Whenever we’re looking for a place to stay on our coastal trips, we try to find locations where it’s easy to get outside and walk. Not all of the houses we’ve rented fit that criteria, but it’s a definite plus in my book. The shoulders along Highway 1 can be small to nonexistent, and the road itself consists of innumerable […]
As summer draws closer and the weather warms up, it’s important to stay hydrated. With that in mind, I’m sharing some small pieces from San Francisco’s Legion of Honor art museum (and one from my favorite hotel) to help remind you. These beautiful creations from Europe and the Mediterranean date from as far back as 300 A.D. to the modern […]
Note: This post contains NO snake pictures, although there are fence lizards and a couple of insects! The animals around us may be quietly going about the regular business of living, but sometimes it’s tough not to imagine a bit of an attitude in their posture or in the way they pause to check us out. I shot these images […]
These days I often go for months without ever even thinking about my Canon Powershot, let alone pulling it out and using it. It has no viewfinder, only an LCD screen on the back (non-articulating), and for a long time after I began using this camera, I was convinced that for me, viewfinders were absolutely useless. So much so that […]
Today I’m looking back at September 28, 2022, during another of our trips to the Sonoma and Mendocino coast. We were staying in a beautiful little house in Sea Ranch, up on Timber Ridge Road — no ocean view from there, but we were in the middle of a wonderful coastal redwood forest. And there were hiking trails that took […]
Today (April 21) is Earth Day, and I’ve been thinking a lot about dandelions lately. That’s partly because I recently finished reading Hannah Holmes’ Suburban Safari: A Year on the Lawn (Bloomsbury, 2005). I was attracted by the cute squirrel on the book’s cover, but as I read I also learned terms like “Freedom Lawn,” and “grass-farming” — I haven’t […]
As I wandered around an abandoned and overgrown portion of Spanish Flat Campground at Lake Berryessa, I found an oak woodland covered in foxtails and invasive vetch as well as a surprising variety of flowers growing wild alongside forgotten pieces of roadway and cement pads. I can only guess at what this hilltop headland looked like in its prime; these […]
I can always be pretty sure of spotting Western Fence Lizards (also called Blue-bellies) on my outdoor adventures during the spring, usually perched atop sun-warmed rocks or old logs. Sometimes it takes sharp eyes to spot their camouflage. Still, for all the many times I’ve seen and photographed these little guys, I never knew until today that they have the […]
Spring is an excellent time to explore around the shores of Lake Berryessa, as we recently did on our day trip during the first week of April. I discovered this unobtrusive trail near the Lupine Shores campground — guarded by a rather suspicious ground squirrel — which took me around the headland in a wide loop. I found the peace […]