Tag: urban photography

Photo by Joe WilcoxOct 15, 202411:02 pm

San Diego is Scary Now

Seventeen years ago today, the Wilcox family relocated to San Diego from the Washington, DC-metro area. We came to care for my father-in-law, who would live another decade and pass away—age 95—in his own bed. He likely would have gone sooner and/or been confined to a nursing home otherwise.

My wife and I should have fled Communist California—and the slave mentality induced here—in 2017, soon after her dad died. But ongoing concerns about our only child kept us here longer. Our daughter’s brain injury, in March 2023, justified the financial hardship of staying. She survived—something unlikely had we, from a long distance, taken doctors’ advice to end life support rather than by being present choose to continue it.

Photo by Joe WilcoxOct 13, 20247:55 pm

To Think You Worry About Illegal Alien Criminals

The sign in the Featured Image speaks for itself: There are other risks around the canyons of San Diego—perhaps more worrisome than foreign troublemakers hiding in them and coming out to assault, rob, or murder the locales. My SoCal county is one of the throughways by which illegals cross into the United States, and they are frequent enough topic on the local news or social media to scare some residents.

But coyotes—and I don’t mean smugglers sneaking immigrants across the border—present problems you might not consider. Sure, residents should keep cats and smaller dogs inside, but these coyotes could carry dynamite or drop anvils from hot-air balloons. Drones are a pitting nuisance, by comparison.

Photo by Joe WilcoxOct 9, 20249:29 pm

Royal but Rustic

This isn’t the first rustic typewriter that I have seen put out for the taking. The vintage is way older than the one that I used as a teenager, but it is the same brand: Royal. I am a poorly, but efficient enough, self-taught typist—starting around age 14 (my handwriting is notoriously sloppy).

My recollection is dim about why I inherited a typewriter, which got plenty of usage. I punched out many poems and song lyrics on the thing; they were lost inside a box of memorabilia sometime in 1989. Advice: Don’t leave something precious in someone else’s garage. Your treasure could be put out as trash.

Photo by Joe WilcoxSep 29, 20249:25 pm

Would You Want to Live Here?

As explained three days ago, apartment landlords are taking away tenant garages and converting them into residential rentals. The practice is rampant across San Diego County, including my neighborhood of University Heights.

Unsurprisingly, the alleys separating streets fill with parked cars, particularly late day into the evening hours. You lost your garage and can’t find a legal space, so you make do and hope to move before the parking police blast by writing tickets.

Photo by Joe WilcoxSep 28, 20249:33 pm

Simply Scary

Some moments are humbling. Today, my wife and I walked across the Spruce Street Suspension Bridge—and not since Spring 2021. I have always been sure-footed, even as the thing wildly swayed. But not today. I was clumsy, dizzy, off-balance, uncertain. I wasn’t prepared for the dramatic, and wildly changed, reaction.

Gasp. We don’t necessarily see the effects of aging, because the diminishing capacity isn’t sudden but result of a long process. I joked with Annie about a what-if: joining a volleyball game and waking in the hospital, following a dig to save the ball. Muscle memory may be there, but not the physical agility or stamina. “Well, Mr. Wilcox, you have a broken arm, three cracked ribs, and a fractured collar bone”.

Photo by Joe WilcoxSep 26, 20249:09 pm

Say Goodbye to Your Garage Parking Space

When we relocated to San Diego nearly 17 years ago, most home garage renovations were illegal—meaning they had been done without proper permits, if any. The stated interior size revealed all: A 600-square-foot cottage would be obviously larger, because of the undocumented, unsanctioned expansion.

Oh, and the buyer inherited any liability. Imagine one consequence, where the city, county, or state issued fines or demanded the whole, ah, illegal project be torn out. For the short time my wife and I considered buying a home here, we stayed clear of such properties.

Photo by Joe WilcoxSep 6, 202410:12 pm

Heatwave Reading

The Summer’s hot days have finally arrived in San Diego. Official high yesterday, according to my phone: 34 Celsius (94 Fahrenheit)—although the thermometer in the apartment complex’s courtyard read 38 C (100 F). Well, all the cement makes quite the heat island, so that is unsurprising.

This morning, the mercury touched 33 C (91 F) before thin, high clouds provided some relief. Forecasted high for tomorrow is about the same and scorching like yesterday for Sunday. We don’t have air conditioning, by the way. Fans provide plenty of relief, as long as breeze outside blows indoors. Unfortunately, winds are light, and air is muggy.

Photo by Joe WilcoxSep 4, 202410:20 pm

When No One Helps You

This morning, as my wife and I waited to cross Mississippi at University Avenue in North Park, we heard arguing and shouting. We both turned back to see some kind of disagreement between a man and woman near the distant bus stop on the opposite side of the street.

The dude looked to be stealing, or trying to steal, the lady’s bicycle. Shirtless, he was clearly homeless; she was well-dressed. Taller than her, he was racially white but so sunburned to be almost black; dirty, my guess, too. We weren’t sure what to do, being older folks, but we decided to walk down the block nevertheless. She needed help.

Photo by Joe WilcoxAug 25, 20249:33 pm

She Gives Good Advice

San Diego alleys can be treacherous for pedestrians and vehicles, particularly where they meet main streets. If the driver turns too quickly and sharply into or out of the alley, an accident could occur.

The young woman in the Featured Image gives good advice. Meade Ave. is busier than ever, with traffic circles placed every few blocks and the street being designated as the major bike thruway from North Park to Mid-City—about 5.6 km (3.5 miles)—and part of a larger 21-km (13-mile) route.

Photo by Joe WilcoxAug 23, 20248:40 pm

Sunflower Surprise

For the third time in three years, we present another sunflower seen in the same location on Mississippi in my San Diego neighborhood of University Heights (see previous posts from 2022 and 2023). I passed by the beauty today while talking on the phone with one of my sisters.

I pulled out Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, set to Portrait mode, and captured the Featured Image, which is composed as shot and not otherwise altered (e.g. no edits). Vitals: f/1.7, ISO 12, 1/800 sec, 23mm (film equivalent); 3:42 p.m. PDT.

Photo by Joe WilcoxAug 22, 20247:59 pm

When is a Donkey a Jackass?

The Democrats’ convention ends today (finally). Like last month’s Republican event, I bothered not to watch the speeches. My disinterest is all the greater for this week’s political powwow in Chicago—if for no other reason than Joseph Biden’s virtual assassination. As previously stated, it was clear to me weeks before his disastrous debate performance on June 27, 2024 that he was being set up.

I still can’t reckon why Biden and his team chose to take on Trump before the convention, or delegates’ virtual role call beforehand. Debates are always held in September and October, after candidates are formally chosen. Who voted for Kamala Harris? Nobody. Biden’s ouster removed the democratically chosen candidate during the primary voting process. Stated differently, at least for this election cycle, Democrats have proven to be undemocratic.

Photo by Joe WilcoxAug 19, 20249:10 pm

Where in the World?

San Diego’s sunny climate enables residents to put out items they don’t want that someone else might hanker for. If we didn’t already own a world map, I would have grabbed the one my wife and I passed along Georgia Street—a block or so south of Sprout’s Market—just inside University Heights.

Flags and wooden frame made the discard much better than my map, but we simply didn’t have space, or justifiable need, for another. So we left the thing—after I captured the Featured Image and companion using Leica Q2. Vitals: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/400 sec, 28mm; 10:15 a.m. PDT, Aug. 17, 2024. The close-crop is same but one-minute earlier.