The Big Guy and I are both the youngest siblings in our families; I have two older sisters, while he has an older sister and an older brother. In going through the stacks of family photos, I’m pleased to see plenty of pictures of him with his siblings as well as his parents — quite a lot of Christmas season […]
Since the passing of both my in-laws this spring, I have become the caretaker of a rather large collection of family photos, some dating back to the early 1900s. While I’m sorting through them all, trying to decide which ones to share and which to keep private, I’ve found that even those prints without any identifying notes on the back […]
I always feel mixed emotions whenever I try to photograph red flowers. Discovering deep carmine red blooms always fills me with joy; but I perpetually fail to duplicate their true beauty and intensity with my camera. My frustration continues when I sit down to edit the images. Usually I wind up with something more pink than what I believe is […]
I have heard the story of San Francisco’s great earthquake and fire in 1906 countless times, but walking around certain parts of the city can still bring the history back to life in unexpected ways. Visiting the California Academy of Sciences in 2016, I entered the earthquake simulator and experienced first the shaking of the Loma Prieta quake in 1989 […]
Last Saturday I mentioned I was looking forward to a Canal Walk organized by Folsom Lake SRA staff, exploring the history of the East Canal that connected the original Folsom Dam to the historic powerhouse. We had a beautiful morning for our excursion, and I did manage to learn a few things I had never known before. It had been […]
Back in the summer of 1990 my family visited (for the first and last time) what was then Marine World/Africa USA in Vallejo, California. There have been lots of changes to the park since then. The place is now known as Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, and there are more rollercoasters these days than large animals — although some animals do […]
For both the Big Guy and myself, our parents are growing older; and while they’re still mostly healthy, any time we can spend together with them becomes ever more precious. As their adult children now past the midpoint of our own lives, we cherish and appreciate all the more those memories and stories our parents are able to share with […]
Since we’re about to celebrate Independence Day, July 4th, in the U.S., I thought today I would share another handful of images from my vintage 1940s photo album. These are all black-and-white prints, with many of them professionally shot and sold as souvenirs. That’s the case with the pictures I’ve chosen for today; along with a few general views of […]