Up on a Roof

We have been so busy getting settled and into new routines that we hardly have time to do anything fun or of real importance these days, but somehow, we always manage to pause for our Bountiful sunsets. Hawaii notwithstanding, it is pretty tough to beat them. These were taken from our roof. Hopefully you can see why we make the time.

Oh Canada!

This past week I was in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada to assist local counsel in a land use trial. The city has about 100,000 residents, and is located on the Northwestern edge of Lake Superior, just north and west of Isle Royal National Park. The town began as a major trading post for fur trapping companies in the early 1800s, and soon became a port for Canada's other major exports -- timber and grain, shipped by rail from the vast middle of the country to this industrial town. The city itself is old and feels like a small Buffalo. Its outstanding feature is a series of huge grain elevators along the length of its shore line.



However, Thunder Bay (the actual bay for which the town is named) looks like this:


The pictures are taken from a lookout in Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, which lies just north and east of the City on a Peninsula jutting out into Lake Superior. Trial ended early on Thursday, and even though it had been raining, I drove out to the park rather than give in to my exhaustion. I found myself sitting on a cliff, surrounded by the colors of fall, watching the sun set. It did not suck.



Take a look at that last photo up close. Who would know that those grain elevators at the beginning of this post could be part of such a beautiful scene? Goes to show that with photography, as in life, it all depends on your perspective and on the quality of the light you have.

Oh the weather outside is frightful!

Snow. In my yard. All day. Sticking around through the night. And I am headed to Canada (yes, the "Great White North") for work all next week. Wondering if it is too late to move back, or even, gulp, to try Arizona instead. Can you tell we have been under a prolonged period of stress?!

When things like this happen (cold and stress and nearly losing your mind) there is only one thing to do. Think about Hawaii! And so I did. I have been wanting to post pictures from our trip to Maui last February for a long time, and today seemed as good a day as any to do so, at least as my answer to the stress and snow.

The islands are nothing short of magical. I experience a truly physical change when I get there. Blood pressure drops. Heart beats slower. Mind stops racing. Time seems to stand still long enough to actually take the world in. What a gift. Your worst day on Maui will be better than your best day in most other places in the world. Why is that, you may ask? Well, it may have something to do with the fact that your day starts with sunrise on Haleakala . . .






Then moves on to humpback whales, sea turtles, beaches and sand . . . .







And finishes off with fish tacos and sunsets like these . . .






So if you are feeling stressed, or having to deal with snow, just put on a little Sonny Lim, or Brother Iz, and stare at these photos for a while. You will notice the change, I promise.

By the way, thanks to all who commented last week. It is nice to fish for comments and actually catch some. Especially when they are from such high quality people! Doubt I will be posting much from Canada this week, but I may have a few shots to share when I return next Saturday. Blog you then.

Guess no one reads us any more, but we'll post anyway

So, have you ever posted a photo that you were sure would draw some comment, and then you get nothing? Zero. Bupkas. Don't you hate it when that happens? I thought that about my last post. And, you guessed it, ZILCH. Nada. Oh well. Serves me right for going so long between posts. Well, we aren't going to let that deter us, no way. We are going to keep on posting because that is just the kind of people we are. So there.

Now that we have that bit of unpleasantness out of the way, here are a few pics from our house. This first one is Keegan, who clearly enjoys the front lawn. Heaven forbid that we should ever let him near those flowers.


We have been greeted by spectacular August/September thunderstorms during our first three weeks, and the skies have been spectacular. I was concerned when we left the Bay I would suffer creatively, without all that exquisite scenery around to fuel my desire to photograph. Despite all the unpacking left to do, I finally had to get on my roof and take a picture of a sunset over Antelope Island. As nice as the one below was, it is not even close to some of the really amazing ones we've seen in just a few short weeks (unfortunately, I have been so busy unpacking I failed to photograph those-- so much for sacrificing for my art).





Those skies have brought with them a surprising amount of rain, and Alden has discovered the advantages of living on a hill during a rainstorm. It sure beats the heck out of going to Costco, which is where I naively thought we were headed when I opened the door.


Kate has never been a sloucher when it comes to frolicking in the rain, and this day was no exception.


The only reason for the glum faces is that they had to come in and take a bath.


Many more things to post, but this will have to do for now. We live in a state of perennial exhaustion these days (and YOU thought we were moving to UTAH), and I need sleep. Hopefully, this post will garner a little more attention than the last!!

The Last Night

There was still much to do to get ready for our big move, but there was a full moon on the bay, and the fog was just rolling in. I dropped everything and ran down to the beach path near our home for a few night photos. Let's just say that San Francisco is not an easy place to leave.

