Back in September I roamed around Santa Cruz, CA visiting cafes and a couple of art galleries.
One distinct cafe, Cafe Pergolesi, answered back after I emailed them my Jim Morrison watercolor painting collection. They said it would be a good fit. Here are some photos of my art reception back in November 5.


 
Cafe Pergolesi is an old big house located in downtown Santa Cruz. It has a lone big palm outside and a deck where hippies and beatniks (of the 21st century--that is) hang out. Inside, the cafe has several rooms where art work is displayed. One is orange, the other is purple, and the room with my paintings is green.
 

These pictures have been up for almost a month and they are all originals. They are for sale as you can take a closer look going to my website http://nonasebastian.wordpress.com/art-gallery. Please contact nonasebastianauthor@gmail.com for pricing.

When most people anywhere in the US think of California in the winter, they may envision warm weather, palm trees, swimming, and anything else that’s summer-like. Others think of skiing when thinking Lake Tahoe. But winter in California is diverse in climate. You could have cold winters mostly in the east minus south, or mild climates all along the coastline and central valley and deserts. Whether you’re in Socal (Southern California),where high temps hit 60s or like here in Silicon Valley where temps are in the high 50s, we all have those mild winters in common. We also get the short days as long as you’re above a particular degree latitude. Sometimes I consider winter as beach time. Driving to Santa Cruz, the water and wind is calm and if the sun is out, I could sit out on the sand with a jacket or shirt. Of course we get rain. But one mystery was finally resolved when moving out here and that’s foliage. Not until November will leaves start turning. And they are falling in December. Heck, just the other day, a couple of trees still had all their leaves which finally turned color—and it’s already January! So I’m here to share my photographs with all of you who are curious: What does Silicon Valley actually look like in winter?

And now you’ll finally have your answer!

Click on for larger view

The remaining foliage kind of reminds me of the end of October during childhood.
Even though we don’t get snow, Silicon Valley is still nice enough to give us that wintery sky, an impression that snow is about to fall for all us four-seasoned natives. But we do have a year round growing season as oranges at this time begin to ripen.
Yes, we do get some flowers and roses (right) still tend to blossom. Who ever heard of reindeer flying into rose bushes?
This is the time when you get all the leaves on the ground. It looks nice and autumn-ish ,but gets messy and annoying for the Christmas lights and props out on the lawn.
Leaves also fall late from the cherry tree. Blossoms begin to come out two months later.
One little tree that just couldn’t keep up with its friends, stands out in beautiful colors.  …And dandelions never fail.

Yes, as I promised, here are 2 answers to what Nona Sebastian and Snooki have in common:

1. We both grew up in the same area. Dutchess County, New York State. I grew up in the town of Wappingers Falls which is next to Poughkeepsie where Snooki is from.

2. We both spent summers at the Jersey Shore.