Life and all in Redding California
A quick aerial overview of Redding’s Garden of Lights from 2023. Music excerpt “Live illusions” by Craig Padilla and Skip Murphy from the CD “Analog Destination,” recorded in Redding California in 2008, courtesy of of Groove Unlimited NL. Thank you again this year, Redding! #thisisredding, #gardenoflights, #craigpadilla
About 25 minutes drive on Interstate 5 north of Redding, you come across a spectacular sight. Granite spires rising through the forest to the west. This is Castle Crags State Park. Pull off the highway for hiking, camping, or just plain gazing upon the beauty of it all.
Technically, these are granite pluons. Molten granite has formed beneath the surface in these shapes, cooling more slowly than the rock around them. The spires are what you can see uncovered as the surface eroded around them. Seeing that, and realizing the time scale involved in their formation, one is left to ponder the insignificance of a single human lifetime in the face of geologic time. Yeah, it’s brief.
Music in the video is an Excerpt of “Eternal Path” by Craig Padilla and Skip Murphy (me) from the CD Phantasma on the Groove Unlimited label. Gobsmacking scenery courtesy of planet earth. It’s Really Redding.
The day after an unusual snowfall in Redding CA, I fly over the Sacramento River and survey the surroundings. A notable fibonacci influenced landmark at the McConnell Arboretum is easily visible. Music is by Craig Padilla and myself from our CD Phantasma from 2006 on the label Groove Unlimited. An excerpt of “Shadowed Transistion,” which is track 1.
This interesting design feature is just west of the McConnell Arboretum in Redding.
We got 6-8″ of snow. Quite unusual. Maybe not so unusual, going forward in our new climate.
Below, my favorite city, in a blanket of white. The foreground is the cemetery.
Shot this view of my backyard while sipping coffee recently. Very soothing.
We’ve had a lot of snow this season. Very unusual, and yet very welcome after so many years of draught. The Sierra and even San Bernardino Mountains are getting buried in feet of the deep white fluff. Excellent! Hope we don’t get an atmospheric river.
Drone practice flight over the Sacramento River from the Bluffs to the Sundial Bridge with fresh snow on the mountains in the background. Click on the image below to enlarge, hit play on the video to watch the flight.
I’m still learning about shooting video with this new drone. For years, I have mostly only shot still images. Mostly for my real estate marketing. I’ve been working on video technique recently, but this still looks a bit jerky in terms of camera moves. Anyway, it was beautiful clear and cold morning in lovely Redding CA. Hope you like it.
So much new construction underway in Redding! I took the drone out for a look, otherwise you can only see it from ground level. Apologies in advance for the jerky camera movements. Over the years I have been flying I usually shoot still images, so this is much needed practice. Fun to see all the activity and structures!
World famous Burney Falls is about an hour drive East from Redding. We went up for their Heritage Day festivities, and it was great fun. Here is Burney Falls:
Here’s an image of the event:
There were lot’s of demonstrations and participation for kids in various “Pioneer” crafts like wood cutting, branding irons, and (my grandson’s favorite) candle making. There was a BBQ food fund raiser by the local Rotary, and some Indian Tacos. Speaking of Indians, there was some Indigenous Dance demonstrations by (I assume) the local Pit River people. I read on the flyer where this is the first time they have participated in this annual event, so that’s both progress and sort of a sad commentary on what has passed for “Heritage” around here up until now.
I give it 5 stars, would go again next year. Best of all, admission was FREE.
The Carr fire of 2018 wounded Redding badly. A few local citizens hired a local film studio named speropictures to create something about special about it, and it is quite amazing. The live event premiere of the short seems to have been taken down. But here is a trailer for what may be a monger version.
It reveals a lot about Redding. We all learned more about ourselves and our community during and after the fire.
For me personally, watching the short film brought back some of the PTSD like feelings surrounding the evacuation. My home did not burn, but the beast burned homes on the next ridge over from us. I’ve no idea why it stopped there. I saw and heard the fire tornado firsthand. Nothing could stop it.
I was pleased to see my name in the credits, although I had nearly nothing to do with the production. They used a brief video clip from the video of the fire tornado I shot before fleeing for my life.