Bee There

This is a really tall palm tree in front of a house in southwest Fresno at the corner of Mariposa St. and Waterman Ave. Makes me wonder what was the purpose of planting these trees in the first place. Shade? Beauty? Reminder of the south seas?

This bad dude is a Bichon Frise, a French term literally meaning "curly lap dog." He is owned by Tina Price of Paso Robles, who was in Fresno showing him at the Sun Maid Kennel Club's dog show at the Fresno County Fairgrounds.

Shifiting sands of the seasonally dry Kings River bed reveals a "pile," a heavy piece of timber, driven deep into the river bed, as a support for an circa 1873 bridge at the ghost town of Kingston, at the Kingston Laton Park, at the town of Laton. Kingston was founded in 1856, where a ferry crossing was established. In 1858, the town became a stop on the Butterfield stage line. A notable event took place in December of 1873, when the entire village was boldly robbed by Tiburcio Vasquez and his gang, who made their getaway across the new bridge.

The image above is a Quicktime VR of the inside of the Fresno Water Tower. Use your cursor to click and drag around the image to get a 360 degree view of the interior brickwork of the building which is open daily as the city's primary visitors center. Chicago architect George Washington Maher designed the Fresno's Water Tower which was patterned after a water tower in Worms, Germany and built in 1894. The 109-foot tower had been in constant use up until 1963 and remains one of the oldest buildings in Fresno. The now empty 250,000 gallon water tank sits above the thick brickwork.

While on an assignment looking for a shot of the San Joaquin River along the banks near Riverside Municipal Golf Course, I saw this cat looking at me through the tree branches. He seemed be smiling much the same as the Cheshire Cat in "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." I decided against asking him directions for fear that he might actually tell me - and then of course, disappear.

This is a Quicktime movie VR panorama of the Fulton Mall in downtown Fresno shot Sunday, January 31, 2010. Put your cursor on the image, click and drag around to see the clock tower and buildings. The movie is actually put together with 62 different images shot vertically (to keep the tops of the buildings in) and stitched together with special software to make a seamless 360-degree panorama. If you have trouble viewing it, you might need to download Quicktime from Apple. ~ Craig Kohlruss

I just happened to peek out my window this morning at around 6:45 to see the remnants of what was probably a brilliant sunrise beginning to fade. I grabbed my camera and made two frames, the first one which I posted here.

One of the cool things about my job is the chance to explore areas of this vast valley that I've never been to before. In search of snow pack shots this last week, I took Watts Valley Road, east of Fresno along the foothills, and found gorgeous rolling foothills with a backdrop of snow covered, craggy mountains of the Sierra range.

I don't know a lot about wrestling but apparently an elbow to the neck is off limits. The ref stopped the action when he saw this happen.

Left to right, Val Mercado and Michael Williams walk in the drizzle north on Blackstone near Belmont after they finished their shift as marketers for a popular tax-prepartation company.

A swashbuckler named John Dewey Fiske swept into Fresno in the 1880's, building an imposing structure to match his personality and attracting Wild West drama to the intersection of Mariposa and Fulton (then J) Streets. It was also the scene of one of early day Fresno's most notorious murders, that of Fiske himself. The grand building gave way to wrecking ball in 1914, for the construction of the 10-story Griffith-McKenzie Building, know today as the Helm Building. This is part of an occasional series, "Historical Perspectives," by John Walker that takes a look at valley landmarks in the past and present perspectives. Read more on the Fiske story or
see the Historical Perspectives main project, with photo galleries, videos and an interactive map.

I was in the middle of the city when the rainbow appeared. You never know when they will fade away so I decided against driving to a more scenic location and just pulled over and took the photo while dodging traffic.

It was a really foggy morning in the Tower District today, with the iconic tower barely visible from only a couple blocks away. Suddenly the sun burned through the fog and presto, a beautiful day.

I awoke this morning to see what appeared to be a sky on fire. I grabbed my camera and still in my skivvies, walked out on my front porch to take some photos of the sunrise. In five minutes it had diminished to dull gray.

Ellie Bulmer takes advantage of the nice day as the sun peeks through the fog on Huntington Blvd.