Cheshire Cat Photo Blog: Your Top 10 in 2010 (whole year)
Happy New Year! It’s a brand-new year, so it is time for my “Top 10” list of YOUR most requested blog entries for 2010! I understand that older entries have been around longer and have had more time to get “votes” (and also to be forgotten 
)! It will be interesting to see how the entries for the WHOLE YEAR stack up against those for the first half of 2010, or those for all of 2009, or even earlier!
So here are your 10 most-requested blog entries from 2010, in reverse order, with my comments:
10. US Attorney General: CA pot to stay illegal • Saturday, October 16th, 2010 This blog entry was about a non-news item before election day in the fall. Proposition 19 failed. Had it passed, there might have been serious confrontations between the points of view of California and the U.S. Government. Possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use is now decriminalized in the state of California.
09. Sunset State Beach • Friday, March 28th, 2008 What can I say? The history and plant and animal communities of Sunset are all fascinating. A March visit found the park overflowing with Bermuda buttercups! Many Californians like to visit the coast, fair weather and foul, summer, autumn, winter, and spring – the “pull” of the Pacific Ocean is so strong!
08. Yesterday, in Yosemite Valley • Friday, April 17th, 2009 I called this my “stream of unconsciousness” narrative of a one-day trip to and from Yosemite Valley in April. I usually try to photograph Yosemite Valley in April, when there is an abundance of water everywhere and snow is present at the higher elevations. Be patient with me, let your mind drift, and enjoy!
07. For a few tons more…. • Friday, November 26th, 2010 On Thanksgiving Day, authorities “busted” a sophisticated marijuana-smuggling operation from a personal residence in Tijuana, Mexico to two warehouses in San Diego, through a branched tunnel. Some 30 tons of marijuana (worth $17-20 million WHOLESALE) was confiscated, equivalent to 16-17 million 1-gram joints. The bust seemed to be a “replay” of an earlier 30-ton-bust-in-a-tunnel. Both busts were SMALL (believe it or not) when compared with the 134-ton amount in another, earlier bust (blog favorite #10 above). There appears to be a cycle of major marijuana busts followed by multiple killings in Mexico, and the cycle of violence looks as though it will not end anytime soon.
06. Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo • Thursday, December 27th, 2007 This Spanish mission, often called simply, “Mission Carmel,” was Father Junípero Serra‘s favorite. His remains are interred at the foot of the altar. You can view his quarters when you visit. Mission Carmel was designated a Minor Basilica by Pope John XXIII, and in 1987, Pope John Paul II visited the Mission in his tour of the United States.
05. Mission Santa Cruz • Saturday, April 12th, 2008 The ill-fated Mission Santa Cruz, across the San Lorenzo River from a town (Branciforte) founded for vagabonds and criminals and their families, was a victim of nature, neglect, and looting by its neighbors. There would be even less of the Mission than there is, if it were not for the generosity of Gladys Sullivan Doyle, who used her own funds to constuct a half-size replica in 1931.
04. Mission San Juan Bautista • Tuesday, December 4th, 2007 This beautiful Mission, in the charming small town (roughly 1500 people) of San Juan Bautista (St. John the Baptist), figured prominently in Alfred Hitchcock‘s film “Vertigo,” once had a steeple added to the original structure, but the steeple was destroyed by fire. Hitchcock added a bell tower (central to Jimmy Stewart‘s affliction) to the film by using matte paintings, scale models, and trick photography. The photoblog entry describes other historic building around the plaza as well. If you are able to visit, be sure to take some time to explore the picturesque small town itself, on foot.
03. Mission San Francisco de Asís (Dolores) and Basilica • Tuesday, January 8th, 2008 Mission San Francisco de Asis (“La Misión Dolorosa“) is the oldest surviving structure in San Francisco. The settlement was named for St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of San Francisco. The name of “Mission Dolores” refers to a nearby creek, Arroyo de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores or “Creek of Our Lady of Sorrows.” Just in case you forget who the “immigrants” are (ALL of us! ) you can visit the graves of the first “mayor” (Alcalde) of San Francisco, Don Francisco de Haro, and the first governor of Alta Calfornia, Don Luis Antonio Argüello, in the Mission’s cemetery.
02. Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa • Monday, January 21st, 2008 California’s only “L-shaped” Mission, was founded near “a stream of the finest water” near “la Cañada de los Osos” (Valley of the Bears) where half-starved members of the Portolà expedition killed and ate meat of the California grizzly bear (now extirpated). The Valley of the Bears had also come to the rescue of Mission Carmel and Mission San Antonio de Padua in 1772, when those missions were near starvation.
And the #1 favorite:
01. Mission Santa Inés • Sunday, August 16th, 2009 I am glad that you enjoyed the photographic images of La Misión de Santa Inés (Mission of St. Agnes [1]), sometimes spelled Mission Santa Ynes, as much as I enjoyed taking them. Bring your tripod. There is no flash photography permitted inside. At the same time, you will not be hurried or crowded. The Mission is in Solvang, California, and it became one of my favorite missions on my first visit. The blog entry has MANY photos, both inside and outside the Mission. The Mission is an active parish church as well, and it is rich with history and stories. Prepare to take time to relax, and enjoy the beautiful gardens, now ornamental, but once the location of an important food source. I am glad that we finally took time to explore the Mission, on a beautiful day, after passing by that exit on Highway 101 so many times.
Cheshire Cat Photo, your guide to California’s Wonderland, wishes all of you a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2011. I can’t wait until Chinese New Year, as well – my wife and I are both “rabbits.”
-Bill at
Cheshire Cat Photo™ – “Your Guide to California’s Wonderland™”
You can view higher-resolution photos (*generally* 7-30 megabytes, compressed) at the Cheshire Cat Photo™ Pro Gallery on Shutterfly™, where you can also order prints and gifts decorated with the photos of your choice from the gallery. The Cheshire Cat Photo Store on Zazzle contains a wide variety of apparel and gifts decorated with our images of California. Framed prints and prints on canvas can be ordered from our galleries on redbubble®. All locations are accessible from here. Be a “Facebook Fan” of Cheshire Cat Photo here! If you don’t see what you want or would be on our email list for updates, send us an email at info@cheshirecatphoto.com.
©2011 William F. Hackett. All Rights Reserved.
