Trillium

Tuesday's after-the-rain walk yielded this white trillium. In the past we have seen a purple trillium and we'll continue to look for it, but for now, this is nice!

See you in late March!

Raindrops

On Tuesday morning at Bear Valley, it stopped raining for our walk/run on the trail, and the rain left some wonderful drops on the vegetation. These are on some unknown 'berry'.

Tomorrow's photo will be the last until March 21 or 22nd, depending on my jet lag. We are going on an Elderhostel cruise around the southern tip of South America, starting in Santiago, Chile and ending in Rio. I think several of you have made a similar trip, so you know what kind of photos to expect when we return!

Unlike Most

This is unlike most - anything! I have no idea what the graffiti artist had in mind.

This appears on a retaining wall up the hill a bit along the southbound lanes of 101, between San Rafael and Sir Francis Drake. Getting the photo required some strategy, mostly consisting of my remembering to sit behind the driver as we returned from Thursday at College of Marin track. Many times I said 'Dang, forgot again!'. Until last week: I remembered, Dick drove in the fast lane going north, and was able to slow down a little - a real cooperative effort. There was a car but I cropped it out. Otherwise, how many weeks would it take for a do-over??

Fingernail moon

Last Saturday morning there was a fingernail moon, just before sunrise.

Caution fan

Have you ever thrown caution to the winds? No? Well, if you ever do, here's a fan to help you do it.

Actually, I must confess for those of you who aren't auto mechanics, this is view under the hood of a truck and it's a warning not to put your hand or a tool in the way of the fan. Ouch!

Bouquet

The signature bouquet at One Market is a vase of wooden and maybe ceramic flowers. You can judge how big it is by the pepper grinder in the lower left of the photo.

Crab cake

Are you hungry? This was our first course at One Market last Tuesday. The restaurant is featuring crab in many forms all this month. It was delicious.

Soda Pop

An advertisement on the side of a building on Steuart near the Ferry Building doesn't need to name its product; the logo is enough. Very clever, don't you think? The second photo shows the ad as one sees it while walking down the street.

Greensward

Yesterday I took the ferry to The City for an every-month lunch with MMR (Muriel, Margie & Rick). We've been doing this since 1985 - a good long while. We hit all the new restaurants and also repeat some. On my way to one of our repeats, One Market Restaurant, I passed this lush strip of green right off The Embarcadero. The 1989 earthquake damaged the Embarcadero Freeway that formerly occupied all this area, causing it to be (finally!) removed, and thereby creating the possibility for the wonderful urban space now surrounding The Ferry Building.

Stormy morning

Last Saturday was stormy off and on and this is the sky about 9 am.

Iditarod?

Do we have mushers right here in California training for the Iditarod? It's all I could think as I saw two people with teams of dogs pulling carts/tricycles on the dikes at the Ponds.

The 2009 Iditarod starts in just 19 days on March 7. If you are interested in knowing more, go here http://www.iditarod.com/race/ Seventy-three mushers are scheduled to race from Anchorage to Nome, a distance of over 1,100 miles.

Julie

Here is our cat Julie doing what she does best: lying all day on the softest thing she can find. She's pretending not to notice I'm taking her picture - so blasé!

Eagle?

I knew I had an eagle at the Ponds last week (they are there) - until I enlarged it and saw that spot of red - darn, just an ordinary turkey vulture!

Grass & frost

Hello on Friday the 13th! There's nothing freaky in my photo today - too bad!

It's just tall grass along Bear Valley Trail - the shorter grass in the background is covered with frost, giving it a gray look, while the tall grass glows in the just-rising sun.

Moonset

Tuesday's morning's moon waited until we were almost to Bear Valley and said 'Now is your last chance!'. So I snapped it right through the car window while we were moving. Quick snap, eh?

Mother Nature's artistry

Tuesday morning at Bear Valley was cold again and since we've had a little rain, there were some puddles, all of them with this pattern of ice forming in them. Hans used a stick in the center of a couple of puddles and was able to move the ice around; it had not yet extended to the edge.

Dinner?

And I thought I was just buying dinner . . .

Closer to the light

After I walked a little farther on Bear Valley Trail, I couldn't resist another shot. You can orient yourself by the tree that leans across the trail; it's in yesterday's photo as well. And still farther on I took another photo but I'm not going to send it to you; you would say, isn't she ever going to get out of the woods?!

Light at the end

This is Bear Valley Trail as it nears the grasslands of the first quarter mile of the trail. The visitors center and parking lot are just beyond the trailhead. Hans & I have both taken photos of this spot over and over; it's just irresistible!

Ferry

Last Wednesday morning we took the Larkspur Ferry into San Francisco. We got there a little early, in time to see our ferry returning from an earlier trip to the city.

The theme is Love

Although this 'artist' may never get a job as a sign painter, his/her heart is in the right place! (I say that because I agree with him/her and the Beatles.) The long message on the side says 'ALL U NEED IS LOVE'.

Mushrooms

Tuesday morning on Bear Valley Trail, I thought someone had scattered a bunch of paper near the trail. But it was fifteen or so of these nearly white mushrooms, 4 to 6 inches across. I have no idea what kind they are but they do not look tasty!

Stars on the Bridge

The top of the railing on the once-Purple Bridge is covered in stars.

Purple ? Bridge #2

Here's more of the once-Purple Bridge. This is Hope and Paz on the opposite end of the bridge from the photo I posted earlier, one on each side of the road.

Running and walking

Yesterday morning we left home well before the crack of dawn to drive into San Francisco and get a good parking space before the Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Half Marathon and 5K foot race. Several of us walked and ran the 5K and others ran the Half. The first picture shows some of the many Port-a-Potties in the early morning mist. The 5K numbered 2,327 runners and walkers and the Half Marathon had 5,817 participants. The second photo is of the half marathoners; they stretched in both directions as far as I could see and they kept coming (and going).

I cook with wine

This little sign (it's actually small although it appears large here) is near the counter in Fish Restaurant in Sausalito. The cook here may (or may not) do what is implied here, but I learned a loooong time ago that I'd better not do it - or dinner might never appear!