When you're retired, the whole world comes to life!

 

Ducks

Warning!

I am signed up for a December 4th Beginner's Photoshop class at the Mill Valley Library. Who knows what mischief I'll get into after I have that under my belt!

 

I took the attached picture at about 8 AM this morning at the Corte Madera Marsh. Weather clear, temperature about 60 degrees Fahrenheit (15 degrees Centigrade)

 

California Academy Of Sciences

The gorgeous, brand-new, California Academy of Sciences is touted as "a four-story rainforest, an aquarium, a planetarium, and a natural history museum all under one living roof!" What more could one possibly expect? Well, I found some thrilling shadows and reflections, unnoticed by the teeming crowds, attuned solely to the official presentations.

 

I took my picture, looking up, from a spot not far from the main entrance. The beautiful lines and curves were in constant motion, as I stood enjoying the spectacle.

 

More Egrets

Just in case you needed to see more Egrets, here's another one of the pix I took at Rush Creek eight days ago. When I went back four days ago, I didn't see a single Egret.

 

Art Nouveau

A century ago, and for fifteen years, Art Nouveau flourished throughout the Western World. It is still wildly popular among many art-lovers, yours truly among them.

 

That being said, I was truly surprised when I saw a whole field of Art Nouveau-style, what I think were, Common Thistles, at the Olema Marsh. Usually Art mimics Nature, but here we have a reversal. Could I have stumbled on a new movement?

 

Now that your pulse has returned to normal, take a good look at my picture, and tell me what Tiffany, Gaudi, Mucha, Klimt, et al, would say to my discovery, were they alive today.

 

LBMs

Bob T and I wandered out the Bear Valley Trail In Point Reyes this morning. There was a light drizzle so we decided to leave our cameras in the car, thinking there wouldn't be much to photograph anyway. Of course we were proved wrong twenty minutes later as we came upon these beautiful mushrooms. We continued on our hike, passing the mushrooms again on the way back. "They'll still be here next week", we rationalized. By the time we got back to the car it had stopped raining. Now our creative conscience began to plague us, so we trudged back to the mushrooms, this time with cameras in hand! And you are the beneficiaries of our travail!

 

After unsuccessfully searching through all my guide books, I E-mailed Emma K., the head of my Mycological Research Advisory Group for assistance. Being Ukrainian, Emma has been on a first-name basis with mushrooms since she was two years old and, astonishingly, is still alive. Anyway, she responded post-haste and wrote "Those are not edible mushrooms, they are called LBMs (little brown mushrooms). Some call them LYMs or LWMs (yellow or white). They are similar to honey mushrooms which are edible, but those have little hairs on the top and much more brown/purple coloring". Being of a gullible nature, I am taking Emma's words for gospel, though somewhere, in the depth of my brain (ha!) I suspect that the wool is being pulled over my eyes.

 

By the way, I hope that, after all the above ranting, you like the picture. Which is what it's all about!

Early Morning at Rush Creek

A heavy fog lay over Rush Creek this morning, as Bob T and I ventured out. The rest, of course, is photography!

 

Oh No!

Oh no! Hans is back to his wicked ways again! He says, that every so often, he just can't help himself, things just happen.

 

More Rush Creek

Here, finally, in an attempt to mollify the conservative traditionalist members of my fan-club, is an original Hans Roenau landscape, this one a beautiful view of Rush Creek. Are you happy now?

 

Signed and numbered 8" x 10" prints are available, at a special Holiday Sale price of only US$ 182.73, plus Sales Tax where applicable. Shipping is included in the purchase price. Order today and delivery by December 12th is guaranteed.

 

Wow!

I can hardly take credit for this picture. I was watching the mind-boggling show at the new California Academy of Sciences Planetarium. We were told "no flash, no cell-phones, no nothing". It was really dark during the show but I decided to take a picture anyway, of course without flash. It took forever and then, to my embarrassment, the whole back of my camera, unexpectedly, lit up like a Christmas tree! I quickly turned my camera off as I sank into my seat (the ground).

 

When I downloaded my pictures I was totally amazed at what came up!