I finally got myself out to get a few pictures. I hadn't been over to Benicia for several years. It's a short 5 mile trip across the Carquinez Straights. Benicia was the original California State capital (now Sacramento). It's a very middle-class city with a touristy main street lined with restored buildings and decorated sidewalks.
This is the original California capital building 
The sidewalks are inlaid with these plaques.  . 
Some sidewalk decorations  . 
A few lucky people get to live at the water's edge. 
On my way back I couldn't resist stopping at the Martinez Marina. Of course there were ducks  .
Then I spotted an American Avocet with a Black-necked Stilt standing together. 
and then more Black-necked Stilts. 
I ended up counting a dozen of them before leaving.  There are a few more shots but I'll put them in an album. .
 With the completion of the Golden Gate Dam, more than 7 million homes in the San Francisco Bay area will now have fresh drinking water. The resulting new shoreline area will provide new opportunities for another 2 million new would-be homeowners. The completion of the dam marks a 30 year milestone in California development, thus eliminating, once and for ever, the need for expensive bridges and trans-bay tubes. The drought that has plagued the area on and off for the last century is now officially over, according to Governor Sloan. “I am proud to have led this state into a new era of prosperity.” He declared.
A large contingency of conservationists opposed the Golden Gate Dam, but the rising cost of maintaining endangered species and the wasteful practice of “flushing the bay” finally gave way to more practical thinking.
With the decline in oceanic shipping, due to refuse build-up on the high seas, the need for a shipping port in San Francisco bay was mostly eliminated. Both the Alaskan Land Bridge and bulk air shipping has made the need for oceanic transport obsolete.
Now, fresh drinking water from the Sacramento and the San Joaquin rivers can be distributed throughout the region. Residence, who are now bathing on average only once a week will begin enjoying bi-weekly service as early as next month. 80% salt-free water should be on store shelves as soon as manufactures can deliver. Some gourmet aqua-marts say 97% pure water might be available soon, but at a hefty price, of course.
Farmers, who have been forced to reclaim all water used in the growing process, are now expected to expand their meager plots and start producing fruit and vegetables at an ever increasing rate. This should bring down the prices in the store and allow regular fruit and vegetable purchases for the first time in ten years.
Governor Sloan declared, “This is a great day for California,” as he held up a glass of water in front of an adoring crowd on the steps of the State Capital. “We should bow our heads and give thanks we live in such an enlightened age.”
Just a few short thoughts without titles 1. I’m keeping quiet That way you’ll never know You never liked me. My spring scent Flowery ways Will always fill the halls And eclectic visions of smiling hugging people fill the view Dynamic waves of passion Cover up The littleness that you’ll never see 2. How do we define our differences Let me count the ways On every hand, and then some I damn you for not Being me I bless you for the times you are 3. When you can see Should you pretend the path is clear The sky is always blue When those around are blind Tell them that the stench is just old roses That everyone is smiling Raise their hope 4. Whether it is nobler to stand up Or give way That is the question How can you accept the ways of others When they are wrong What inner beauty must you see To hold the beast in your arms To dirty yourself To become them
I was going to wait a few days before reposting this list, but there aren’t any more suggestions coming, so here is the “final” version. These are the digested categories (and where they were added) that Karen suggested (sorry Karen if I didn’t get these exactly as you might have wanted): same-sex marriage (religion) quality/subject matter of education (education, curriculum) multiculturalism (education, curriculum) slave traffic (International) drug traffic (policing) immigration (International) erosion of constitution (Courts) credit/lenders, credit scores (Economics) Regulation; utility, airlines, rail system, government in business (Economics) Infrastructure; utilities, rail system, business (Economics) Government in business, government vs. business (Economics) Iraq; stay, cost, medical, terrorism (International) Global warming (Environment) Freedom of press and speech (Individual Rights) Economic globalization (Economics) Karen’s suggestions concerning education reminded me that an important area had been overlooked: State vs. Federal. Since the list is written from a national perspective, I entered a new category State Rights, and listed some very general sub-categories since this struggle goes on across the board. I also added Individual Rights. The list of sub-categories is lengthy so I only included a few. I summarized Karen’s educational suggestions into one category: Curriculum. I added categories Courts and Congress. I did not include many sub-categories since most issues fall under these headings at some point. FamousPotato suggested adding Same-sex Marriage, the Iraqi War, and Health and Medical Coverage. Fortunately, these are already included, albeit under other labels, so I am not making any changes here.
