flower. Both are yellow.

Image of a purple dahlia acquired using an iPhone 12 Pro Max, which I rarely use for photography. Note that the only adjustments were made with PS' Topaz noise & sharpness filters.

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Although there are a zillion beautiful and dramatic photos of hummers, I've posted this noisy and out-of-focus photo, because the feeder rarely receives sufficient light to illuminate the gorget (Anna's Hummingbird).

Out of many trips to the feeder, this was a big surprise, because the sun rarely illuminates the gorget. Although technically insufficient, this was a real surprise.
I found that PS now includes AI denoise and sharpening filters that work great.

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Staying Cool & Hydrated Young hooded oriole at the birdbath.

Nice to have several offspring of one mating pair this summer. Here's one chillin'. The orioles should be traveling down south (San Diego area) in a few weeks. They'll all be missed!

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Too hot where you are? The Bandon-Cannon beach areas will be in the 60s coming this week. Or just go regardless to enjoy this wonderland.

Three "sea stacks" at Cannon Beach just south of "Haystack Rock." Last glimpse of the setting sun.

Sea stack near Cannon Beach. Note the large swells in the background.

Meet the Haystack Rock family. If you go, plan to go about an hour before sunset and stay 'till all the color has gone, or whenever you want. It may get chilly.

Lost my memory of the name of his spectacular area (and I can't find the metadata). Nevertheless, this is a fantastic area, likely between Cannon Beach & Bandon. Please don't hesitate to respond if you know the area.

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Female hooded orioles - Splish-splash - taking advantage of July weather.

Female hooded orioles arriving for the evening bath & meal, although ATC was cutting it very close. Note that the jelly feeder & the doggie water bowl are about 30yo.
All of the attached 4 images are obviously underexposed, don't why - everytime I use different PS settings in my workflow, something goes wrong.

Young female hooded oriole taking a quick dip (rollover). Tail's up!

Young female hooded oriole doing a roll-over. Note closed eye.

Female baby hooded oriole (Audubon-approved scientific nomenclature) using our favorite water bowl. "Hey mom, see I'm not drowning! Don't worry!"

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

Sasha's upset about the d## in the first photo and told me I need to learn how to crop. Otherwise, she wishes all a Happy #Caturday.

Ella, in the background, wondering if Sasha will have a fit.

Sasha in her fluff #Caturday pose without that pesky dog.

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Happy #Caturday! Sasha requisitioned the dirty clothes hamper, guess we'll have to go to the laundromat.

Sasha's claimed the clothes hamper for her #Caturday enjoyment.

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Happy summer! Daddy & mommy black-headed grosbeaks. Hope to post the baby next.

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

Are you kidding me?! Just noticed I have 2K followers! Thanks so much to everybody for making Bluesky such a terrific resource! ❤️📸

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

Baby (fledgling) Hooded Oriole! This is "our" first baby this spring. As usual, I had to run to get my camera and hope the settings were correct. So please don't expect perfect exposures. Note the red feathers under the beak (Fig. 2), but they were transient.

Fledgling Hooded Oriole. Spotted him a few days ago sitting on the deck rail. Very exciting that she/he made it through the high winds.

First visit by this little cutie. This beauty is our Highlight of the year.

Baby Oriole deliberately (we hope) posing among the flowers. A bit under-exposed, but I will be fully prepared to acquire better images by the next visit.

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Dinner time! Watching TV on the couch, and then Oriole_Dash showed up. There was little light, and I had to shoot through a window. Images not high quality because of "almost" impossible conditions. Some Photoshop tweaks were applied.

Male hooded oriole preparing dinner (insect legs protruding from his mouth). He was waiting his turn to feed the babies in the nest under the eaves.

Female hooded oriole (right-center) getting ready to fly to the nest with dinner. Male oriole sitting on branch above and to the left, but out-of-focus, because I had to use wide open aperature.

"Mommy-O" posing on branch, ready to deliver grasshopper for dinner.

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

How do you camoflage yourself if you're bright yellow? Find a tree with yellow leaves. Didn't notice him at first. Nothing like birding while you're working!

Hooded male oriole (center) trying to become invisible. Took forever to get these images. If you look closely, the image is very noisy because of shooting through double-pane window, wrong lens, etc.

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

"Mimi of the Blooms" caring for her "Bloomies."

Intense debate about posting this image of Mimi, but I won. Pink and red rhododendrons surrounding her.

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

Sasha's latest attempt to devise a #Caturday hiding place. Weaknesses: When Sasha attacks "prey" outside the tunnel from within, it's really noisy. She makes lots of noise when she merely walks through it (calls it her tunnel of doom). You can see through some sections of the tunnel from the top.

She should be asleep instead of finding prey (typically, our little white Havanese.

She's not using her cat-detection device.

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

Wishing you a Happy May! Our Rhododendrons & Azaleas are about 50% bloomed; today's weather overcast, misty, chilly (perfect for photograpy.

About 75% of the rhodo's (pink and red) and azaleas (bottom right) have bloomed. My wife's the "bloom-meister" and nomenclature guru.

Touch of sunlight at top right of image. The next wave of mature bloomies coming soon (blooms - yellow/red) scattered about bush).

Azeleas on right (orange-ish); rhodo's on left. Took this from the back deck with my 200mm-500mm "macro."

Little buddies (aka bloomies?) starting to bloom. Bush located along back fence. Nice combination of rhodo's (red & pink).

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

Glamour boy (black-headed male grosbeak) looking for jelly.

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

Prettiest bird in the woods asking, “Where’s the jelly today?”

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

House painting is painful and should be avoided at all costs; however, Sasha enjoys it.

Sasha enjoying the view from her furniture pile, has no problem watching us paint.

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Say "Goodbye" to great weather. Male Hooded (thanks to eric-mendelson.bsky.social for the correction!) Oriole enjoying the sun yesterday (4/19/26). The "Daddy-O" was perched outside my office window. Enjoy the week!

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Dear Sasha, So why do you think this will be a better hiding place than using the sink ( #LateCaturday #Caturday #TV)? OK, hope you come up with a better one by next week.

Sorry! Late #Caturday! Sasha thinks that hiding behind the TV is better than using the sink. TV on the left, Sasha in the middle, part of TV shelf on the right. Pink & white Sasha-locators hanging through her fluff.

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Steve Tronick @geefadj.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

April 16, 2026: "No static at all." View from Steamer Lane, Santa Cruz, CA. My alternate interpretation of this famous Steely Dan lyric would reflect the intense blue sky, calm atmosphere with air at perfect temperatures. But these conditions will be replaced by rain on Monday. Happy Weekend!

Looking east, and taken along the fence above Steamer Lane. Colorful ice plant and breathtaking blue dominate the view. Warm and calm water as well at pleasant temps, & "Nothin' but blues and Elvis." (or chill out!).

Looking north from Steamer Lane to Mt. Loma Prieta. Yes, the famous one.
Iimage taken along the fence above Steamer Lane. Colorful ice plant and breathtaking blue sky & water dominate the view. Warm and calm water as well at pleasant temps, & "Nothin' but blues and Elvis." (or chill out!).

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