I truly don’t think of myself as an adventurer or a risk taker; but every once in awhile something will grab hold of my imagination to the point where I just have to see what it’s all about — and especially if it offers the potential to use my camera. You may recall that back in early January I mentioned […]
My post of last Thursday should rightly have been titled “Between the storms,” since we had one more day of steady rainfall before the sun finally managed to come out. It wasn’t until Friday morning that we were able to get out and start exploring; and while the temperatures were a bit on the chilly side — mostly thanks to […]
The last set of images from our walk along Manchester Beach and back to our rental house on the Mendocino coast, November 2024.
Today I’m sharing more pictures from my visit to the Haas-Lillienthal house in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights neighborhood. I know I’m not the only one fascinated by the beautiful details of Victorian houses. Our tour guide took a few minutes to explain gingerbread trim and shingles on the building’s exterior, and later ushered us inside to admire the woodwork, stained […]
During our coastal trip in mid November, our rented house was just off Highway 1 in Mendocino County, and we had been told that Manchester Beach was only “a short walk” away. I could see the ocean from our front window, so even though it was already 4:30 in the afternoon I decided to take a stroll and discover whatever […]
It’s been awhile since I hiked the Monte Vista Loop, and we picked a day that was pretty much perfect. It had rained overnight, so there was enough lingering dampness to keep down the dust and prevent the burs and foxtails from being too bothersome. I also didn’t intend to hike the full 3-mile loop, but there was so much […]
A couple of years ago I bought journalist Sean Flynn’s book Why Peacocks? as a gift for my mom, and I finally got around to reading it myself, finishing it early last week. In one chapter the author talks about Lucky Baldwin and the fact that he was responsible for introducing six Indian Blue peafowl to his Southern California ranch […]
My sincere thanks to the San Francisco Heritage and City Guides for saving this precious piece of the city’s history and for allowing visitors a look inside this beautiful late-Victorian era house. Here are a few images from my visit last month, giving just a small idea of the gracious living in one of the few mansions to survive the […]
One of the historic homes I went searching for in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights neighborhood was the Atherton House at 1990 California Street. I didn’t know anything about the house’s history, but that — and the scaffolding obstructing my view — didn’t stop me from admiring the place from the sidewalk. Built between 1881-1882, the house was added to the […]