Clouds

Thursday morning at Bear Valley wasn't particularly windy on the ground but in the sky the clouds were being blown into nearly unbelievable shapes, changing from minute to minute.

Butterfly

This lovely butterfly lives in the rainforest at the California Academy of Sciences. The butterflies fly freely in the forest with visitors and visitors are asked to check their clothing for them as they leave. Just outside the exit stands a person with a butterfly net. I asked him if he had to use it much and he said, 'Nah'.

Claude

He may look like a rubber alligator you could have in your bathtub, but Claude is a real live albino alligator in the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. He weighs about 150 pounds and is about 8 1/2 feet long. He used to share his swamp with Bonnie who was a little feisty. Claude's pink eyes can't see very well and he suffered some injury at the 'hands' (or ?) of Bonnie. Bonnie has now left the building!

Mt. Tam

Thursday morning the water in Corte Madera Creek was very still. Usually there are some little ripples from the breezes starting about 7 am but this time Mt. Tamalpais in the sun was reflected perfectly in the stream.

Hawk

At 7 o'clock Thursday morning at the College of Marin parking lot just before the sun came up, a hawk sat silhouetted against the lightening sky.

House on the water

On our Thursday morning walk along the Corte Madera bike path, Lawrie pointed out this 'picture perfect' reflection of a house across the still creek.

Black Mountain fog

Last Tuesday morning there were patches of fog as we headed west to Bear Valley Trail for our walk/run. There was little fog at Bear Valley itself but there was still some around the bottom of Black Mountain.

Come one, come all

And it's not only birds and squirrels . . .

"Bird" bath

Our "bird" bath provides water for more than the birds . . .

Big tree

This lovely old evergreen is in the Mill Valley backyard of our friends Eve and Sam.

Rose

In Pt. Reyes Station, near our Bench, is a small cottage where a gardener lives. How do I know? Because the front yard is filled with flowers all year round. Just now there are roses nearly falling over the fence - so no trespassing is necessary to capture their beauty.

Deer

We have a Golden Delicious apple tree in our front yard and the deer consider the fallen apples their banquet. Yesterday afternoon, Dick saw a buck in our driveway and he didn't run away, so Dick started tossing him apples which he ate one by one. Later Dick told me the buck was back and, camera in hand, I went out the side door. He just looked at me about 20 feet away and let me get several photos, including a couple of him eating an apple. But just as humans may not look their best while chomping a mouthful, neither did he so I am withholding those.

Foggy Morning

Thursday morning was quite foggy and I took this photo from our second floor balcony. Sharp eyes among you may notice the photo is similar to but different from others I've posted; the difference is that the owner of the trees had two of the three tallest ones cut down. I was very sad but they said the trees overhung their pool creating shade and dropping needles in the pool.

Bark

I am always fascinated by the bark patterns on eucalyptus trees. This one is by the Visitor Center at Fort Cronkhite in the Marin Headlands.

Big scoop

Wouldn't you like every ice cream scoop you got to be this big? Dessert at Jason's Restaurant in Greenbrae, California. My monthly lunch group MMR (Muriel, Margie & Rick) rates the food at our lunches and we gave Jason's a 4 on a scale of 1 to 4 (and not just because of the dessert!). Highly recommended!

Tunnel

There are two ways to get to Rodeo Lagoon in Marin County: the Marin Headlands road and the half-mile long Baker-Barry Tunnel. This is a one-way tunnel, that is, one way at a time. For five minutes traffic goes in one direction and for the next five minutes, it goes in the other direction. Truly - five minutes - there is a red light at each end of the tunnel and traffic takes turns. Drivers turn off their engines while waiting their turn. There are bike lanes on each side of the one lane and the bicyclist can punch a button before entering to activate a flashing light so that motorists will know there is a bicycle in the tunnel. For more photos and info see: http://www.walkbikemarin.org/news.php?id=50

Stormy sky

Last Friday night the Bay Area had an unusual event - a thunderstorm - during the night. The flashes and the thunder were thrilling at our house, but some areas were without power for some time due to lightning strikes. However, it was all thunderclap and little rain for our thirsty area. In the morning, it was still threatening to rain, which it did in spits, and the morning sky was worth seeing.

Green

There are so many shades of green in Bear Valley's trees in the early morning fog.

Golden grass

Fall is coming and the tall grass at Bear Valley (and elsewhere) is turning golden.

Said the spider

If this Orb Spider had been anywhere near yesterday's fly - oh! words fail me! But this spider dwells in the California Academy of Sciences and doesn't get a chance to hunt in the wild.

I spy

I sat in the car at Bear Valley Tuesday morning and spied a fly on the windshield. It was smaller than the usual fly and sat with its wings straight out rather than semi-folded like most flies. It soon flew off

Glass cubes

This is about two glass cubes. The first photo is in the Rio airport and signifies the end of our South American trip. The glass cube is a smoking room in an otherwise non-smoking airport. The second glass cube is the elevator from the basement garage to the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. Yes, it is outdoors.

Metropolitan Cathedral

Rio's Metropolitan Cathedral was completed in 1979 and is the latest replacement of a series of cathedrals on this spot dating back to 1676. It is 246 feet tall, 315 feet wide and can hold 20,000 standees. Huge! The top of the cathedral is a cross from which 4 stained glass windows radiate to the floor.

Rio de Janeiro's Metropolitan Cathedral is a most impressive rounded pyramid. I'm not too happy that I didn't get both the entrance and the top together in one photo so here are two so you can get the full picture, so to speak!

Carnival

We visited the location of Rio's Carnival and they make some money from the tourists in the off-season by letting them put on a Carnival costume (for $5). Of our Elderhostel group, only Mary was game. She and we enjoyed it tremendously.

Minimalist graffiti

Sweet.

Green circles

I like all these green circles at O Cristo Redentor. There are almost the same number of umbrellas are there are lights.

Post box

A character from Star Wars? No, it's just an antique mail box that they have left on the street because it is so beautiful. How do I know this? - The mail slot is taped over.

View of Rio

The view from Corcovado is spectacular and shows Rio's amazing, wondrous topography. (Corcovado is O Cristo Redentor's mountain)

Cristo Redentor

On our second day in Rio de Janeiro, we went to the top of Corcovado Mountain and visited the marvelous Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer).

Christ the Redeemer (Portuguese: O Cristo Redentor) is a statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, completed in 1931. The statue stands 98 ft wide and 120 ft tall with its pedestal. It weighs 635 tons, and is located at the peak of the 2,300 ft Corcovado mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park overlooking the city. On 7 July 2007, Christ the Redeemer was named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in a list compiled by the Swiss-based The New Open World Corporation. Thanks, Wikipedia. To see how it came to be constructed see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_the_Redeemer_%28statue%29 (you may have to copy & paste)