Some of you may already know that I do ‘the first sunrise of the year” (Ha tsu hi no de / 初日の出) most every year for its specialness of it, but today was also one of the important day (for me), so I went up over the El Camino Cielo to get this shot this morning.
It was 9 years ago today I took the oath of allegiance before a judge of the United States District Court, yep I sworn in as a United States citizen. There were 4000+ of us swearing in that day. At the end of the day, I received a letter from the big guy in The White House (on their fancy embossed letter-head) stated, “Dear Fellow American: I want to congratulate you on reaching the impressive milestone of becoming a citizen of our great nation. As you enjoy the benefits of American citizenship and assume the responsibilities that accompany it, you follow the many brave men and women who have sacrificed to establish and preserve our democracy over the last two centuries. You now share… (complete letter attached see below) … Hillary and I welcome you as a new citizen and extend our best wishes for much happiness in the future. Sincerely, Bill Clinton (signed)” I’m still debating whether I should frame this letter, or go American way and eBay it at some point. This letter-head itself worth some $, doesn’t it?
While I was up there, I made a good Sunday morning activity out of it since I had my camera with me and all. Last fire we had (Jesusita Fire) left painful scars on face of the Mountain. I shot these as I made descend on Gibraltar Road.
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Santa Barbara was swallowed by heavy fog.
You would normally see nice view of entire Santa Barbara from up here.
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I was hearing people talking and laughing (echoing), and it took me while to figure out that there were couple of people on the side of the rock.
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George and Tresa: Professional Hikers. They shared their knowledge on hike trails and other goodness of this activity. Things they told me that I remember: about 2000 feet elevation, about 3.5 miles, the rattlesnake trail and it’s good for me.
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Micky: another nature lover and hiker. He hikes to give his mind a space to breathe. He also told me that he has been to Japan and he loved Kyoto the most. Loved its beauty, serenity, history, green tea and geisha ladies (okay, I said the last one).
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More of the Mountain. I definitely want to have photography workshops up here. It’s sad to see what’s happened here, but also amazing to see life is slowly coming back.
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How does this sunflower find its way up here on the side of the road? Amazing.
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Half way to the bottom. Leaving the Sunny Sunday behind me and about to drive into the foggy Sunday.
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Moshi Moshi Kenji 