This, on-the-face-of-it, humorous image of the Keeler Beach Camp
Ground was one of three images I was able to glean from poking around the tiny little town of Keeler, California on east edge of the Owens Valley. However, not all of the tongue-in-cheek copy on the singage is slap in the face of the County of Los Angeles Water Dept. for depleting most of Owens Lake for their drinking water, which this camp ground apparently used to border on. In fact, the writing on the right side of the surf board reads, "This beautiful setting courtesy of the L.A. Water Department" and the sign on the left post reads, in part, "Pay First, Have Fun", but then it also warns us to "Wear Our Hazmat Suits At All Times"...a reference to
the winds that stir up noxious alkali dust storms that carry away 3.6 million metric tons of dust from the dried up lake bed each year.....a
result of all of the water being drained from the lake, which now causes
respiratory problems in nearby residents, that is, what's left of them. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owens_Lake>
The photography of the three, vintage fire trucks in front of the
Keeler Volunteer Fire Department also made for interesting subject matter. That's because either they must not have a lot of fires around the town
of Keeler or there are some other, newer fire engines around somewhere, because, these old trucks are in no condition to be fighting any fires anywhere, anytime soon. Thus the tongue-in-cheek, "Ready To Roll?" title.