Rescued hiker talks of hallucinations, fending off animals (LA Times)
Excerpt:

     ...After getting lost, she said she began having panic attacks and vomited. By the first evening, she said the two of them began hallucinating, presumably because of dehydration. At one point, she said she believed she was being attacked by a python....

In Bauer Canyon

The view from nowhere: looking down on Bauer Canyon from 500 feet above.
The Memorial Garden is marked by a red dot. 

The ridge above my place.

     It was blustery but pleasant today in Bauer Canyon, which can be found a mile or two above O'Neill Park near Trabuco Canyon in the Santa Ana Mountains.

     On my way in, I spotted my sister tending the Bauer Memorial Garden and Feline Detention Center. I dropped by to say hello and to inspect this much ballyhooed garden. (I have nothing to do with it.)
     The always-estimable TigerAnn, cat, was there, prowling the scene. She's a peevish, yet lovable, creature. She offered her usual economical communication.

     Annie proudly showed me her various vegetable protégés, including these two. She offered me some sort of pickled vegetable matter, which seemed to brew in an odd plastic contraption that sports a big squeezer thing. It was good, I guess.

     On one end of the canyon: the scene just above my place

     Broccoli, I believe. And my feet.

     TigerAnn seemed to claim ownership of the dirt. Her gaze claimed the horizon.

     Note the elaborate netting, which protects the plants from the Deer Gang, a crew of about seven stealthy creatures. (They're not as stealthy as they think they are. I spot 'em every other day or so.)

     No doubt about it: these plants are healthy. Each is its own little celebration of fecundity.

     The famous and much-honored Harey the Rabbit presides over the garden. Such objects appear without explanation or apology in Bauer Canyon.
     One of these strawberry plants had 23 berries on it. That's good, I guess.

     Rabbit ears are comforting, I find. Fine things.

     Annie, cultivating her multi-headed strawberry monsters.

     TigerAnn posed for this one. She's happiest when she's outside.

     My father, who is eighty years old, seems satisfied to nurture the Bauer Canyon Memorial Garden and Feline Detention Center Annex and Rock Collection, which graces the upper road near the main house. My dad's approach is Utilitarianism to my sister's neo-NewAgery.

     Inside the main house, I found the celebrated Bugsy, Kitten, who was sleeping on his cat condo, overlooking the main house's beautiful Patio and Gazebo Presentation and Staging Area. It is near the International Woodpile, which, in turn, is adjacent to the Excessively Large & Germanic Fire Hose.

     Bugsy exhibited sleepiness—and his tongue.

     More tongue.

TigerAnn is a celebration of fur

wacky friday

Former O.C. Sheriff Mike Carona will remain in prison (LA Times)

Listening to Records That No Longer Exist (Slate)

Those wacky Republicans

The beat goes on...

from today's New York Times:

Essay Grading Software Offers Professors a Break

excerpt:

"The software uses artificial intelligence to grade student essays and short written answers, freeing professors for other tasks...He said the technology would offer distinct advantages over the traditional classroom system, where students often wait DAYS or WEEKS for grades.There is a huge value in learning with instant feedback,” Dr. Agarwal said. “Students are telling us they learn much better with instant feedback.”

She's found and alive

Female hiker found, official says (OC Reg)
Second OC Hiker Kyndall Jack Found Alive (KTLA)
     Rescue crews hoisted an injured Kyndall Jack into a helicopter after she was discovered clinging to the side of a cliff in Trabuco Canyon Thursday. --Read more: see

Trabuco Canyon Chronicles...

UPDATE: Female hiker found


UPDATE: Rescued Man Thought Friend was Already Found

One of two missing Orange County hikers is found (LA Times)
     Nicolas Cendoya is discovered 'dehydrated and very confused.' The search continues for Kyndall Jack, 18.
     One of two hikers missing in the Trabuco Canyon area of Orange County since Easter Sunday was found alive Wednesday night, authorities said. ¶ Nicolas Cendoya, 19, was being taken to a trauma center, authorities said. Search crews had not found his hiking partner, Kyndall Jack, but were scouring the area. ¶ Cendoya was "dehydrated and very confused," said Lt. Jason Park of the Orange County Sheriff's Department. Cendoya was found about half a mile from where the two had parked their vehicle. … ¶ The hikers got lost in what is Orange County's backcountry, where tidy tracts of homes and homogenized commercial developments give way to narrow, winding roads, steep green hills and dense brush that could be a hurdle for inexperienced hikers such as Cendoya and Jack. ¶ The pair — both graduates of Costa Mesa High School — are friends who worked out together at a local gym. Both were high school athletes: She played softball and volleyball; he played football. ... She is now a freshman at Cal State Fullerton, and he's enrolled at Orange Coast College. … ¶ The volunteers have settled in at a dusty airstrip about a mile off the road, from which waves of volunteers were deployed into the hills to search on their own. ¶ Officials, however, have discouraged the volunteers, cautioning that they could get in the way of the investigation — disturbing trackers as they scour the area, or possibly getting lost themselves, drawing resources away from the main search. ¶ "Let the rescuers do what they do," said Capt. Jon Muir of the Orange County Fire Authority.... Near the end of the day Wednesday, authorities had to mobilize for two different rescue missions. ¶ In one case, another hiker — unrelated to the search — had to be plucked out by helicopter after being injured. ¶ The other was for volunteers who set out to find Cendoya and Jack. But they'd only ended up getting lost themselves.

Rescuers continue search for missing O.C. hiker (LA Times)
     ...Jack's hiking partner, Nicholas Cendoya, 19, was found shortly before 8 p.m. Wednesday, apparently by a hiker not involved in the search for the two Costa Mesa residents, authorities said.... ¶ "He's dehydrated and very confused," [Lt. Jason Park of the Orange County Sheriff's Department] said of Cendoya. He was taken to a local hospital for treatment. ¶ Because of his confused state, Cendoya was "not a very good source" of information regarding the location of Jack, Park said. Nonetheless, he said he was optimistic that Jack would be located. ¶ "We're confident that we will find Kyndall," Park said….