point reyes

Aug 8, 2005
afternoon
Pt Reyes - Limatour Beach


On the road, Deidre wanted to stop to photograph the vista of the beach and the marsh before it. I love the coastal cypress. The overcast fools my eye and I over-expose the trees -


Seaweed on the beach is shot as if on a bright sunny day, comes out much better.


I like to come to the ocean to empty my mind - sort of a meditation on waves and today - a steady cool breeze and a bright overcast that makes my eyes wter - a brief brightening of the sun is a welcome warming, taunting and teasing. The kids run and play in the numbing surf. At first dodging waves at the surfline, then eventually diving in them, despite the coldness and breeze. They play games of grabbing wet sand and piling it on a sand castle someone else built and left while I sit and empty my mind.




Going for a hike around wetlands near Limantour Beach. Catch views of egrets, herons. Phillip is particularly thrilled by large frogs. We even hear and see tule elk. Ranger said it's rutting season and they're much less shy.





Clouds of tiny little gnats sometimes orbit around us.


At this spot we see coots - mama & babies - also known as mud hens.

arcade creek

8.4.05
HOT - still air
Citrus Heights - Arcade Creek

A little creek exploring with Phillip - big fat mosquito fish trying to swim upstream - Phil tries to catch them.


Catches a tiny fish.

tahoe time

7.26.05
Driving to Tahoe
Stop along South Fork of the American River as it winds beside Hwy 50





Vikingsholm on Emerald Bay - quite a hike down - and then of course back up. Bad pull in front of Vikingsholm.


Looking up from the trailhead - it was a long hike up.


Backwater by Baldwin Beach


Just before the kids ran into the picture to chase the goose into the water...


Baldwin Beach

Tahoe is one of those place where you can hear many different languages spoken.


And finally an image - decent postive

san fran

7.22.05
S.F.

Saw Photo S.F. with Joe had to make a couple shots of my own.



negs have more detail, can't get both a perfect positive & negative with 665

road trip

July 11, 05
Hwy 50 towards Tahoe
warm clear day
little road trip to Tahoe



Along Hwy 50 - South Fork American River
Driving with the kids, need to take a break. Having fun and stopping to see a little along the way. Found a tiny steep trail on the pull-out and the kids insist we go down and check it out - I only take the camera, as I'm not too sure I can manage the trail with my pack, too - only shot I made at river's side pulls badly back up at the car so I take another shot from the pull out.


view from road

overlook closer to Tahoe - looking up & looking out

Farther along the road opens up to our first view of Tahoe as well as great views of other mountains - I'm sure they all have names but I haven't a clue. The pull-out is meant to take advantage ofthe view out but I enjoy the view looking up as well.

We stop to have lunch at the airport with Scott, then continue on to a drive toward the lake while Scott has to work. So many vistas catch my eye it's hard not to stop at every one of them but the kids would rebel.



We agree to stop at a pull-out for a quick photo then continue on to the Emerald Bay vista point known as Inspiration Point where we get our first peek of Fannete Island.



The plan is to get ourselves down to the water of Emerald Bay, but after struggling to find a parking spot we begin to think of alternate plans. We do find the top of Eagle Falls to be quite accesible and then hike around to another vista of the bay and after much climbing over giant granite rocks we also find a lovely view of the falls.



We do notice that the altitude makes us feel more winded than we would normally with all the climbing and hiking over rocks and up and down steep inclines. Finally we've had enough of hot hiking, we pile back into the car and head for Pope Beach, which we had passed on our way north.


The beach is warm, but not hot, coarse golden sand with gently lapping waves to serenade us as the sun begins to get lower. The water is completely clear, cold but not too cold to enjoy. The slightest breeze caresses our skin - a lovely summer evening on the lake.

cool break

July 8, 2005
Place to take a cool break in Grandma & Grandpa's backyard.

July 5, 2005

July 5, 2005
New Japanese maple on the front porch.

zoo

June 30, 2005
Jim surprises us with a quick visit.
We all go to the zoo together.

sunny w/light breeze

June 24, 05
afternoon
Antelope Community Park
warm - sunny w/light breeze

Under one of the big oak trees - it's big arms reaching down to the ground all around us, hiding us but letting us peek out and watch others outside of our protected circle. Lots of birds hide in the branches. They sing and chatter, occasionally flitting from one branch to another.

A mocking bird silently flies and lands on a perch a couple yards away, not minding us as we silently watch. Dry grass thinly covers the ground, little oak seedlings poke through.

Back out on the trail in full sun, a jack rabbit bounds over a rise and heads straight for us. We freeze but he changes direction and bounces out of sight again.

We wander some more - even though it's not too warm - probably mid 80's - the sun starts to wear on us. The colors seem to fade in the heat.

The shade of another oak giant calls us, this tree has hosted others before us. A bottle on the ground, old boards nailed higher than we can reach tell peices of stories we can only guess. The birds just keep singing.