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SeeingMoore | Infrastructure & Nature

@seeingmoore

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Exploring where nature meets infrastructure
⚡ Power grid | 🦅 Wildlife | 🌄 Western landscapes

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“Being watched like a hawk” has taken on a whole new meaning lately. 🦅

Funny thing is, pressure doesn’t always make you shrink. Sometimes it sharpens your focus.

Much like this guy keeping an eye on me from the pole, I’ve learned to stay alert, keep perspective, and keep moving forward. The higher you fly, the less useful all that noise becomes.

Eyes forward. Focus sharp. Rise above it.

#FieldLife #UtilityLife #DroneInspection #Perspective #StayFocused taken in Palmdale, California by @seeingmoore

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4 days ago

400 feet up, looking down at one of the reasons I can take a shower every morning. 😂

This is the California Aqueduct coming through the Tehachapi Mountains and making its grand entrance into Southern California.

To the west, this system feeds places like Quail Lake, Pyramid Lake and Castaic Lake. Across the larger State Water Project are Silverwood Lake, Lake Perris and Diamond Valley Lake.

Silverwood gets bonus points because that’s where Monet and I had our first date. ❤️

There’s also generation and utility infrastructure scattered throughout this system, meaning it takes a whole lot of DWR employees, engineers, operators, tradespeople and utility workers just to make something as simple as turning on the faucet feel effortless.

We really do live on top of some incredible infrastructure.

And most of us never even see it.

#SeeingMoore #CaliforniaAqueduct #StateWaterProject #CaliforniaInfrastructure #AntelopeValley taken in Gorman, California by @seeingmoore

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2 months ago

Some things you don’t realize are constants until they start disappearing.

My son started TK today, and it’s had me thinking about just how much of the world I grew up in is gone now. My mom. My grandparents. The house I grew up in. Even the Burger King where I had my 8th birthday recently closed.

Growing up in the Antelope Valley, one thing that always felt permanent was springtime. For a few weeks every year, whole stretches of the western valley would turn that unmistakable California poppy orange. You didn’t need directions. You didn’t need social media. Spring just showed up.

There are still beautiful pockets out there, especially in the hills where people rarely go. But those endless orange carpets I remember from childhood feel increasingly like a memory.

And now, seeing fire move through the California Poppy Reserve feels like one more piece of that old landscape taking a hit.

The climate has changed. Past tense. We can argue forever about everything that led us here, but the landscape doesn’t care about the argument.

What matters now is what we protect, what we restore, and what kind of Antelope Valley my son gets to remember when he’s my age.

🌾🔥🌼

#SeeingMoore #AntelopeValley #CaliforniaPoppies #ClimateChange #CaliforniaWildfire taken in Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve by @seeingmoore

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2 months ago

It’s been a while since I’ve crossed paths with a Cooper’s hawk. Perched atop a distribution pole, this little raptor surveyed the valley below while I wrapped up another inspection.

One thing I’ve noticed over the years is that the smaller birds seem far less bothered by the drone than their larger cousins. Maybe confidence comes in all sizes.

Moments like these are one of the hidden perks of working in the field. Between poles, wires, and long hikes, there’s always something wild waiting just around the next hill.

🦅⚡📸 #SeeingMoore #BirdPhotography #CoopersHawk #Utilities #DronePilot taken in Acton, California by @seeingmoore

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3 months ago

Some days, the drone stays in the truck.

The wind was howling today, so instead of flying, I knocked out ground inspections on about two dozen poles. While catching my breath after hiking back up a hill for no logical reason whatsoever, I looked up and saw this Red-tailed Hawk.

For several minutes, it didn’t flap much at all. It just worked the wind—rising, dipping, adjusting, and then climbing again.

I had just been listening to videos about General Daniel “Chappie” James Jr., the first Black four-star general in U.S. history. One of his most famous quotes was:

“No, they didn’t give me anything. You’ve got to earn these stars. Generals are made, not born.”

Watching this hawk battle the wind, I couldn’t help but think of that quote.

Nothing worth having comes easy. You earn your altitude.

On a personal note, my grandfather volunteered for the Tuskegee Airmen, just like General James. The unit was already full, so the Navy sent him somewhere else instead—a little island called Iwo Jima.

Funny how a bird riding the wind can remind you that perseverance seems to run in the family.

#RedTailedHawk
#WildlifePhotography
#DanielChappieJamesJr
#TuskeegeeAirmen
#EarnYourAltitude taken in Palmdale, California by @seeingmoore

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4 months ago

Among the giants, we celebrated our next little miracle.

Earlier this year, we brought an ultrasound picture to the largest tree on Earth, the General Sherman Tree. Standing beneath something that has lived for thousands of years has a way of putting life into perspective.

Since then, our little seedling has been growing, and today, on Father’s Day, we’re excited to share that we’re expecting a baby girl.

The next big thing isn’t another trip, another photo, or another adventure.

It’s her.

🌲💕👶🏾

Due December 2026.

