They Call Me Jru

Jru is back from vacation and promoting oak trees.

From Jru:
My name is Jru and you might know me from the treesit in Encinitas when I was on t.v. like every day for a week. Glad that's over and of course it would've been nice to save the tree, but here's the good news: This coming friday at La Milpa Organica Farm in Escondido we're having our third full moon music party. This time we'll have daytime demonstrations and workshops starting at 4pm and we'll be planting over 100 native oaks. Come learn how to do it and stay after dark for the music. There will be several bands from reggae to rock to fusion. After 8pm the Cricket Lounge One Star Orchestra will be recruiting anyone from the crowd to join in with makeshift instruments, guitars, mandolins, tamborines, harmonicas and banjos and what not.
...
I would be happy to help represent any green cause. Current workshops include worm bin construction, recycled jewelry making, a presentation by my good friend Theophilos on the realization of the fourth dimension and a presentation by my friend Dan from resurf.org.
Thank you for your support during the treesit and I hope to see you all soon.
Peace,
Jru

No word on if Jru will attend Wednesday night's council meeting where the whole Orpheus tree drama will be publicly discussed by policy makers.

Bloggers note: I emailed Jru and I offered to give up my evening and come on down to city hall to give him a time donation so that he might have his say, which should be interesting.

See Also: Trees vs Views

Historic Encinitas Sandy Beaches and Bluffs

Encinitas Historical Society HQ

Look what I found in the Encinitas Historical Society archives, at the old schoolhouse next to Pacific View.

Noonan Point (aka Swamis) before the SRF

I interpret the speckled band between the sand and the bluff as a strip of exposed cobblestones. Because of early accounts and photos like these, I conclude that cobbles are not alien to our beaches or a diagnostic sign of a bankrupt sand budget.

Moonlight Beach, the Early Years (1940?)

In the foreground and near the D Street zone you can get the sense that the usable beach was wider than today. If you look toward Swamis I don't get the sense that you "could run along the beach between Moonlight and Swamis without getting wet at high tide." That is the critical test for some sand lobbyists.

The high berm doesn't look that far off the bluff face, so it is tough for me to say that the total volume of sand was really that much different than today.

Moonlight Memories Postcard, 1975

JP and I have childhood memories of our beaches being much higher and wider. This postcard provides evidence that our memories were correct. It seems that the 70s and early 80s were the anomaly.

SEE ALSO:
Cobbles present at the beginning of Encinitas
Romancing the cobblestone
Aceti's inspiring quotes about cobbles
Sand in the 60s
The entire sand trilogy

Random Reason Why I Love Leucadia: Geese and Horses

Random Reason why I love Leucadia: Chickens

Leucadia may be the last beach community in southern California where you still see chickens wandering around. Love it.

Discuss Trees on March 11th and 18th

FYI-The Tree Policy put together by the Environmental Commission is being presented to the Encinitas City Council on March 11th.

March 18th the Urban Forest Management Policy (prepared by the Environmental Commission) will be presented to Council for consideration.

*note-can someone confirm the details of this, why two different dates for basically the same topic?

New Trees and New Views

Orpheus Park March 2009

See Also:
What other verbal agreements does the city of Encinitas have?
Local Hero Saves Tree then goes on Vacation

Sand in the 60s

Moonlight Beach, summer of '65

No cobbles can be seen in this picture taken in the summer of 1965.

Our taxpayer funded sand visionaries like to romanticize our beach history. They want us to believe that cobbles did not exist and we had football field wide beaches back in the days before JP and I were born. I don't see an unusually wide beach in the '65 photo and ten years before that photo was taken a large berm of cobbles could be found at D Street.

E Street toward Moonlight, summer 2007

Last summer there was no significant presence of cobbles at Moonlight. The beach built back up as part of the yearly cycle and there was a sandy berm from D Street to Moonlight. Qualitatively, 2007 looks about the same as 1965 to me.

Red line: most recent high tide line.

Blue line: recent high-high tide line.

You don't have to spend much time at the beach to know that the sand coloration changes across the beach face. The high berm is often lighter in color due to differences in the sand composition and moisture content.

One of the things I found interesting in the 1965 photo was that the high berm with the light color sand did not extend down the beach toward Stonesteps. I mark that edge with the blue line. The demarcation that the red line follows is less clear to me. I figure that line follows the high tide line. It is tough to follow once you get to the far bluff. I can't image that it pops out very far once the line gets in front of the bluffs.

