Chihuly

I understand that, on the last day of the Chihuly exhibition at the de Young Museum, there were more than 20,000 visitors. This morning I passed by Chihuly's outdoor sculpture, as it was being dismantled. I had a strange feeling, a little like when Dorothy, after Toto had tipped over a screen in a corner of the throne room, discovered that the Wizard was merely an ordinary old man.

 

I asked, and was told that the pieces were being removed and stored randomly, to be reassembled at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix next year

 

Portrait

Perhaps I missed my calling. And become a famous portrait-photographer. I keep telling myself that it's never too late.

 

I found this young lady yesterday, on 18th Street, between Guerrero and Valencia, in San Francisco. She was participating in the shooting of a film by San Francisco City College students. Maybe she'll be a great star someday.

 

Bike-Rack

Detail of a bike-rack I spotted at the Village Shopping Center in Corte Madera yesterday.

 

Iraq

Just one more time, which ones are the Sunnis and which ones the Shiites?

 

Shadows

"The City", also known as San Francisco, is full of photo-opportunities.

 

Gourmand

The food at the San Francisco Ferry Terminal is excellent, as evidenced by this gourmand doing justice to his/her meal. Observed by Marti and me on Tuesday.

 

You be sure to vote for Obama!

If you don't vote for Obama on November 4th, Daddy will spank!

 

Picture taken on San Francisco's Market Street.

 

Snake 2

As threatened, here's yesterday's Gopher Snake again, this time in its full length. Isn't it a beaut?

 

Snake

Here's the Pacific Gopher Snake Bob T. spotted on the trail as we walked around the Ponds yesterday morning. It was about a foot (30.5 cm) in length, and about as thick as my little finger. It was the smallest snake I have ever seen in the wild. At first it didn't move a muscle (muscle?), but finally decided to slither away. I was torn between showing only part of the snake, or the whole enchilada (snake). Maybe tomorrow. The harmless Gopher Snake resembles the poisonous Rattle Snake, but does not have the diamond-shaped head of the rattler, is skinnier, and, obviously, lacks rattles!

 

Garden Spider

Coming home from the Ponds today, it was a toss-up between the picture of a garden-spider and that of a little snake. The spider won but perhaps the snake will appear tomorrow.

 

Billy Moore

NOSTALGIA

 

Sausalito was a happening place in the sixties and seventies. Many well-known characters lived there. You could see the likes of Sterling Haydn strolling down Bridgeway in the early morning. And you would have known the man with the hat. His name was Billy Moore who hailed from Guiana. He was married to beautiful, Swedish, Katrina, and they had a little son named Kwami. Billy was a tailor and his shop was on Caledonia Street. But Billy was better known as a musician. He played the guitar and sang at various clubs, parties, and at his house. Billy was never without his hat, which he even wore at home, receiving visitors sitting cross-legged on his bed. And there were many visitors, philosophizing with Billy about every imaginable subject. He was an institution! Then, one day, it was all over. Without a word, Billy went back to Guiana, while Katrina returned to Sweden, taking Kwami with her.

 

The Marin Independent Journal used my picture for a story about Billy around 1970. I'm really fond of it and have it in a frame. I couldn't remove it for a scan, so I photographed it.

 

Goose

 

Goosey, goosey, gander,
Whither shall I wander?
Upstairs, and downstairs,
And in my lady's chamber.

 

You won't find this goose in any wild birds guide book because it is a domesticated bird. Except that this one isn't. It is feral and living "in the wild" along the Corte Madera Creek. This may be the fault of, or to the credit of, a German lady that feeds geese and ducks of various stripe (just an expression) near the Bon Air Bridge every evening at 6 PM. This may, or may not, be a good practice, and hotheads on both sides of the issue periodically make their opinions known.

 

As a vegetarian I have a very hard time listening to discussions about whether the Christmas goose will fit in the oven! Arrgh!

 

Thursday Morning

On Thursday mornings a bunch of runners work out at the College of Marin track, under the able and tough coachmanship (my word) of Kees Tuinzing. At seven sharp, before the workout, the runners do a warm-up along the Corte Madera Creek. East on one side, over the bridge, then West, returning on the other side. Meanwhile Margie, Sandy, Bob T. and I trudge (walk?) around the same course. The runners are just about done with their entire workout by the time we finish. Which works out well, because now it's time for breakfast at Willie's Cafe.

 

My picture shows the runners (and their reflection) heading back to the track, while we're still on our way to the bridge. A slice of life!

 

Turtle

I've taken quite a few pictures of turtles at Lake Lagunitas, but they were always from above. This is the first time I managed to show the underside and the beautiful design on the neck.

 

Wolf at the Lake

For those of you not familiar with these here parts, let me explain that wolves are not common at Lake Lagunitas on Mount Tamalpais. Which is why Eva Leveton and I were really surprised this morning, when we ran across this fine specimen, howling away merrily.

 

Spider Art

Once again, it shouldn't really matter where this picture (which I took at the Ponds) was taken. What really matters is that we all appreciate Spider Art. How they do it boggles the mind. I just love spider-webs and sit in awe.

 

Seagull

A few days ago, at Tennessee Valley, I photographed this seagull. Then, yesterday, I made the mistake of buying a bigger and better guidebook - 'The SIBLEY Guide to Birds'. I had no idea there were so many different seagulls, each just slightly different. After a laborious back and forth I concluded that this is probably a juvenile Western Gull. There's a German saying "wer die Wahl hat, hat die Qual", meaning that choice is torture!

 

Great Blue Heron

Just when I thought that I was done with Great Blue Heron pictures, this Japanese woodcut popped up (out of the Blue) in the Corte Madera Creek. Realizing that all bets were off, I succumbed to the temptation, and voila!

