Island

This is a green island at the Sanitary District Ponds which are surrounded by one of our favorite walks in nature.

Yesterday's tennis ball nest brought a couple of interesting comments from Muriel and Leon:

A man uses the balls to play fetch with his dog. When he loses sight of his dog he gets on the ladder to look for him.

I always wondered where tennis balls come from. Looks like one is trying to leave the nest early.

Nest

On the same day that we saw the ladder along Corte Madera Creek, we spied this rare tennis ball nest beside the path.  Strange happenings. . . .

Grass

Dry grass at the Ponds.

Thanksgiving dancer

At Thanksgiving he danced with such joy he lost his head!

Thanksgiving

We are grateful to live in such a beautiful area. And I know it's beautiful where you are too.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Stilts

These are some stilt-type birds at the Ponds; I'm too lazy to look them up!

Yesterday's 'Mystery', yielded some interesting comments:

Maybe it was "Jacob's ladder", and he thought Heaven was closer than it is.

A clever photographer brought it there and then decided to leave it .

somebody has a marvelous, philosophical sense of humor, perhaps?

to take a better picture?

High water?

hmm, maybe a diving board for an adventurous soul.

That is a mystery. It could be superimposed, I guess. (Margie says - oh no! I have witnesses. See the next two comments.)

Last week, we decided the ladder is there for photographers but we meant for photographers to stand on to take photos, not for photographers to photograph and ask why it is there...........

OH, I AM SO GLAD YOU GOT THIS PICTURE.

It's there so that Margie can get a better angle for her photo across the creek.

the ladder came down the creek, was washed ashore, and somebody took pity on it an righted it (stood it up?)

And my favorite:


It appears to be the director's stand for the evening bullfrog concert, Be sure to buy your tickets early, for it's a croakingly good show.

Mystery

Here's a mystery for you - why do you suppose this ladder is standing on the edge of Corte Madera Creek?  It's in the marshy area where no one walks (except the occasional dog). ????

Tin roof

Wouldn't you like to hear the rain?  or maybe even hail. . . .

Orange house

From the town of St. George, Utah, one can see a row of houses up on the side of a mountain.  One of them really stands out - a bright orange mansion.  I got out of the car to take a photo of it while Elyse was in Walgreen's - and the car door locked with the keys inside - arrgh!  But it turned out to be a good experience.  People can be very helpful and nice.  Thanks, Shirley of Walgreen's, and Rabbit Downward & Josh of Executive Auto!

Springdale

More proof that Springdale is located right in the mountains!

Autumn rain

After an autumn rain. . . . .

These photos from the road were made possible by my Transportation Captain (driver) Elyse C.

Snow/Rain

In Springdale we could see it raining or snowing not very far away.  Earlier we drove through huge icy snowflakes or raindrops - it was hard to tell.  Maybe it was soft hail?  Very interesting.  It made big splotches on the windshield.  Sorry, no photos!

Rock thief

They take their rocks seriously in Springdale!  Notice the thief's boot that didn't quite make it into the grave.  And the alligator?  Don't ask me!

Mountain

I spent a few days in southern Utah attending a film festival where our daughter Elyse's short film 'Far Sighted'. was screened.  As you can see, the scenery in the area is spectacular. It's very near Zion National Park.

This is one of the mountains surrounding Springdale; the fire hydrant in the lower right shows how close it is to the town. Or should I say how close the town is to the mountain?

Hot handle

It must get very hot in the summer in Hurricane, Utah, but it was more like winter this weekend.

Another sunrise

Sunrise last Saturday.

My next photo will be next Monday.

Wildlife

On the Bear Valley Trail one can sometimes see deer, ospreys, rabbits, crows, quail, robins, turkey vultures, and more, but yesterday Hans spotted a new species of wildlife!  It's as yet unidentified.

Delica

Yesterday in the Ferry Building in San Francisco a restaurant called Delica had a display table in the hallway showing three of their offerings for lunch. What happened to the Pork Cutlet Sandwich?  There's just a little juice left on the plate!

Red sky

Red sky at morning, sailor take warning.  It did rain a bit that day but not enough to alarm a sailor.  But then it wasn't the whole sky that was red, was it?

Hi

How many times have I walked on the Corte Madera bicycle path?  Nearly every week for several years!  And I never saw this greeting painted on the path until last Thursday.

After the rain

Mother Nature's beauty in my favorite Point Reyes Station garden.

Idle hands

I'll bet these two car owners know each other!  The cars were both in the Half Day Cafe parking lot yesterday.  And I'd guess that the owners are retired.  Even though I am retired I can't say that my hands are idle!

Geese

Last week Corte Madera Creek was teeming with bird life such as these geese (or maybe they're ducks?).

Sunset

Here's one last photo from the train trip last week - sunset over the water as the train nears the Bay Area.  And don't miss the fisherman!

Red earth

In some spots in the foothills the earth is very red.

Mothball fleet

There are 84 ships in the US Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration's 'mothball fleet', (ships on standby, sometimes for years) and 57 of them are in Suisun Bay.  There is a good view of the ghostly fleet from the train, even though it's hard to get a good photo from the moving train - and through the window!

The fleet was in the news recently because two of the ships will be scrapped in the near future.  See http://www.thereporter.com/ci_13625176 for interesting details about the fleet.

Golden State

California is called The Golden State for more than one reason.  First of course, is that gold was discovered here in 1849 causing the famous Gold Rush.  Second is the color of our rolling hills during most of the year - golden!