Where is the big wide beach of yesteryear?

SEE ALSO:
Cobbles present at the beginning of Encinitas
Romancing the Cobblestone
Aceti's inspiring quotes about cobbles
The entire sand trilogy

Blogger's note: I am absolutely certain that no firefighters are present in any of the photographs.

North Leucadia 101 Eucs, post trim

The eucalyptus trees in the first center median in north Leucadia's coast highway 101 are looking sharp after their recent trimming.
Last month's stormy high winds also gave these trees a good cleaning.
It would be wise for the city of Encinitas to put all the Hwy101 tress on a regular trimming schedule.
There are those in our city who want all the big eucs on Hwy101 removed.
News stories about Leucadia's trees seem to attract angry online comments voicing a hardcore anti-tree sentiment.
Phil Cotton is the city manager of Encinitas. Phil Cotton when at public works, was in charge of street tree maintenance. Before he came to the city he did landscape maintenance. Oddly, there was very little maintenance done to Leucadia's Hwy101 tree canopy during those years.

I heard that the city is going to discuss developing an Urban tree management plan in March.

Tree Tunnels

The above picture is the famous tree tunnel to Koloa (Kauai). Two interesting things about the Koloa Eucalyptus trees: 1) they are 150 years old and 2) they have been repeatedly  shredded clean by hurricanes. The canopy grows back; trees are modular organisms.

Little Oaks

San Diego Oak Woodland

Yesterday, the UT ran a story on the city's developing tree policy. The UT reminded readers of our city's namesake, "After all, this is the city whose very name means “little oaks” in Spanish."

Not a lot of people realize we still have native oaks in Encinitas. In east Encinitas, you could still find a few remnants of coast live oak woodlands 10-15 years ago. Back then, you could find massive coast live oaks like you would find in other California woodlands. You can still find good size specimens down along streams in the riparian zones.

Much more widespread, and still easy to find, are stands of miniature oaks. Older stands will have a canopy tall enough to walk under.

Open space preserve off Manchester Avenue.

Don't be surprised if you find a bunch of native ferns under the oak canopy, especially if you are on a east or north facing slope.In some parts of Olivenhain residents incorporated the oaks into their design plans.

This specimen is probably about 70 years old.

I have oak seedlings from the above tree. If anyone wants to give them a good home I will share. They are drought tolerant. Send me an email.

Bonus Photo:

Coast live oak in a Pasadena front yard.

Nanninga Tribute Monday Feb 23

Bob's tribute is on Monday, February 23rd, One Less Monkey Jumpin' On the Bed at the E St Cafe in downtown Encinitas 6-8 pm.

March 12th at the La Paloma. The Full Moon Poets led by Danny Salzhandler will be hosting and Invitation Only Poetry performance of Bob's poems.

Sign-ups to speak about Bob on stage Monday night are at the DEMA office.

City-wide sidewalk Sale this Saturday

Remember when I used to rant on this blog on how I refuse to spend money outside of Encinitas city limits? Well now it's the hip thing to do.

Support our local businesses this Saturday Feb 21, 9am - 5pm at shops throughout all five communities of Encinitas.

Supporting local businesses supports our friends, neighbors and local revenue funds.

For more info about the Shop Local E campaign
Visit www.BuyLocalE.org to discover discounts, savor special offers, obtain a bumper sticker or post pictures of locals obtaining Encinitas goods and services.

10 reasons to shop locally in Encinitas

Helicopter Crashlands on Sandy Beach

"Thank god there was no cobblestones." says pilot.
Helicopter makes emergency landing on beach

Peder Norby is Everywhere

Peder Norby, former DEMA big wig and pastry chef, current Carlsbad green-home owner, Encinitas Highway 101 Coordinator; was recently appointed to the San Diego County Planning Commission. (That is a photo of Norby and Aceti getting a proclamation from County Supervisor Slater-Price.)

Peder was thrown into the frying pan the first day on the commission. According to the Chaparral Institute, the planning commission conducted a hearing by "Supervisor Bill Horn’s directive asking county staff to develop a massive program to burn, masticate, or graze large portions of San Diego’s backcountry and protected county lands."

The Chaparral Institute edited a youtube video about that meeting.