National Political Issues Domestic Economics Housing crisis/ money lending policies Infrastructure development Oil/gas exploration and delivery Class structure (wealthy vs. poor) National debt Trade policies Government and business Regulation Support Infrastructure maintenance and development Globalization Religion Acceptance of Muslims Fundamentalism (all religions) Abortions Religion and/in government Same-sex Marriage Politics Cost of government Taxes Inefficiency of government Paper clipping Pork barrel projects Structure of government Courts Federal Reserve Electoral System Science Funding Moral guidelines Creationism vs. evolution Policing Terrorism prevention Privacy vs. security Funding to Cities Drug traffic and general criminal activity Education Public vs. private Sex education Testing Curriculum Health and Welfare Nation-wide health care Drug cost Drug availability (internet, outside U.S.) Generic drugs vs. name brand drugs Care of military veterans Emergency response Subsistence programs Environment Pollutant regulation Forest, wetlands, and oceanic restoration and regulation Global warming State Rights Education Entitlements Security Individual Rights Speech Privacy Religion Courts Erosion of the Constitution (multiple subjects) Congress (multiple subjects) Foreign/International Economics Oil and resource exploration and protection Trade policy Import regulation Religion Reconciling religious differences Politics Democracy vs. other forms of government Science Nuclear development Space exploration Disease control Archaeological exploration Policing Terrorist intervention Protecting U.S. interests Slave traffic Drug traffic War
Thank you Karen and FamousPotato for your contribution.
Please keep in mind that this list is partial and that you are welcome to copy it and modify it for your own use. Feel free to pass it on in any form. It is meant to help understand the complexities of political conversation.
During a conversation with Karen yesterday, I expressed my reluctance to get into many political discussions because points raised in one area raise questions in so many other areas. I find making a comprehensive statement can be daunting. So, I decided to make an ad-hoc list of issues that seem important to most people. I think you will agree that addressing any one issue also includes addressing several others. If a list like this helps clarify your own conversation I hope you will add your own areas of concern, since the list is by no means complete. National Political Issues Domestic Economics Housing crisis/ money lending policies Infrastructure development Oil/gas exploration and delivery Class structure (wealthy vs. poor) National debt Trade policies Religion Acceptance of Muslims Fundamentalism (all religions) Abortions Religion and/in government Politics Cost of government Taxes Inefficiency of government Paper clipping Pork barrel projects Structure of government Courts Federal Reserve Electoral System Science Funding Moral guidelines Creationism vs. evolution Policing Terrorism prevention Privacy vs. security Funding to Cities Education Public vs. private Sex education Testing Health and Welfare Nation-wide health care Drug cost Drug availability (internet, outside U.S.) Generic drugs vs. name brand drugs Care of military veterans Emergency response Subsistence programs Environment Pollutant regulation Forest, wetlands, and oceanic restoration and regulation Foreign Economics Oil and resource exploration and protection Trade policy Import regulation Religion Reconciling religious differences Politics Democracy vs. other forms of government Science Nuclear development Space exploration Disease control Archaeological exploration Policing Terrorist intervention Protecting U.S. interests Slave traffic Drug traffic
If you think you know a lot, it is because you actually don’t know much at all. Knowledge shows us how little we know, not how much we know. Like an onion, when one layer is mastered, another is revealed. But knowledge is not like an onion in that there is not final layer. As you master the final layer, another is revealed, and another.
