It was six months ago, when we were at the Mendocino coast in late October 2023, that I finally got a chance to visit Russian Gulch State Park (not to be confused with Sonoma County’s Russian Gulch Beach). The clouds threatened rain and even delivered a few scattered showers; still, the day seemed perfect to me. While the Big Guy […]
Eadweard Muybridge (born Edward Muggeridge) was a deeply fascinating personality and a pioneer in the field of photography. A native of England, he spent much of his life in the western United States from the 1850s through the 1870s. He began as a bookseller, basing himself in San Francisco around 1855. But it took a traumatic accident with a runaway […]
I’m not sure how many people actually realized this, but March 31 was Cesar Chavez Day, a U.S. federal holiday, observed since 2014. I suspect most folks don’t stop to think how important Mr. Chavez’ accomplishments are — and I must include myself in that number. I did grow up hearing his name frequently on the evening news, and I […]
I was originally going to call this post “One last look.” Then I started browsing through my collection of photos from the hike at Jug Handle Preserve last October and realized I’ve barely even scratched the surface! So instead, these images are the last batch that I shot with my phone camera, and I’ll save the rest for some later […]
I had been hoping to go check out San Francisco’s Aquatic Park Bathhouse for a few years; when I finally got there last August I was slightly disappointed to find the upper floor blocked off. But despite my disappointment, there was still a lot of fascinating items on display in this beautiful building, constructed in the mid 1930s. The Aquatic […]
I guess this is the time of year when I usually start looking forward to August — when I spend a week in San Francisco, using public transportation to get around and exploring various parts of the city. Part of the fun is photographing some of the views from my window seat on the Amtrak California Corridor train. Empire State […]
We found the tide extremely low when we arrived at Doran County Park (south of Bodega Bay), where we always stop to collect ghost shrimp. Although there seemed to be a surprising number of people using the beach — across the road from where we park — we had the bay side completely to ourselves. I did notice, though, that […]
“Roughing it” may be a bit of an exaggeration, but we have had to adjust — for a few days we’re doing without a microwave and a coffee maker! More dauntingly, our only heat source is a small woodburning stove. We’re off the electrical grid, so all the power is battery operated; we need to keep an eye on the […]