Several weeks ago my “Electrons are Cheap” post mentioned a contest held by the Christian Photographers on Facebook group. Our group hosts a weekly competition in which the admins announce a theme and members submit a photo that they believe fits the theme. The theme a couple of weeks ago was “Out of Place.” Pictures included a digital lock on a massive, wooden medieval castle door, and similar out-of-place things, whether subtle or jarringly anachronistic . Here was my entry:

The speed limit you see above stood at the side of a road through Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The sign is still in good shape, but a lava flow engulfed the road several years ago. How long ago? Long enough for weeds to take root in this area of the now-cooled lava flow. If you inspect the photo carefully, though, you can see a steam plume arising from the ocean in the distance. Apparently not everything had cooled, so we hiked to an overlook to see the following view:

The photo above shows the source of the steam plume: red-hot lava flowing into the Pacific Ocean. We had to walk across land that was only a few weeks (a month or two at most) old to reach this vantage point. Our route crossed the lava tube or tubes feeding these entries, and the rock was hot enough that we could smell our shoe soles overheating. I shot this photo almost 20 years ago, and although this particular eruption finally ended a few years after our visit, another eruption took place several miles east of here since then. It, too, stopped after a time, but you never know when the next eruption might start. Think I will close this post and go to the USGS pages to check the status.

We recently returned from a road trip to Southern California, where we celebrated a grandchild’s first birthday and had some great time with family. However, no road trip would be complete without a few notes on what we found.

Believe it when they they tell you the weather in Southern California, and San Diego in particular, is close to heavenly. Temperatures and humidity were just right, and the only caution might be against over-exposure to the sun. If you forget to bring sunglasses and a hat, though, the sun will remind you.

Believe it, too, when they say the traffic in the Los Angeles basin is awful. If you can avoid rush hour it is only heavy, but during rush hour it goes beyond heavy to some level close to insane. I have heard it described as the daily clashing of the cars, and that may not be overkill. Of course, part of the problem is that rush hour seems to cover most daylight hours. I wonder what the traffic is like between 9:00 pm and daybreak. Oh, wait! That is when Caltrans closes off lanes for maintenance work!

Speaking of driving, we noticed that most drivers know how to refuel their cars, and some of them know how to charge their electric vehicles. Few seem to know anything about turn signals, though.

And speaking of electric vehicles, we are apprehensive about government’s attempts to wean us away from the internal combustion engine. As noted in previous posts, the technology and power supplies are not yet available to make electric vehicles a practical option for long road trips to visit family. Even more so to safely visit, say, a remote national park. Better enjoy those road trips and family time while we can!

One more thought: we often hear that I-5 from the Bay Area to Southern California as one of the most boring drives in the country. Not so! A trip down I-5 takes you past some of the most productive agricultural land in the world. Apricot, almonds, pistachios, oranges, grapefruit, tomatoes, onions, and other crops spread out on both sides of the highway, and one can only marvel at the size of the farming operations. And at God’s grace for making the land so productive.