Thus another aspect of knowledge is revealed: how we proceed and accept the layers of knowledge. We travel through the plains of knowledge like time passes through our lives. Life is constant learning, and relearning. Knowledge, unlike time, is not linear or constant, but changes in all possible ways. We may learn quickly and logically once, but then get muddled and meander through the next experience. Not to say that learning one way is better than another, but the course with which we learn is noteworthy. It defines us. Educators are well aware that we all learn differently. To make things easier, they categorize learners as visual learners, auditory learners, hands-on learners, and several more. This can be a great help to teachers and students alike. However, the way we learn is actually much more complex. We vacillate within these categories with inconsistent results. Sometimes one type of learning is better, sometimes another. These changes are very personal, and beyond our current ability to track or predict accurately. We, teachers and students, simply do our best. I suspect, in the future, we will become more aware of these learning patterns. They will not be like finger prints because they will change constantly. However, the cause and effect of these changes might become understood and a truer picture of who we are will emerge. This will be another layer of the onion, which will reveal something new which can’t be thought of now.
Well, I made the switch -- at least temporarily. I've been an IE (Internet Explorer) user and have refused to switch to Foxfire because I felt that sites should taylor their code to make IE work well. Not that I have anything against Foxfire, just that IE comes with Windows, is the most widely used, so IE concerns should be addressed first. Unfortunatelly, that isn't the case -- IE seems to get the least attention.
I have been a Gmail user for some time now (no commercials, unlike Yahoo), so when I saw that Google was offering a browser (Chrome), I jumped on board. At first I was disappointed. The GUI is very plain and things are in different places (hidden) compared with other browsers. Howeveer, after fiddling around awhile I found that most everything I wanted was there. The big surprise came when I peeked at my blog. Suddenly all the comments and photos lined up properly. Everything ran more quickly. Then I tried running Hulu.com, the free TV and movie site. Everything there loaded about twice as fast! This is great (so far). No not yahoo, Googlehoo... or something
 | Vistas | Aug 30, '08 10:18 AM
for everyone |
Yesterday morning I finally got out to take some shots with my new 16-85mm after Nikon worked on it. It still has some problems but things work just fine at 16mm. I started off at the near by park at sunrise. 
Then I walked over to the duck pond 
Then up the way where I could get a clear shot across the old Concord Navel Weapons Station of Mt. Diablo. A few years ago, the Weapon station (that was the main storage for bombs during the Viet Nam War) was shut down and deeded to the City of Concord. This large field will be developed for housing and business. 
I headed on down the road to the Avon Refinery. We have a huge oil refining industry here (you'd think our gas prices would be lower, but they are some of the highest in the nation... go figure). 
Further down the road I decided to check out a spot I'd always wondered about. Strangely, it is the parking lot of some county buildings. From here, you are looking at the town of Pacheco, with Concord and Mt. Diablo in the background. The freeway (I-680)(lower left to upper right) is a major artery leading down to San Jose. 
It was a good morning outing -- home by 9:00.
A friend was visiting recently and the conversation drifted to how the ending of a movie can make or break it. I recalled how the movies "Signs" and "Powder" had been great until the end and then simply fell apart. Then I recalled an old favorite of mine "5 Million Years to Earth," also known as "Quatermass and the Pit," where the protagonist is killed at the end and the remaining leads simply stand around in confusion with dogs barking and sirens weighing in the distance -- a very different ending from your usual Hollywood epic where couples fall in love, or the earth/universe is saved and everyone high-fives. The 5milYr2earth ending gave an otherwise good move a feeling of intimacy and realism you don't often find. This movie was made back in 1968 when a lot more freedom was afforded the movie industry. The story takes what might be an ordinary si-fi event and introduces religion (good vs. evil), genetics, personality types (government/military vs. scientific/humanitarian) and builds a very interesting, ever twisting, series of events, into an enjoyable, fanciful, fabrication about martians coming to earth 5 million years ago. There is no shoot-em-up, no car chases -- in typical English style the empathise is on discovery and the what-if. I decided to Google the movie and found it could be bought new (as Quatermass and the Pitt) for $150 dollars on DVD from Amazon. I am fortunate to have a VHS tape (recorded off the TV in 1985, commercials and all), but you can buy it used for only (cough) $40. Egad, was I surprised to see that! I suggest renting it, if you can find it. Amazon also has about 60 reviews similar to mine. http://www.amazon.com/Five-Million-Years-Earth-Region/dp/B0002XP01E If you're looking for '80's - '90's style fast action thrillers, this movie won't work, but if you're looking for good '50's style si-fi this could by a winner.
