California, #3 of 3

post #425 -- am publishing this 425th weekly blog a whole day early! girls gone wild!

          On the last evening of my California visit, Liz showed me the area of Mill Valley which is made up entirely of house boats, a whole small village of them. I never even knew this place existed! We walked up and down all the piers, and I loved it!  Lots of color, lots of potted plants, lots of surprises....

       This photographer (me) malingers, while her friend leads the way....

cat serenity:

The whole time we were walking up and down the piers the tide was low: 

whimsy, again and again:

      At first, I assumed that this duck was a carving, with feathers placed around it, one more work of whimsy. But when I looked more closely (thank goodness I did) I saw breathing!  I assume someone worked hard to make the duck feel so welcome, though, of course, perhaps it was a breathing piece of art! I know that a bird will stay on a nest if there are eggs newly hatched, but, in any case, I was touched by the beauty of it all.

      The morning of my return home, it was raining as I took the wonderful bus at 7 a.m. from Mill Valley directly to the SF airport. This meant I crossed the Golden Gate Bridge en route, headed toward San Francisco and beyond. I had time to take this one photo, with my iPhone, while the bus was moving across the bridge. I couldn't believe how it turned out. I share these words about how it happened because it's such a thrill to capture one's emotions in a moment that unexpectedly presents itself. I was sad to leave, glad I had been able to come, so thankful for friends, and, always, grateful that I still love making photos. The seeing seems to help me make sense of so many things.

 

My plane from SF was delayed three times, so, essentially, I spent a day in the airport, and I didn't see my checked bag for a day and a half.  But, hey, my two planes were took off and landed safely, and the airline put many of us up in the Hilton Hotel across the road from the Chicago airport. I slept in a Murphy bed! with a great mattress! Once we actually were flying somewhere, I couldn't help taking photos of moments when sky, clouds,and light from the sun banded together.

     

A totally different look outside the next day on the way to Lexington:

A last note: I saw this large photo during my visit, in a restaurant in Ukiah, and I wanted to make some joke here about how I got slowed down by some construction problems getting across the bridge..... However, I realize that my humor might not make enough sense to share.  (Sometimes my humor doesn't make any sense, but other times..... ) Seriously this photo shows the Golden Gate Bridge under construction, in the 1930s. It was way ahead of its time, and it changed the whole region. Everyone, here's to adventures, every single one.

California, #2, more walking around

post #424
           I'm home again, where it's not yet fully spring, and these California blooms help with the waiting for flowers in Kentucky. I didn't take my heavier camera with me on this trip, so I did the best I could with what I had.
           I have 24 photos to share left -- too many for one post -- so I'll be having a third California post next Sunday.

 IN LIZ's TINY FRONT YARD:

mint to be....

a good year for lemons

also a good year for limes

plum blossoms

THE RED WOOD TREE:

extra close neighbor, long timer

seen through the sky window in the guest room

seen from the front yard

INSIDE THE ENTRANCE OF THE HOUSE, a genuine warm welcome -- from dolls that belonged to Liz's mother:

          I'll be forever grateful for the six day visit Liz and I had together. We've been friends for 55 years! I will post the remaining photos next week. (True confession: I traveled light, but I am still not fully unpacked.... )

on the road again

post #423
       Greetings from .... well, feel free to figure it out by looking carefully into the distance in the first photo for a famous landmark that exists nowhere else. I am riding in a bus from the airport.

         Roads and more roads are taking me to places I don't usually go. My good friend, Liz, knows where to walk on roads that go to the nearby Pacific Ocean.  (Ha, another clue!)

See, I really do have my friend with me, and here she is up close and personal with the cliffs at this beach.

        Everywhere we walk  -- beach or neighborhood  --  are flowers and blooming plants of all sorts along the way:

Roads even take us to the big city, so we could visit their well known museum of modern art.

Guess what -- photographers absolutely love to end up at a large exhibit of a "kindred spirit" photographer! Five rooms are filled with the work by Louis Stettner, whom I didn't know a thing about before this trip.

     Back out on the street, I see a familiar sign -- used in George Ella Lyon's autobiography for children because she remembers staying here as a child and loving the sound of the words Hotel Pickwick.

        Well, I hope the Golden Gate Bridge could be seen in the middle of the first picture, and, along with a couple of other clues, it's by now clear I am visiting in San Francisco. I haven't been here in a long time.

        I hope everyone has roads to explore at times in their lives. 

before more France, moments from the past week

post #199
       Well, I have recently been out in the world.  And our grandson has been here for several days, all on his own, even though he is only three and a half.  Today's blog post is just sharing some of my images from here and there.  Next week, I promise, more France.
      Oh, a reminder.  If a reader of these blogs clicks on a photo, they all show up at the end of the post, in a row, and can be clicked on to be seen in a larger size. Cool!

The front door of where I stayed with my friend in Marin County, California.  On one side of her house is a huge redwood!  All this on a small lot - or at least it looks small to me since I live in acres and acres. The front "yard" consists of three raised beds, a lemon tree and a plum tree, just now getting ripe.  Delicious!!

the same bougainvillea, from inside the house looking out

In her back yard, there are more raised beds for vegetables - we dined on such treasures as fresh kale, lettuce and raspberries.  It is usually too chilly to eat out there in the evening, but I hit a good night!

      We also visited her friend whose entire lot is filled with flowering this and that and fresh all kinds of things.  She sent us home with a basket of fresh juicy FIGS, and showed us how their bees love this relative of an artichoke plant -- whose name I can't pronounce or even remember.

      The reason we were in California was for a wedding!  I wasn't any kind of official photographer, so I just made photos that interested me. Love it. The morning activity for the everyone was a half hour run in an amazing nearby park: Montana de Oro State Park.  The bride and groom are in white in the middle of the first photo, and seen from behind in the other group photo.  Beautiful place and such a beautiful, happy day.

  

Can you see the TWO GULLS?  From their behavior, we all figured the sitting gull is on a nest!! 

         Since returning home in eastern Kentucky, we have been having a good time with a curious kid who is now old enough to visit us for a few days solo.  Luckily the lawn needed mowing and the deck needed a new branch to be attached for the birds who come to the feeder, etc.  To all appearances, the visit is going well -- and it sure helps that there are two grownups and only one three year old....

      But even so I have to finish now, and any parent or grandparent will know why... Enjoy your younger kids while you can, before they grow all the way up!!