Earlier in the week we had gone to Stinson, and had a wonderful dinner at our friend Harriet's house. Here is the sunset view from her front yard. I don't know if I could ever leave, Harriet, but we all do what we must, and heaven knows the Bay Area exacts a price for its beauty.



Much more to post, including a big THANKS! to all who helped pack us up, but it is late and I am exhausted from the whole constant unpacking, heavy furniture moving, life organizing ordeal. I apologize for the long delay between posts -- we are just now seeing light at the end of the tunnel (which is made of boxes, of course). Hopefully, you have not abandoned us, dear readers . . . Let us know, and we promise to be more faithful posters from this point forward. God bless.

Quintessential California

After Big Sur, we decided to head over to Pinnacles National Monument instead of heading home. It was fun being able to operate on the fly and improvise, rather than having to, say, show up for work the next day. We went to Pinnacles by way of Carmel Valley road, where this scene presented itself around sunset.




This is the type of scene that really defines California for me. More often than not, if you are driving a highway or a back road other than in the Sierras, this is the type of terrain on display--large, beautiful, isolated oak trees surrounded by perfectly yellow grassland. I believe this type of ecology is referred to as "Coast Chaparral" (you ecologists out there feel free to correct me if I am wrong). The trees are majestic and somehow very western, very Californian. Anyway, it is a beautiful sight.

The highlight of Pinnacles was getting there at 11:00 P.M. and setting up the tent. How can that be, you ask. Is the place really that bad? No, but we arrived just in time for the Perseid Meteor Shower. We enjoyed many shooting stars in an isolated, elevated spot far from any city lights. It was quite a treat, especially when a Great Horned Owl swooped over us in absolute silence, blotting the stars from view for a heart-stopping moment.

The next day at breakfast, we had the opportunity to observe the work of another bird, the Acorn Wood Pecker, whose job is to make oak trees look like the victims of a drive by shooting. I guess they hide acorns in those little holes, but who knows how they keep track of it.




Afterward, Kate and I took a hike (poor Kath had to tend Alden, who in typical fashion refused to walk). As you can see, Kate had a great time, notwithstanding the fact that August is probably the worst time of the year to visit this place.




So concluded our farewell trip in Cali. All in all, it was a fitting finish, and we had a great time.

They Don't Call it Sur for Nothin'

Any place this dramatic deserves to be called 'Sir.' I don't know if words can ever describe it, really. They all come in a jumbled rush: amazing, awesome, spectacular, remarkable, special. Common words for an otherworldly place. What I do know is that watching a sunset from Big Sur can change your life. It is something that will never leave you. These pictures may not even do it justice, but if you look at the first one really close, near the bottom, you will see two tiny spots on the beach. Those are people, and give you a sense of the scale here. If you haven't been here, you should go.

Santa Cruz and Monterey

Last week, after our stay on the San Mateo Coast, we headed south to Santa Cruz and Monterey. We took to the board walk in Santa Cruz, where the girls rocked out to a live band doing a decent cover of the Beach Boys' "Help Me Rhonda" (who in their right mind would call themselves Papa Doo Run Run? --only in Santa Cruz . . .).



Of course, no one can go south from Santa Cruz without stopping at Gayle's Bakery in Capitola for a chocolate macaroon. Then it was off to the incomparable Monterey Acquarium.





The wildlife that so casually coexists with man in this place continually amazes me. While the aquarium had plenty going on outside its doors, I was sad to have missed two favorite spots on this trip: Point Lobos and Elkhorn Slough. We have fond memories of hiking out to the end of Point Lobos on another occasion, to find ourselves alone with a sea otter family fishing and floating away. We watched them for hours.

Elkhorn Slough remains our best wildlife viewing experience in all of California (with the probable exception of watching blue whales off the Channel Islands near Santa Barbara, but that is a story for another day). If you didn't know better, you would pass by the Slough without thinking twice. It empties into a harbor right next to a large PG&E power plant. The harbor is separated by from the ocean by a natural spit. You can drive right out onto the spit, and with binoculars see everything you would like in the Slough and harbor, as well as in the ocean on the other side of the spit. One evening, we pulled onto that spit just before sunset, and saw no less than 17 sea otters floating in the harbor, along with sea lions, dozens of Brown Pelicans, egrets and countless other shorebirds. After getting our fill of that grand spectacle, we turned to the ocean side only to see dolphins playing in the surf as the sun set on a fog free night. I will never forget that moment. We will miss Cali in a big way, no doubt about it.

Next up, Big Sur.