#TheNextBigThing #GirlDad #GeneralSherman #MoorePartyOfFour #SequoiaNationalPark taken in General Sherman Tree Trail by @seeingmoore

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4 months ago

Three slow-motion clips. Same fire. Closer every time.

Most people see smoke and flames. What they don’t see is how much heat is being generated.

Years ago, firefighters came out and spoke with us at work. Most of the discussion focused on underground rescue, but one thing that stuck with me was just how hot fire really is.

Around 130°F is pushing what a human can comfortably endure. That’s barely enough to melt cheese.

Wildfires routinely exceed 600°F. Under the right conditions, temperatures can climb well over 1,500°F, and extreme fire behavior such as fire whirls can reach even higher.

Standing near a fire like this reminds you that it doesn’t take much. A spark, a hot exhaust system in dry grass, a dragging chain, or any number of small ignition sources can become a problem in a hurry.

Fortunately, this one was caught early and knocked down quickly.

Summer hasn’t even officially started yet.

🔥🌾🚒

#SeeingMoore #WildfireSeason #FireSafety #AntelopeValley #FieldLife taken in Fairmont, California by @seeingmoore

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4 months ago

January on the Arkansas River aboard the Royal Gorge Route Railroad.

With summer around the corner and temperatures climbing back into the triple digits, I figured I’d remind everyone what being cold actually looks like.

Nothing could have prepared this Southern California kid for Colorado in January. Snow-covered canyon walls, ice lining the riverbanks, and temperatures that made me question every life choice that brought me there. But happy wife, happy life.

What amazes me now is realizing this same river continues east across the Plains all the way to Wichita. A few months later, we crossed it multiple times in Kansas without giving it a second thought. The Arkansas River that cuts through the Royal Gorge eventually becomes just another familiar landmark downtown, where the crews from Wichita State practice on the water.

From a frozen canyon in Colorado to the heart of Kansas, it’s all connected.

Fear the Wheat

🚂❄️🗻🌾

#RoyalGorge
#ArkansasRiver
#Colorado
#Wichita
#FearTheWheat taken in Royal Gorge Route Railroad by @seeingmoore

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4 months ago

Most raptors take one look at a drone and decide they’ve had enough of me.

This Red-tailed Hawk had other plans.

While inspecting distribution poles, I spotted him perched on top of a pole overlooking the desert. Hawks don’t nest on distribution poles—there isn’t enough room—but they make excellent hunting perches. From up here, he had a clear view of every rabbit, ground squirrel, and lizard moving below.

What surprised me was how little he cared about the drone.

Instead of taking off, he sat there giving me what can only be described as a side-eye inspection.

Eventually he left, not because of the drone, but because he apparently had unfinished business with the swallows nesting along the aqueduct overpass nearby.

Just another day in the field.

🦅⚡

#SeeingMoore
#RedTailedHawk
#WildlifePhotography
#DronePhotography
#Utilities taken in Palmdale, California by @seeingmoore

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4 months ago

Somewhere over Utah and Arizona, I looked out the window and realized we were passing over places that would take days to visit by car.

Bears Ears. Glen Canyon. Lake Powell. Glen Canyon Dam. Lake Mead. Hoover Dam.

On the ground, each one feels enormous. The kind of place that makes you stop talking and just stare.

From 35,000 feet, they look like micro blocks scattered across a giant tabletop.

It’s a good reminder that perspective changes everything.

The problems that seem overwhelming up close can look surprisingly small when viewed from a different altitude.

The landmarks don’t get smaller.

You just get a wider view.

#BearsEars
#LakePowell
#LakeMead
#HooverDam
#WindowSeatWisdom taken in Glen Canyon Dam by @seeingmoore

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4 months ago

You know what’s even more fun than rolling up on a fire?

When your work order catches on fire.

There I was, four poles from being done, mentally halfway to Kansas, already thinking about brisket, thunderstorms, and hotel breakfast. Then smoke starts rising a few blocks away.

Unlike the fire I ran into out in the middle of nowhere, this one had engines, crews, and helicopters on scene in a hurry. Pretty impressive watching everyone go to work.

Of course, after all the excitement, I still got told to finish my inspection.

Fair enough. If you’re heading to the Midwest for barbecue, I suppose a little smoke is part of the preparation. 🔥🚁

#UtilityLife
#FieldLife
#FireSeason
#SouthernCalifornia
#SeeingMoore taken in Palmdale, California by @seeingmoore

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4 months ago

A routine patrol turned into a front-row seat to a fast-moving desert fire. The heat was intense, and the occasional loud pop finally made sense when I realized propane tanks were starting to fail.

What always stands out to me is the response. In a remote corner of the desert, help can take time to arrive. But when they got there, these firefighters didn’t hesitate. They stepped into the smoke, heat, and uncertainty to protect lives and property.

The desert may not carry the same fuel loads as our forests and mountains, but that doesn’t make these fires any less real for the people in their path.

Respect to the firefighters who answered the call.

#WildfirePhotography
#Firefighters
#PublicSafety
#SeeingMoore
#AntelopeValley taken in Fairmont, California by @seeingmoore

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4 months ago