August 10, 2021 (San Diego) ECM reporter Rebecca Jefferis Williamson snapped this photo-of-the-week during a performance by Gladys Knight at The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park. The inaugural weekend started with a performance by the San Diego Symphony under conductor Rafael Payare's guidance on August 6. Gladys Knight performed August 8. The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park's season ends in November. The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park can be rented as well.
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July 12, 2021 (San Diego's East County) - Scott Legace photographed a mother and baby Bald Eagle landing on their perch here in San Diego’s East County.
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July 8, 2021 (El Cajon) – Robert Gehr captured the beauty of nature in downtown El Cajon with images of a cactus flower, pine cones, a mother duck and ducklings, a snowy egret and a colorful hummingbird.
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July 3, 2021 (Flinn Springs) --Renee Owens snapped this idyllic photo beneath a flowering jacaranda tree with bougainvillea in the background.
"Ellie is part Belgian Malinois, pure flower child," says Owens, who photographed the dog in Flinn Springs.
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June 28, 2021 (Lakeside) – In the 10th annual Lake Jennings Spring Photo Contest, 61 photographers submitted entries. This year’s theme was “Life at the Lake.”
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May 25, 2021 (Santee) – Santee resident Kate Pittman posted these startling photos on Facebook with this message today. “This just happened. Fox chased my cat through the doggie door into our office.”
Pittman added that she opened a sliding glass door to let the fox out, which was “growling at me.” She adds, “What a way to start the day!”
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May 9, 2021 (San Diego's East County) -- Birds' nest thistles are among the more unusual wildflowers now in bloom in meadows along Sunrise Highway en route to Mount Laguna from Rancho Cuyamaca State Park. Miriam Raftery snapped these images.
The first photo, left, shows the characteristic nest-snaped plant before it's bloomed. The spiny appendages have a cactus-like appearance and are sharp to the touch.
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April 30, 2021 (Mount Helix)-- East County Magazine Editor Miriam Raftery snapped this image of a hillside abloom with wildflowers in an idyllic springtime day near her home on Mt. Helix.
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April 3, 2021 (San Diego) ECM staff writer and photographer, Rebecca Jefferis Williamson, submitted this picture of a baseball game ---San Diego style - at the beach. The San Diego Padres' Petco Park includes a fan section that has beach chairs and sand. Pictured are three fans enjoying the second game of the season. Fans were seated in "pods" or groupings of family and friends due to the pandemic. Social distancing between the pods was enforced.
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March 4, 2021 (Lakeside) -- Helix Water District has launched its 10th annual Lake Jennings Spring Photo Contest to share the beauty of its reservoir with the local community. The contest is open to photos taken at Lake Jennings between March 1 and May 31, 2021.
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February 27, 2021 (Jamul) – Wildlife photographer Debbie Merrill writes, “The Rattlers are out! I caught this first year Red Tail Hawk catching and eating one today. Good to the last button!”
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February 3, 2021 (San Diego’s East County) – Jamul resident Debbie Merrill sent in this photo, along with a message which reads, “Sending along my Coyote with Gopher image to show this is their natural prey, not pets!”
I’ve witnessed a coyote digging a gopher out of its burrow on my own property in La Mesa, which had been overrun with gophers until Mother Nature sent this natural form of pest control.
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January 29, 2021 (Descanso) -- Richard Edwords sent this photo of his flock of chickens experience a blanket of newly fallen snow at his home in Descanso.
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January 27, 2021 (Descanso) – How cold was it this week in East County? Cold enough to freeze over a swimming pool in Descanso. Thanks to Allen Walker Entertainment for sending in this startling image of lawn chairs perched atop the iced-over pool that resembles an outdoor skating rink.
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January 15, 2021 (Mt. Helix) -- Global warming and climate change are affecting growing seasons. ECM editor Miriam Raftery was surprised to find ripe blackberries in mid-January in her backyard on Mt. Helix in unincorporated La Mesa. Blackberries normally ripe in midsummer and go dormant in winter, but this vine never lost its leaves.
Several readers have shared that they were startled by mid-winter harvests of peppers and tomatoes this month.
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December 19, 2020 (Santee) – Rebecca Jefferis Williamson sent in these images from a “Festive Friday” event held at the Santee Trolley Square last Friday.
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December 4, 2020 (Santee) – Rebecca Jefferis Williamson snapped this photo of a keepsake Christmas ornament commemorating Santee’s 40th birthday on December 1st. The city hosted dual fireworks displays, as well as treats passed out through local merchants.
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted a broader celebration originally planned.
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November 30, 2020 (Casa De Oro) – Dawn Hough Sebaugh sent in this photo taken from the deck of her Mt. Helix home, looking eastward as a golden-hued moon rose over East County’s mountains.
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November 28, 2020 (Cuyamaca) – Scott Lagace sent in a stunning collection of photos, along with this description.
“There is a trail out by Cuyamaca Lake called the Marty Minshall Trail or as I call it, the wildlife trail because of all the deer, turkeys, birds and even a Bald Eagle which flies around the lake. Along with the wildlife the landscape and scenery of the area is breath taking especially now that the leaves are turning colors.”
