Tales of Seven

San Francisco at Night

It's a beautiful, clear night with a near-full moon in the sky. With just a tiny nip of cold in the air, this seemed a perfect night to try taking a few shots of San Francisco at night.

(Below) This is an old pier in the industrial district. The pier itself was nearly invisible in the dark. I left the shutter open about 20 seconds to get enough light and love how movement of the water made the water seem 'soft'.

The Bay Bridge. I snuck onto a 'Private Property' Pier for this one. A few others were out there having beers and playing music out of their cars.

View of Golden Gate Bridge from the Marina shoreline. The 'candy stripes' that lay in the water under the bridge are my favorite part of this shot. Because I left the shutter open quite a while, there was opportunity for the water to move, creating a stronger show of light.

Dead end road and shadow play. Bright lights of the baseball park are in the background.

While most of San Francisco is cleaned and primped, there are some areas that still feature old brick warehouses and falling down factories. I took this down a back alley in an old, industrial area of San Francisco. A large brick smoke stack and factory were just behind me. Once again, it was very dark, but leaving the shutter open allowed the red of the brick to show.

Picture of the Week - Point Bonita

Just across the Golden Gate Bridge and down a winding road that hugs the coast is Point Bonita.

This lighthouse itself sits precariously on a chunk of rock that is steadily eroded by the pounding waves below. And it is only accessible by this historic footbridge. Given its age, Rangers stand at either end and only allow 2 people to cross at a time.

The Dance Partner Sample Platter

Cafe Cocomo, San Francisco

A sample platter of Salsa dance partners I met at Cafe Cocomo this evening .... an especially flavorful selection...

The Minimalist  His feet barely lift off the ground. Just a hint of a lead… a thought…. a subtle suggestion. A Scone, no Jam.

The Deep End of the Pool  He’s had a lot of lessons and he’s danced for a decade. A complex maze of a lead that has a prize at the end if you can find your way. Steak Au Poivre.

The Rocket Launcher. The most dangerous of salsa partners. Round and round and round you go, to which end of the floor he’ll launch you, nobody knows. Spicy Thai Noodles.

Jazz Hand Man. He will step back from time to time to do an elaborate solo comprised of jazz hands, rainbow gestures and a hip shimmy. Strawberry Ice Cream with Sprinkles. 

Spin It Man. Ring around the rosy, my stomach is no longer so cozy. Just Uni.

Pumpkins in a Half a Moon

The brittle crunch of dried corn stalks.

The bright orange shine pumpkins against wet, green grass.

The smell of woodsmoke and crisp chill of winter-arriving.

Half Moon Bay is just half-an-hour’s-drive-with-the-top-down from San Francisco and made for a perfect day-off destination for me last week.

As it prepared for its Pumpkin Festival, the tiny town offered the perfect combination of orange-festivity and local flavor (grilled fresh fish and micro-brew) set against a backdrop of wind blown seaside town.

A few pictures from my visit...

Golden Gate at Sunrise

More images from the Treehouse.

A view of Golden Gate Bridge and Palace of Fine Arts at 8am this morning just as the light of sunrise lit them to a warm glow. It's a clear, sunny day, with just a small chill in the air. The water has a mirror like calm to it.

Parrots visit the Treehouse

One fun, unique thing to be found in San Francisco is a flock of birds dubbed the 'Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill'. In a city of sparrows, these flamboyant, brightly colored fowl always make an impression. Story has it that a pair of pet parrots got loose and gave rise to the entire flock. And since then the flock has acquired much fame through a film made about its members.

This morning around 8am, I had my first close-up, celebrity encounter with the little stars. A handful of them alighted on a tree outside my apartment to watch the sunrise.

(Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill with The Palace of Fine Arts and Golden Gate Bridge in the background.)

Climbing into 'The Treehouse'

It's a defining moment, at least in San Francisco terms. I've finally made the move onto bedrock out of the sandy flats. In addition to improving the chances my wine glasses will survive an earthquake, the new apartment offers a few other notable qualities:

1) It's bigger than a tuna can

2) The convenient oval-shaped layout allows my pets to run at full speed.

3) It's painted a brilliant, glaring hospital white.

4) And it has the sense of 'treehouse' about it.... perched with lots of branches (stairs) to climb

A few first pictures following my first climb into The Treehouse (and I hope to share more!)...

• Center - the San Francisco Bay from the Treehouse Living Room
• Right - Russian Hill with Windows Reflecting the Sunset
• Slight Right - Sunrise view of Alcatraz

Earthquake

Somewhere just after 4am an earthquake started us rolling. Most of the earthquakes here are tiny little 'jolts'. This one went a fair bit longer and had some decent movement to it. 

As it continued, I pondered whether I should get dressed or find a better place to be in my apartment. My cats sauntered by with a lazy lack of concern, watching the rattling things around my apartment like overfed cats watching a mouse.

And then it ended.... fortunately before any real effort had to be made to deal with it.

Living in San Francisco creates a certain apathy towards earthquakes. If it's a short, small jolt, we ignore it. If it's moderate, we ignore it unless it goes more than, say 45 seconds, at which point we might take some minor precautions. The big ones.... well, just hang on for the ride!

Fireworks Frozen

Starfish, Sea Anemone, Planet Rise, Welder's Flame...

.... Flower Arrangement?

Fireworks frozen.

4th of July in San Francisco from the vantage point of a hilltop home.

The Pride of Her Village

San Francisco, CA

With the BBQ diverting me yesterday, I headed to the Fillmore Jazz Fair today. It was a beautiful, sunny warm day. Small stands were set up with artwork and trinkets, and the smoke of bbq and sound of jazz were in the air.

Among all the artists there, I wanted to call out one in particular. This artist (under the name of NZalamba Artworks) paints vivid scenes from Uganda. And for each picture, his cousin weaves a story. As we viewed the pictures, the cousin told us some of the stories with a warm accent.

(Left to Right)

This woman is the pride of  her village. Her red shirt symbolizes a love of life and in her positive spirit, she glows and is most beautiful to everyone.

These two are lovers. They come from different places and have different backgrounds, but they come together and become more alike in doing so. They share the same color clothes to symbolize a release of their histories, and the commonalities they now share together.

These three women dance, with the symbols of crops on their skirts. In the background, there is the dry desert of summer and in the foreground the green that comes after rain. The dry summer represents harder times and the green represents the better things that are to come. They have maintained hope and the green has returned.