A few months ago I saw a PBS NovaNow program that included a short segment on epigenetics -- I'd never heard of it before. This is that program: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3411/02.html Last week, PBS aired a full-length Nova entirely devoted to epigenetics. This is really important stuff because it explains a link between genetics and environment that was previously unknown. It turns out that our DNA is surrounded by protein strands that also carry information about who we are. They are similar to DNA but more fragile. They can be altered by environmental factors, like what we eat, or by stress, or how we are raised. But the remarkable thing that makes this epigenetic information so important is that it is passed on to our offspring. So the good (or bad) things you do for yourself are genetically passed on to your children. I'm sorry I couldn't find a reference to the full-length program I saw but the above clip tells most of the story.
I was totally surprised to get an email reply from Multiply support today. Here is the reply, and the original letter I sent them. Hi, Bellsouth has been blocking our emails off and on for a while now and we are working with AT&T (which owns the sbcglobal domain) but if you could also advise Bellsouth about the problem that would be much appreciated. In the meantime, we would suggest using an alternative email address like Yahoo, Gmail or any other free email service.
Thanks,
Azariah
RE:
I have been trying to get a reply to my concerns about not receiving posts from my friends on Multiply. I have requested an email be sent to BrianS32198@sbcglobal.net so I can know that I can receive email from you -- however, no email has arrived from you. I have requested a phone call at 925-***-**** so I can get clarification on what is happening and what I need to fix this problem, but no call has come. Perhaps you have a phone number by which I can reach you. but you seem unable to email me to let me know what it is. I hope this is not my last comunication attempt with you, but there doesn't seem to be many options left. Sincerely, Brian Sprague Unfortunately, I am already using Yahoo mail and Gmail, but there may be some further options to try. Thanks everyone for your kind thoughts. I now think this thing may be resolved eventually. ...and thank you Multiply.
Well, Multiply really has gone the way of 360... South. I can't get any email alerts anymore. I checked for fixes but since I use Gmail I'm out of luck -- they only have fixes for Yahoo and Hotmail. I know, I've threatened to give up on Multiply before, but this is a pretty major thing in my book. The small group of friends I now share this space with (you know who you are) has become very important to me, but like 360, when things get to a certain point it's better to pull the plug, in my opinion. Perhaps Multiply is only going to give the good service to paying Premium customers now and leave the rest of us dangling. I am going to stop blogging for awhile, at least until email alerts are restored -- no I'm not going to send hours researching a fix. As I've done before: I will check back from time to time to see if Multiply has improved (actually I'll see right away if an email alert starts working). Until then, hang in there 'all. Brian
Long Story: In April, my pension fund sent me a letter explaining that they were in dyer straights and could not fulfill their obligation as originally agreed. So after negotiation with the government they were allowed to reduce the amount of retirement payments for new retirees. Plus, as an extra incentive to retire early, you could get nearly your full (reduced) amount if you retired at 62. So, I had no reason to wait, I filed for retirement.
Now since I’m on SSI (major depression) the SSI people said my payment would be reduced when I got my retirement, but the final amount would be more than I’m getting now. I still had nothing to loose. So my appointment with Social Security was today. Boy, was I surprised at what happened.
The first thing the woman said was, I could no longer get SSI! My pension alone was no where near to what I needed to survive. So the next thing I needed to know was whether I’d still be getting MediCal (Medicaid in California). She wasn’t sure, but she’d find out. Then she said I’d be getting $150 more a month than I’d been getting from SSI, but that didn't make sense.