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November 21, 2020 (Lakeside) -- Well, it's not Edgar Allen Poe, or Robert Frost. It simplicity is that of a ten year old, but that's what I was the other at the lake. Think big or think small, or don't think at all.
The ants made me think on the ground below me. I watched them for 10 minutes, and it took me three times as long to write this poem down. Thanks to all the ants for being there.
Here are my thoughts about ants and a photo of them on my walk the other day at Lake Jennings and the sunset that night.
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November 11, 2020 (Lake Cuyamaca) -- Pandora Horn sent in this images after snow transformed her home on the North Hill of Cuyamaca Lake in Julian into a winter wonderland.
Her dog, Prada Van Horn, bundled up in a festive sweater for a romp in the new fallen snow.
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Nov. 1, 2020 (San Diego's East County) Halloween night, October 31, 2020, provided a spooky and unique "Once in a Blue Moon" phenomenon - a blue moon.
According to the Old Farmer's Almanac October contained both a harvest moon and a hunter's blue moon. The "why" behind this unique occurrance has to do with having two full moons in one calendar month or autumnal equinox.
Interpreting cloud formations, and not to be mistaken with recognized cloud formations, but imagination, means declaring these clouds as either a dragon's head or a fuzzy Baby Yoda. Your choice.
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October 1, 2020 (El Cajon) - Robert Gehr snapped these images of two helicopters that joined forces to help suppress the Valley Fire earlier this month as they flew to and from Gillespie Field airport in El Cajon.
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September 27, 2020 – Giardino’s Neighborhood Cucina in Lemon Grove has set up a large outdoor dining pavilion where you can dine al fresco in the COVID era. (There are also indoor tables available, if you prefer). Doing our part to help support local restauranteurs in these challenging times, our family recently savored the flavors there.
We started with a cheese and meat charcuterie board I enjoyed a house specialty Anchovie Parpardelle, a wide pasta noodle dish served with anchovies, capers, olives, roasted tomatoes and bread crumbs, which was delicious.
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August 1, 2020 (Alpine) -- Alpine resident Richard Edwords sent in this adorable photo of young family members' reactions to a summertime watermelon treat.
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July 23, 2020 (Borrego Springs) -- Photographer Scott Burnham captured this amazing image of Comet Neowise over Borrego Palm Canyon from the edge of Borrego Springs on Friday evening, July 17.
The icy comet will make its closest approach to Earth tonight, and may be seen through July 25.
Once it’s gone, it won’t return for another 6,800 years.
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July 6, 2020 (El Cajon) - Robert Gehr sent in this photo of a masked intruder – a raccoon—that visited the grounds at his apartment complex in the heart of downtown El Cajon.
Raccoons are nocturnal, omnivorous, can grow up to 60 pounds and can run up to 15 miles per hour. This particular night visitor was attracted by cat food left out by a neighbor, Gehr said.
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Debbie Ekhaml took these close-ups of a horned lizard (also known as a horned toad) in East County.
Resembling a miniature dinosaur, the horned lizard has an impressive array of protective features ranging from camouflage to spiked horns to an ability to puff itself up and even squirt blood at an attacker.
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June 19, 2020 (La Mesa) – Members of the La Mesa Lions Club delivered meals to caregivers at Sharp Grossmont Hospital last month in appreciation for their efforts. Left to right, photo shows two nurses from an ICU unit on a COVID-19 floor, Lions Club Vice Presidents Joyce James and Mary Rynearson, Beth Morgante, CEO of Grossont Hospital Foundation and La Mesa Lions member David Shaw, Elbert Kim, La Mesa Lions Club President, and Cupid’s Caterers representatives.
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June 11, 2020 (Santee) – Rebecca Jefferis Williamson snapped these photos of the marquee at the Santee Drive-In Theater this week, where some local schools held drive-up graduation ceremonies to maintain social distancing due to COVID-19.
Our hats are off to the class of 2020 for earning your diplomas despite the global pandemic, an economic depression, and civil unrest that has rocked our region and nation. We wish you a better and brighter future—and hope many of you will work for change to make our world a better, safer and more peaceful place for us all.
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August 10, 2021 (San Diego) ECM reporter Rebecca Jefferis Williamson snapped this photo-of-the-week during a performance by Gladys Knight at The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park. The inaugural weekend started with a performance by the San Diego Symphony under conductor Rafael Payare's guidance on August 6. Gladys Knight performed August 8. The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park's season ends in November. The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park can be rented as well.
East County News Service
East County News Service
East County News Service
East County News Service
May 9, 2021 (San Diego's East County) -- Birds' nest thistles are among the more unusual wildflowers now in bloom in meadows along Sunrise Highway en route to Mount Laguna from Rancho Cuyamaca State Park. Miriam Raftery snapped these images.
Source: Helix Water District
East County News Service
By Miriam Raftery
East County News Service
East County News Service
East County News Service
Photo credit: Dawn Hough Sebaugh Photography
By Greg Dunne
East County News Service
August 1, 2020 (Alpine) -- Alpine resident Richard Edwords sent in this adorable photo of young family members' reactions to a summertime watermelon treat.
East County News Service
East County News Service
By Miriam Raftery
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