https://www.craigoauthor.com/articles daily 0.75 2025-07-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59f8dbffd0e6289278cd1572/1509778570667-8CPPWBW0SBUOKS7XR90M/CodexSeldenWesternOaxaca1556-60.JPG Articles and Stories https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59f8dbffd0e6289278cd1572/1510193530030-HHOQNKLVHYG33NUL65NS/PB230754.JPG Articles and Stories https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59f8dbffd0e6289278cd1572/1510192653663-87E18LY9748Z4TQSCJ5G/SeminoleCanyonStatePark%26HistoricSite--FateBellShelter.jpg Articles and Stories Fate Bell Shelter rock art image above from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Seminole Canyon State Park & Historic Site website. The Fate Bell Shelter is located near the White Shaman Mural site and contains ancient rock art painted in the same Pecos River Style tradition found in over two hundred caves and shelters across both sides of the Rio Grande river. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59f8dbffd0e6289278cd1572/1510243561999-616PFPEOT9CN56EB4S8K/Founders_Day_at_Founders_Oak_Island_in_the_Pacific_Palisades_January_14_1922.jpg Articles and Stories https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59f8dbffd0e6289278cd1572/1510152083096-1NKC6MRSK4C6MUQ489DY/SoledadCorrectionalTrainingFacilityGoogle2017.jpeg Articles and Stories https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59f8dbffd0e6289278cd1572/1551133738731-UM7B6O8TNKKQC3R5WZ47/TheCitycolor1signedCopy2.jpg Articles and Stories https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59f8dbffd0e6289278cd1572/1551134192170-NW3NMPCQIKB0HAXVS2TR/Escudo_de_la_Tercera_Repu%CC%81blica_Federal_de_los_Estados_Unidos_Mexicanos_en_1934_BW2.jpg Articles and Stories https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59f8dbffd0e6289278cd1572/1580792325101-RUSR963ZJQO8XIPQHOL1/LosEncinosStatePark%2Bcopy.jpg Articles and Stories Los Encinos Historic State Park, located in the midst of the Tongva village area that later became Encino section of the San Fernando Valley, maintains the native oak tradition with live oaks (Quercus agrifolia) and at least one valley oak (Quercus lobata). Photo: predominantly oak canopy along southern edge of Los Encinos Historic State Park as viewed from above and across Ventura Boulevard looking to the northeast. Note the pond as an expression of a natural spring at the site. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59f8dbffd0e6289278cd1572/1579903146307-X4DP6J941RFZLUZRH0OX/IMG_2775.JPG Articles and Stories - The “Stele of Godly Merit and Saintly Virtue” The “Stele of Godly Merit and Saintly Virtue” as photographed in March of 1989. Graffiti noting at least four US Navy ships and the date December 1904 were chiseled onto the monument but cannot easily be discerned from these photos. Note on the above photo apparent bullet holes on square ‘block’ extending above the edge of the turtle’s carapace. https://www.craigoauthor.com/contact daily 0.75 2018-11-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59f8dbffd0e6289278cd1572/1542484897998-8JK44NAU0KIBWXW5GPJ2/image-asset.jpeg Contact https://www.craigoauthor.com/about daily 0.75 2017-11-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59f8dbffd0e6289278cd1572/1542485019724-0OLSS3MVFI85YYJAIFO4/BadlandsNatPark.jpg About https://www.craigoauthor.com/downloads daily 0.75 2025-08-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59f8dbffd0e6289278cd1572/1510333939204-5QKRZW3W2SY2WYIBJJXC/EncinoCommunityCenter-EncinoPark.JPG Downloads and Links Live oaks or encinos located in Encino Park, Encino, CA. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59f8dbffd0e6289278cd1572/1581230096656-B2OSD3Y16XGHP6A81SBN/The_Stele_of_Godly_Merit_and_Saintly_Virtue-Nanjing-1989a.jpeg Downloads and Links Graffiti on 600-year-old iconic Ming Monument documents early 20th century US Navy presence in Nanjing, China. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59f8dbffd0e6289278cd1572/1510335224671-6HPPB6499L533MG4ANAY/Peace_Hill_looking_up_what_is_now_Monument_Street_to_the_top_of_the_hill_near_Potrero_Canyon_Calif1923.jpg Downloads and Links The elusive "Peace Hill" of Pacific Palisades. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59f8dbffd0e6289278cd1572/33c63fea-d04a-454b-8007-4333fb56e371/SproutAgain.jpg Downloads and Links - Make it stand out In 2025, 103 years after its founding, a devastating wildfire levels the once desirable community. Will it rise from the ashes? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59f8dbffd0e6289278cd1572/1522963325149-HCD6D7GPO40PRF2JS7BN/LaMirada4.JPG Downloads and Links Bungalow courts are compatible with single family neighborhoods. https://www.craigoauthor.com/welcome daily 1.0 2024-09-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59f8dbffd0e6289278cd1572/1510259814698-4BSZRU5DAWZ9VDPRHHH6/wilderness.png Welcome - Transient https://www.craigoauthor.com/creationamericas daily 0.75 2025-08-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59f8dbffd0e6289278cd1572/1510358462894-UVCCBOGIYBK68C7CQ4IP/image-asset.jpeg Creation of the Americas https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59f8dbffd0e6289278cd1572/1510357866089-WR3UB0BWEAOPJYCAEDAG/Yarithuscas--Opositiles.JPG Creation of the Americas https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59f8dbffd0e6289278cd1572/1510357007828-VQVBSRNFRU5EONFXDBZ7/CottonwoodFull.jpg Creation of the Americas 'Trees support the sky' an ancient story motif related to the recreation of the world... https://www.craigoauthor.com/nopalli daily 0.75 2021-10-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59f8dbffd0e6289278cd1572/1542476477863-CNVTHMU44QVO8J6MX1BD/DeerStrippedNopalPlant.jpg Nopalli Same nopal plant as shown above six months later (May 21 to November 10, 2018). The tunas developed into semi-ripe fruits only to be eaten by deer. Later, due to the local California drought, the deer continued to feed on the juicy ends of many of the pads. Note that the scale insects have also vanished. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59f8dbffd0e6289278cd1572/1509997549808-VHT7JVY8FAFQRY6Q5BWO/Escudo_de_la_Tercera_Repu%CC%81blica_Federal_de_los_Estados_Unidos_Mexicanos_en_1934_BW2.jpg Nopalli National coat of arms of México depicting the vision of the founding of the the Aztec nation on an island in Lake Texcoco where an eagle stood on a cactus tree - or on, in the Aztec/Nahuatl language, "nopalli" (the scientific "Opuntia ficus-indica"). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59f8dbffd0e6289278cd1572/1542485210916-68KYE50MY4KB0MVLCXAZ/OpuntiaFicusIndica_Yard.JPG Nopalli Opuntia ficus-indica plants can be seen across Southern California at various historic sites, such as the California missions and domestic gardens. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59f8dbffd0e6289278cd1572/1542476614251-41NYLNM6XHNRPXOR74V5/FertileTunasTenderPads%26Cochineal.jpg Nopalli Eight emergent tunas on the nopal pad (left) after the flowers at the end of each bud had been pollinated. White scale cochineal insects feeding on pads (center). Tender emergent pads (top left and top right of insect covered pad). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59f8dbffd0e6289278cd1572/1597504108893-WWMDDJKJK1X9JNV2RUR3/Opuntia_ficus-indica_chewed.jpeg Nopalli … and chewed by ground squirrels. Experiencing a dry summer in August of 2020 the same nopal plant provided a source of moisture and sustenance to ground squirrels. In the shade of the spreading plant, at its base stem, the squirrels had also made a burrow. Now battered by cochineal insects, browsing deer and gnawing squirrels, the Opuntia ficus-indica plant lives on. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59f8dbffd0e6289278cd1572/1509998468277-CPAXXOO1YENIHZ5DENCH/OAC-katch%27-mahOrLuiseno23ooPi-yum%27-koWoman%26childSeptember1901I0011197A.jpg Nopalli Grove of nopal cactus, 1901. Note woman and child for scale. Photo Courtesy of UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/59f8dbffd0e6289278cd1572/1542475067436-HUMVXLVMN2MPWZH8LZVV/EatablePad.jpg Nopalli Young tender nopal pad or cladode. Stiff painful spines have not developed but are enveloped by a small prong-like leaf at the pad’s spirally distributed network of aeroles. https://www.craigoauthor.com/read-me daily 0.75 2025-05-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5052176b84aeb45fa5cfcc83/1377096507573-1MU42OOOOGIM9URAJ9D9/515c4225e4b0afec1218b21e.png Read Me https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5052176b84aeb45fa5cfcc83/1377096775448-0L7B4Q54H1VLOGFF1DPR/synthetica+%2820130821%29.jpg Read Me https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5052176b84aeb45fa5cfcc83/1377097104716-HDI53XJVV0DKZ24A3T68/51e453dee4b06abd3403c22e.png Read Me