But that’s not all, she asked me if I’d been married. And when she confirmed that I had, she said I was eligible for widow’s SS compensation (forgot term), since my X-wife died several years ago. My wife’s SS would be combined with mine to make a somewhat bigger income amount. Or… I could live on my wife’s SS income and draw a larger SS amount after 65. By this time, I was so confused that I had to start writing things down. She excused herself for a minute, and when she came back she excused herself again and told me that I wasn’t eligible for my wife’s SS after all.
I told her to wait a minute, that I still didn’t understand how my pension fund was figuring into all this. She looked at me perplexed. She didn’t know anything about my pension fund. It turned out that I was summoned to SS because I was 62 years old, and that when you are on SSI you automatically loose your SSI at 62 and start drawing Social Security instead. So when I was saying pension she thought I was talking about my Social Security retirement!
So it was getting a little clearer. She had no knowledge of my pension fund and I had no knowledge of the SSI/SS rule. The bottom line is that I am now officially retired. Instead of living on SSI, I’m now drawing SS. Also, it turns out that I can keep my Medical until I’m 65 (no need for Medicare yet). And the really nice thing is that my pension income will simply be an added bonus, when it comes. Oh yes, my teacher’s retirement also entered the picture for a while, but that got so confusing I decided to leave it out.
I got over to the Martinez Marina this morning. It was one of the clearest days we've had in more than a month -- the state (CA) has been inundated with forest fires and smokey skies. Things are better now, at last. There seems to be an explosion of Dark-Necked Stilts and Snowy Egrets (I've posted lots of pictures of them before) -- But today there were three Pelicans at the marina and it was a nice treat for me. 
I didn't get any good shots of them flying but they are neat to watch. Just a few pumps of their enormous wings and they are up and gliding around effortlessly.
Meanderings Well, I’ve been kind of depressed lately, but more recently feeling really stupid for taking some joke calendar events seriously – which is a great idea if you… well, I don’t need Viagra nearly as much as smart pills. Anyway, I decided to do something to get myself out a little more so I enrolled in a couple of art classes (Impressionist Painting, Drawing). They are Adult Ed classes so everything is very casual, even fun. I’ll post something when I have something worth posting. I probably should be taking a photography class instead of art – somewhere along the way I got the notion that the auto-focus area and the metering area were one in the same, that one adjustment changed both. No, they’re separate. I don’t mind not knowing things, but assuming wrong things is embarrassing. I bought a new coffee roast from Peet’s, 101 Blend. I’ve hated the trend over the last year or so away from high acidic coffees, toward mellow flat roasts, they just don’t have the breadth of flavor. The 101 Blend is pretty good, but I’m still looking for that traditional spikey wake-me-up stuff that used to be common in Espresso and French roasts. I don’t know very much about fish, but the frozen fish I buy anymore always tastes bitter. Occasionally, I’ll get a nice sweet mild piece but mostly I’d be embarrassed to serve this stuff to a friend. Of course I’m not putting out big bucks for this stuff but it seems like some really rotten fish is being pawned of as being edible. I saw an interesting movie on On-Demand recently called The Missouri Splits with Jack Nickelson and Marlin Brando. It’s an old adult western made in the late ‘70s, and is a neat twist on the early western rancher theme. Nickelson is a horse thief and Brando is a (crazy as a loon) hired gunman. It’s a long movie that goes flat on occasion but mostly very compelling and different. Oh yes, the there’s an outspoken independent thinking heroin as well (can’t remember her name, sorry). Well, art class starts pretty soon so I have to get ready to go…
Announced today, Omar al Bahir (President of The Sudan) has been indited for genocide and crimes against humanity in Darfur! http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080714/ap_on_re_af/war_crimes_sudan As the news story explains, millions of people in Darfur are being exterminated because of who they are. el Bashir's regime has systematically raped and starved these people (not to mention outright killing) into near extinction. Those who still survive have been driven into the desert (Darfur region) where they only survive with aid of international assistance. A small UN contingency has been allowed into The Sudan to limit the atrocities, but their numbers are so small (9000) as to be useless. There are a few organizations that raise support and awareness of the Darfur crisis. I support this one (Save Darfur Coalition): http://www.savedarfur.org/content?splash=yes you can goggle Darfur for more. Also, a prominent person in the fight to raise awareness of this crisis is Mia Farro (the well known actress) whose blog is informative with notices of current activity in Darfur. http://www.miafarrow.org/ The Darfur problem is made more difficult because The Sudan has been found to have significant oil reserves. China and Russia have formed bonds with el Bashir for this reason and, of course, oppose UN intervention. President Bush has been urged to boycott the upcoming olympics in China for this, and other, reasons. But he has refused. Cooperative efforts with el Bshir by Jimmy Carter and others has had little, if any effect. Hopefully this move by the International Criminal Court will focus world attention and bring relief to the people living in Darfur before it is too late.