 

Great Blues should be applauded for being, next to inanimate objects, the best models in the world. They will keep a pose, without any movement whatsoever, for minutes at a time. Then, faster than a speeding bullet, they swoop down for their unsuspecting, doomed, breakfast.

 

Misunderstanding

'Twas only yesterday that I preached about how a picture should not require words and here I go, explaining the situation on my photograph. Margie, Sandy, Bob and I always encounter Dorothy with her Scottie, Merry, on our Tuesday morning walks along the Corte Madera Creek. This morning, Bob, overcome with photographic fervor, sat down on the ground to take a picture of Merry at eye- (or lens-) level. Merry, unaccustomed to such antics, interpreted Bob's pose as an invitation to sit on his lap. So here we see Bob keeping his camera out of reach of Merry's loving tongue. As he noticed me taking his picture. A happening that almost defies description.

 

Mother and Son

Every once in a while I remind myself that every photograph should tell its story without any explanation. And while I totally subscribe to that rule, I don't always follow it. I hope that today's picture doesn't need any words. Not even smart alecky ones like mine!

 

Tree at Rush Creek

Bob T and I saw this tree at Rush Creek in Novato this morning. And here it is, with a little help from my friend, ready for your viewing pleasure.

 

Tai Chi Chuan

Walking near the Music Concourse in Golden Gate Park this morning, I noticed a group of ladies doing Tai Chi Chuan (Supreme Ultimate Fist). One of them in particular caught my eye for her grace and smoothness of motion. When she paused for a moment, I asked her permission to take a picture. She allowed me to take one picture. Wherever in the world there are Chinese, you will find them practicing Tai Chi Chuan (or Tai Chi, as it commonly referred to in the West), especially the women.

 

When I was a boy of about sixteen in Shanghai, Mr. Chen, a friend's father, took me under his wing and seriously attempted to teach me the fine art of Tai Chi. Very early every morning we went to the nearby Jessfield Park, to a particularly pretty spot under some trees. And there I followed his movements. He told me to imagine I was rolling balls of different sizes between my hands. Each day we followed the same exact routine. It took about forty-five minutes. Shamefully I lasted only about three months before I tired of the exercise! I guess it just isn't a young boy's thing!

 

Obviously, Tai Chi is healthy for both body and mind. Fresh air, a beautiful surrounding, physical exercise, and a form of meditation, all rolled into one.

 

The Chinese claim that Tai Chi masters have special martial-arts-like powers. They even tell of being able to knock someone down without touching him/her. Even through a wall. O course these are all fairy tales, but they show the respect the Chinese pay to the practice.

 

Crocodile

One week ago I sent out a picture of an Albino Alligator. Then, yesterday, Bob H. and I encountered a crocodile emerging from the surf at Tennessee Valley Beach! Was it coincidence or is a higher being behind it all? Sort of like Intelligent Design. At any rate, there it was, seemingly friendly, but you never know for sure. We kept our distance. And please don't tell me that it's all a crock! That would be rude.

 

Moammar Gadhafi

 

Yesterday, while trying to stay cool at Tennessee Valley Beach, I stumbled upon a sculpture depicting the profile of Lybia's leader, Moammar Gadhafi. This morning, Marin's rag, the Independent Journal, reported that also yesterday, our soon-to-be-out-of-office Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, met with the mercurial strongman. The United States and Lybia have been at odds for decades, and yesterday marked a historic turnaround of relations between the two countries. Please don't tell me that the two events occurring on the same day were a coincidence. That would just be too weird. To refresh your memory of what handsome Gadhafi, never without his cap, looks like, I have attached a little photo which I dug up on the Internet.

 

 

 

Rabbit

Yeah, yeah, I know, I've sent out a lot of rabbit pix lately. And this one is not especially different from previous. Except that she/he is a resident of Point Reyes, and I like the lighting and colors. So forgive me already!

 

1947

Every once in a while I want to shake you out of your complacency and surprise you with a change of pace.

 

The attached picture shows me as a nineteen-year-old pantry-boy, aboard the Danish Tramp Steamer M/S Grete Maersk, sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge. The date was 22 December 1947 and the bridge was just ten years old. I had signed on in Shanghai and was tremendously excited at seeing the United States for the first time. I had already learnt to empty the garbage-pail in the wind-direction. I had learnt to drink Akvavit. And I had learnt enough Danish to understand the Chief Steward's instructions. My diary (yes, diary) reminds me that Ballerina, Peg O'My Heart, and I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now were on the Hit Parade. We docked under the Bay Bridge at Pier 26. A Shanghai friend showed me around San Francisco, and we visited Chinatown, Coit Tower, Treasure Island and Playland at the Beach (which some of you will remember). Nostalgic? You betcha! Hard to believe? You betcha once more!

 

Finish Line

Here I am, with Bob and Margie, ready to take pix, at the finish line of Craig Stern's 5k footrace at Indian Valley College. It all took place yesterday.

California-bay

 

Here are leaves and fruit of a California-bay tree, also known as California-laurel. This Evergreen tree is quite common throughout our area, though we don't see the fruit that often. The leaves give off an aromatic odor,

which I really like. As a matter of fact, I like to tear off a leaf, crush it, and hold it up to my schnozz. When a Bay Tree, or a larger branch falls, new branches will grow straight up from the fallen limb. A common and happy sight on my walks. I took this picture yesterday, near the Point Reyes Park Headquarters.

 

Finish Line

Here I am, with Bob and Margie, ready to take pix, at the finish line of Craig Stern's 5k footrace at Indian Valley College. It all took place yesterday.

 

Reflection

I'm so lucky that none of you ever tire of seeing pictures of me. But seriously (really?) it's not about me. It's what is called "Artistic Expression" (a term I don't like).