This time of year the evenings are warm and watching the sunsets along the American River in Sacramento is a great way to end the day.

These old signs are wonderful reminders of a different time. All of these were right in the middle of the city–no one bothered to take them down even though the businesses have long been gone.

“Quick Lunch” was a way of saying “fast food” and btw, where can you get “records, cosmetics and films” all in one place now?

The rose garden adjacent to Sacramento’s Public Library is home to an array of roses of all colors and varieties. The abundance of beauty in the garden and the serenity it brings made me think of my mom and all the moms who we honor and cherish on Mother’s Day.

It’s hard to imagine a world without photoshop, let alone all the apps and filters that allow you to transform a blah photo into wow! But it wasn’t always so easy as these images from a 1946 book on photo retouching illustrate. The tools in those days included paintbrushes, different shades of gray paint, white paint and black ink to get a “rich black” and a nice pair of scissors for cropping. The photo above is after editing and below is before–all carefully painted to remove all the debris.)

Here’s more clever and tedious editing.

(Source: creativepro.com)

A little bit of Americana resides in these old, dilapidated buildings. Barely standing they speak of another era, of simpler times. Their resilience is part of their beauty.

There’s an old rusty bridge in Sacramento that was built in 1911. It’s still a fully functioning bridge that offers stunning views of the Sacramento River and its spiffier cousin, the much-photographed Tower Bridge.

These beautiful wood ducks have found a home for the Spring. It’s hard to capture them as they’re fast little paddlers!

A mallard looks on…