Last Fall rumors emerged about a new wide-angle Nikon lens (16-85mm) with VRII (second generation vibration reduction). However, in April when it was finally released, the price was over $700 – way out of my budget. But as months passed, the price dropped until this month it hit $580 – more than I wanted to pay, but much better. Then wonder of wonders, Discover Card made the mistake of mistakes and sent me a credit card! This is the equivalent of giving an addict dope. I promised myself I would be good – “I will be good, I…” But no sooner than I said that than a guy calls me up from Discover and says that $50 would be taken off my first purchase over $200. Oh boy, new lens here I come! 
It's a beautiful little lens and REALLY w i d e angle. 
This shot at the park is much wider than I can see with my naked eye. Unfortunately, the lens clips the dynamic range, making dark areas too dark. I had to lighten the photo of the park in order to see the details around the tree trunks, and that makes the rest of the photo too light. I’m not sure what to expect of a wide-angle lens like this, but the clarity doesn’t seem as sharp as the reports indicated. I am somewhat disappointed, but the lens is a perfect match for my 70-300 VRII, and there isn’t anything else that comes close to what I need, at any price. After watching Sue produce such beautiful photos by applying post-processing techniques I decided to hunt out some manuals to make my old Photoshop Elements 3 easier to learn. Fortunately, Half-Price-Books in Berkeley had a stack of them so I ordered them. Two weeks later, after being shipped to Fremont first, I finally got them two days ago. Anxiously, I followed the step-by-step instructions, trying to get layers to work, when one of the instructions was somewhat different from my version of the program. This is not unusual as you know, software companies make minor upgrades that change the buttons and things around. Well, in the back of one book was a CD of, what I thought was, Elements 3. I decided I would load it instead of the one I was using so the program would match the book better. First I un-installed the old version of Elements 3. Then I decided that I wanted my hard drive in order before installing the new program, so I dumped the Recycle Bin and de-fragmented the hard drive. I’m sure you see what’s coming…
Well, the new CD, that I thought had Elements 3, only had an upgrade to Elements 3. So, of course there wasn’t any Elements 3 left to upgrade, so I was stuck without any program at all. If I hadn’t deleted and de-fragmented everything it might have been restored, but I was just stuck. Further, my original CD had been lost during my recent move and there wasn’t a backup. In my frustration, I decided to pay $20 for an Elements 3 download, and then I’d be back to square one with only my pride and a few dollars lost. But when I went to buy the download they said I had to buy a minimum of $30 dollars of software to qualify for the sale. Well, I would have gladly paid $30 for the program if they had been up front about it, but to me this was a bait-n-switch tactic, meant to force you to buy more than you wanted. So I decided to back off and cool down for a while, read the manuals, and consider some alternatives.
Next day: Originally, I had gotten the Elements 3 program included with my Wacom graphics pen and pad (for the computer), and I suddenly got the brainstorm that Wacom might have an easy way for me to get Elements 3. Wacom, as it turned out, was easy to contact online, and I got a response the same day “I have a few of those old CDs lying around here. Just give me your address and I’ll send one to you.” Amazing! Sometimes people are downright nice – go figure.
