Category: Photo

Photo by Joe WilcoxJul 16, 20259:34 pm

Tire Planters

Believe it, or not, the Featured Image is from one of the alleys in my San Diego neighborhood of University Heights. I used Nikon Zf and NIKKOR Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR lens to capture the moment on May 19, 2025. Vitals: f/11, ISO 200, 1/160 sec, 24mm; 3:05 p.m. PDT.

I typically edit photos from RAW, but this one is a JPEG straight from the camera—unaltered and composed as shot. I like the simplicity and oddity of the tire planters set against bamboo stalks. The things people put, or in this case keep, in one of the alleys.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJul 11, 20259:35 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Plump

Unquestionably, this balcony catio is the best that I have seen in the neighborhood—well, so far. I nearly missed the Calico, as my wife and I walked by on May 18, 2025. Location withheld.

The Featured Image comes from Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. Vitals: f/3.4, ISO 40, 1/125 sec, (synthetic) 230mm (digital and optical zoom); 10:17 a.m. PDT. For nickname: Plump, which I hope offends no one—least of all the owner. Our Neko is a bit rotund, too, so I understand putty-tats with big appetites.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJul 9, 20258:51 pm

Scene of the Dine

Nothing exciting happens in the quiet village of University Heights—until it does. Today is Wednesday. On Sunday, early evening, U.S. Vice President JD Vance and his San Diego County-native wife Usha Vance dined at the Soichi sushi restaurant on Adams Ave. between Alabama and Mississippi. He and the Second Lady had come to the area for an awards ceremony.

Call me Mr. Oblivious. I had no idea. But had I heard the chanting protestors many blocks away, me and my camera would have rushed out the door. Best I can do is the Featured Image, taken yesterday, using Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. Vitals: f/1.7, ISO 32, 1/400 sec, 23mm (film equivalent); 11:07 a.m. PDT. Composed as shot.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJul 6, 20258:57 pm

The Cats of University Height: Spaz

I hope you really like cats. The backlog is enormous, and this is the first addition since March 2025. Yikes! So feline frenzy will overwhelm this website for a little while, starting with Spaz—and that’s a real name!

Spaz and owner lived on Alabama when I took the Featured Image on May 31; they have since gone elsewhere. The longhair is the one-hundred-sixth kitty seen along the street, somewhere between boundaries Adams and Lincoln, since the series start in October 2016; that’s out of 607 profiles, including this one.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJul 2, 20259:53 pm

Don’t Come Around Here No More

A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon news story “When did America’s public libraries become homeless encampments?” from Conservative Blaze Media. I thought: Yeah. Because that has been the situation with the carport at San Diego Public Library University Heights branch for years. I often wondered why homeless men (mostly) and (fewer) women chose the location.

While I link to the story, published on May 31, 2025, you can’t read it without a subscription. C`mon Blaze? You can’t give readers a couple free reads a month? O.W. Root writes: “Across the United States, a tragic number of public libraries have turned into daytime homeless shelters and temporary asylums for the mentally ill, the insane, and generally disturbed”.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJun 27, 20257:23 pm

Being Beachy without Waves

While walking to Smart & Final in North Park on April 19, 2025, my wife suggested going along one of the alleys we rarely traverse. At the end—I believe at Lincoln Street—she stopped, transfixed by a bright yellow cottage. The color, compactness, and surfboards screamed San Diego, despite being about 13 km (8 miles) from the waves off of Ocean Beach.

Annie pulled out her Samsung Galaxy S25 for some quick snaps. I did likewise with Nikon Zf and attached NIKKOR Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR lens. Vitals for the Featured Image: f/11, ISO 200, 1/200 sec, 60mm; 12:55 p.m. PDT.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJun 13, 20257:42 pm

What Are You Afraid Of?

Fear appears to be one of the most popular peddled commodities on the planet, currently and has been for some time. Tomorrow, across the United States “No Kings” protests are planned in communities large and small; these folks are afraid of Donald Trump.

U.S. immigrants—and not necessarily illegal ones—are afraid of ICE (Immigration, Customs, and Enforcement) agents. Many federal employees are afraid about losing their jobs or benefits, while receivers of federal funds fear losing them.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJun 8, 20259:22 pm

The Fix is In

Where have I been? Posting has been light for an extended period of time and non-existent since May 21, 2025. Couple months back, I developed an inguinal hernia; right side. Interestingly, or not, I had one repaired on the left side around age eight.

Surgery took place 10 days ago, and healing advances nicely. The surgeon operated at an outpatient surgical center, which I initially regarded skeptically, presuming a hospital must be better. But thinking differently, later supported by experience: What better place than where surgeons and support staff cut all day long? Practice makes perfect as they say, and a surgical center must be prepped and ready to handle the unexpected.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 21, 20259:57 pm

Yet Another Bible Story

Yesterday, my wife and I drove to East County on an errand. Returning, she missed an exit, and we ended up in downtown La Mesa. What an opportunity! We took it. Annie parked in the neighborhood nearby the Christian bookstore where in January 2021 we bought a Bible for her and in November 2022 another for me.

We were shocked! The shop is gone. Another retailer fills the space. I searched online for some information about what happened and when but found nothing—not on Yelp or the former business’ social media sites, like Instagram. But given the new occupant, I presume the demise isn’t all that recent.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 17, 20259:37 pm

Fighting Fire with Words

The third weekend of the month is the book-sale room at the University Heights Public Library. The place is on the same street as yesterday’s fire and about two blocks walk away. My wife and I had to see the aftermath.

Annie saw the signs first, as my eyes were drawn to charring along the building’s right front section. As you can see from the Featured Image and companions, some neighbors are quite displeased with what, reportedly, is a recent series of incidents occurring on the property—and this most recent fire not the first.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 16, 20256:57 pm

Another University Heights Fire

Sometime after 11:30 a.m. PDT today, my wife spotted black, billowing smoke rising in the near distance; I suspected perhaps along El Cajon Blvd or among the houses between cross-streets Florida and Mississippi. A fire truck turning that way on Florida seemed to confirm my suspicion. But I was mistaken.

Smoke had dissipated by the time I crossed the Boulevard on foot in pursuit. As I approached Polk, smokey smell tickled my nostrils—yuck, from up the very steep hill to Georgia. After confirming with a bicyclist walking down the incline that the fire really was above, I grudgingly trudged away. Sure enough, with burning legs the cost, I had come to the right street.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 14, 202510:12 pm

Red Fox Perishes

The big, unexpected news and social media story this week here in University Heights is the sudden closure of the Red Fox Steakhouse and Piano Bar. According to bloggers, Facebookers, Journalists, Nextdoor posters, and more (oh, the dirt they sling): Management called staff to an all-hands meeting midday Monday (today is Wednesday) and fired everyone. Red Fox was closed immediately.

Except for San Diego Union Tribune wrongly calling the location North Park most of the scuttlebutt appears to be consistent but lacking one thing substantive: Why? Since everything in business is one way or another related to money, speculation and second-hand former employee reports indicate financial hardship. That would make sense, if, say, there was cashflow problems that prevented buying staples—like raw meat and veggies to cook and serve. Who knows.