In case you’re wondering Photoshop is now in version 9 and costs hundreds of dollars. GIMP, a post-processing editor like Photoshop, is a free download. I decided to go with Photoshop because it’s more mainstream and books/manuals are easier to find.
So I’ll be checking the mail for my Photoshop 3 CD and keeping busy by reading the manuals. I need to find out why the 16-85mm lens clips dark areas, and why it’s not as sharp as I expected. I’m very happy to have a complete kit now, from telephoto to wide-angle, and hope to post some new pictures soon.
I got down to the park yesterday, and for the first time, strolled over to the Little League baseball park next door. The place was empty except for a few birds. This little guy was so small and far away I couldn't get a decent shot, and I haven't a clue what it is. 
Then I spotted a Dove sitting on a fence -- I believe it's a Morning Dove. 
As I walked along I found more on the ground -- however, the blue-gray patch on its head and the blue-gray around the eye are different. 
Then I found a couple more... 
The Doves were just sitting on the ground -- I didn't spot them at first since they blended in with the ground cover so well -- they were very calm, letting me walk within 30ft. On the way back I paused to get a shot of the elegant thistles growing beside the path. 
And finally, on the way back I found a Sparrow sitting on the little railroad track -- I think it's a Song Sparrow. 
The heat dropped from 102 degrees a couple days before to around 85, so I asked my friend Cheryl to take a trip up on Mt. Diablo. It's a centrally located peak with the Carquinez Straight (Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carquinez_Strait) to the North, Diablo Valley and the Oakland hills to the East, and Livermore/Pleasanton to the South. I've lived under this mountain most of my life. When I was a teenager, I used the mountain roads as a race track. And though the roads have been widened a bit, it's pretty much the same as it ever was. Nowdays it's a State park and you have to pay a $6 toll to get in, however. 
It had been so long since I'd been up there that I missed the turn and ended up in a little picnic area I'd never seen before. It was a great little place nestled in a small valley and there were three Turkey Vultures riding around on the warm air. 
These birds are so majestic (except for their bald heads), they glide effortlessly, occasionally dropping to skim the tree tops. 
Just before we left Cheryl bumped her head on something hanging from a tree 
Needless to say, there weren't any Yellow-jackets in the area. At the top of the mountain is a stone building with a beacon that no longer operates. 
The day was pretty hazy -- we're having a rash of fires all over northern California. This is looking east toward Walnut Creek. 
This shot is to the north, looking at Antioch and the Antioch Bridge, looking over the top of a nearby peak. 
There is nothing to see looking south, just a bunch of rich people live down there anyway. Anyway, it was time for Cheryl and I to head for home.   Click on plack to make bigger.
| Surfers | Jun 15, '08 11:42 AM
for everyone |
I got out and over to Ocean Beach a few days ago. Since it was a work day I had to leave early to beat the traffic. I arrived about 6:00 AM, it was cool but not cold with a little fog still hanging in the air. FYI: Ocean Beach is the big beach in the San Francisco area. It starts at the Cliff House Restaurant ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_House ), and what used to be the Sutro Baths (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutro_Baths (when I was a kid, I went ice skating where the huge swimming pool once was)), running southward for 8 miles ending near the San Francisco Zoo. Zoo on right, ocean behind me. 
It's not obvious but the ocean was a foaming cauldron. 
I didn't go to the beach with the intention of shooting surfers, but shortly after I arrived they started coming. These guys are a combination of crazy and super athletes. People drown in these waters regularly. Even on calm days this place can be treacherous. 
These poor guys struggled out against the waves for 20 minutes just to get our chest deep. 
Then there were the guys down the beach, fishing. 
Eventually, the surfers caught a wave and got short rides. 
As the sun came up, more surfers arrived. 
Last shot from the parking lot before leaving. 
Thought I'd throw this shot from Fort Funston in too -- it's a few miles further south near the town of Pacifica. 
This is a favorite place of hang gliders. They walk out on the bark, to the lower left, and jump off the this cliff with their gliders. No one was there this day since the wind was down to 0.
| |
