The Birds

U.S. Bank Birds, San Francisco, 2011.

Later tonight, if there's time, I'm watching The Birds, the Hitchcock film. I feel like this is a film I should know well because of my obsession with actual birds. Also, last weekend I drove with Catey through Bodega Bay, where a sign at a local hotel/restaurant had a sign displaying that Tippi Hedren was there over the weekend.

Today, I did some birding for a purpose. I wanted to photograph the male and female lazuli buntings that have been reported in the Presidio. I took photos (I'll upload them tomorrow) of both male and female... and the female was carrying grass (aka "nesting material") in her bill. For an ornithologist, this is exciting because it indicates they are breeding. From what I have heard, they've always been suspected, but not confirmed, to breed in the Presidio. This almost cinches it, but it will be interesting to keep watching in the next few weeks as they hopefully lay eggs, which will then hatch and fledge.

The eagle pattern on the building of my bank in the Mission is awesome, isn't it? From afar, it just looks like a typical grid. But, it's the eagle that forms the shape of the logo of U.S. Bank. I don't know whether that was intentional, but I assume so. Either way, it's a very organized flock of eagles -- only Escher could have done better.

El Capitan Façade

El Capitan, San Francisco, 2011.

What stands today is but a reminder of what this landmark once was. The façade still remains, but with billboards plastered on the marquee; the foyer is gutted so that cars can enter where movie patrons once did. The auditorium has been completely removed, and this is now a pay parking lot in the Mission district of SF. 

I found one link with some interesting research and a collection of marquee photos from the mid-1950s when theatres like this had not yet been snuffed out by television.

Shadow of a Feather

Peacock feather and Shadow, Brooklyn, 2010.

Dad and I both liked the way this shadow hit the wall at my brother's apartment in Brooklyn last Christmas. This photo probably has more meaning because I was surrounded by family when I took it. 

But even without the back story, I admire the symmetry and detail, the crispness of the form of the feather itself, the ability to make out the barbs and barbules on the feather. (Click on the image to zoom.)

I also like the lack of color in the photo, due to the intense back/sidelighting. Only a few colors can be made out at the head of the feather, where one expects a color explosion from his/her knowledge of the male peafowl's plumes.

Giant Novelty Golf Ball, Rancho Viejo, TX

Giant Novelty Golf Ball, Rancho Viejo, TX, 1997.

I snapped this as I drove, or more likely as my friend Jenna drove her Volvo back from South Padre Island to Santa Ana NWR, where we all lived. Jenna was in her second Americorps term and I my first, and we, along with other "refugees," as we called ourselves, would frequent the beach on our free weekends. 

This photo has two amazing elements. The concept and execution of imagining and painting a water tower to resemble a huge golf ball on a tee -- amazing. The second element: "Rancho Viejo" means "Old Ranch." This area of Texas is peppered with "Winter Texans," or snowbirds. It was probably named Rancho Viejo long before it became a retirement ranch for so many northern old folks. 

Digging a little deeper, I just learned that this tower looms over a HUGE (1,400-acre) resort and country club with the same name. It comes complete with "Winter Texan Memberships." To toss another amazing fact on the heap, they have no photos of this water tower on their website.

Coffee! (berry)

Rhamnus californica, Pacifica, CA

Coffeeberry (Rhamnus californica) is one of my favorite California shrubs. I dig its deeply grooved, rich green leaves. I'm not sure what it is that I like about it, other than that. Its very name may actually have something to do with it, though. Those of you who know me are familiar with my fixation/obsession/addiction to coffee. I drink it daily. I sometimes roast it. I put it in homebrew. I agonize without it. I've even started a collection of old rusty coffee cans (contributions welcome). So, the very word "coffee" in the name of this shrub soothes me, I think.

I think coffee can be made with the berries, when properly dried, roasted, or otherwise prepared, but I could be wrong. I'll have to check my ethnobotany sources.  It may just have gotten its name from the resemblance of its berries to those of coffee.

This is a close relative to a shrub, common buckthorn, that I used to spend hours removing from the forest understory in the Midwest. I think my parents finally extirpated it from their yard before moving from our childhood house.

I was fascinated with the uniform appearance of this individual's leaves -- the pattern or texture that it created. The light quality is indicative of a winter evening, as indeed it was in February, nearing sunset, that I shot this.

Sunday Drive

Embarcadero Buick, San Francisco, 2010.

From what I can tell,  this is a 1961 Buick Special. Looking closely,the license plate frame is from the dealer, Spencer Buick. This amazes me almost as much as the stellar condition of this car -- 50 years old. Even if this was only driven to the Embarcadero Farmer's Market once a week for 50 years, it's an impressive sight.

I imagine that the driver is the only surviving original owner of this car. I want to thank her, for some reason. I think because she's taken such great care of this vehicle, yet still uses it for errands or just a leisurely Sunday drive.

Bike to Work Day

Today is the widely celebrated and participated-in Bike to Work Day. From what I can tell, this is a worldwide event that happens on or around today. I will celebrate by... commuting on my bicycle (much like yesterday, the day before, etc.).

And there will be a few events around town by which to celebrate. After I post this, I'll stop at a refueling station sponsored mostly by the SF Bike Coalition and corporate sponsors. I'm sure I'll encounter many bikers dressed for the occasion. A BBQ is being thrown for bike commuters in all the Presidio businesses at lunch; after the ride home, there will be an after party, and after that, more is being planned...not sure if I'll have the energy to participate in all this. I'm taking it one pedal at a time (not petal, as in the last post), and hopefully all of us will get where we're going safely. 

Sporgasse bikes, Graz, 2004.

Today's pic comes from Graz, Austria. The Sporgasse is a famous shopping street. I wasn't as active of a cyclist when I took this in 2004, but did appreciate the beauty of two bikes resting lazily on a busy pedestrian street. As awesome as SF is, you'd never see this here today. I guess there's a fierce bike parts/drug/sex trade market here. I have no idea how one would verify that -- not eager to learn either; I just lock everything I can.

Bike to work today, or give the thumbs-up to a bike commuter. They are (most likely) making a conscious choice to improve the air we all breathe. For those who no longer work, I hope today's a good day for a ride where you are too.

Blue-eyed grass

Sisyrinchium bellum, Presidio, 2010.

I'm sure there are thousands, if not millions, of photographs of this dazzling plant. Sisyrinchium bellum, aka blue-eyed grass, is such an incredibly photogenic plant. The size of the flower is about that of a nickel. The petals have an electric purple that darkens near the base. This is a low-stature plant of prairies that blooms this time of year (late April to early June). It spends the rest of its year as a bulb underfoot. Despite its name, it's not actually a grass, but more of an iris.

When I took this, I intentionally had a very narrow depth of field. I held my breath when my focus seemed to be in the right place on the flower, because a subtle lean toward or away from the flower would cause the focus to go elsewhere. In this case I think it's the anthers that are in focus at the center of the flower. I think you can also notice pollen grains on the petals.

Another thing I like about this image is the color contrast between the green backdrop behind the left side of the flower. The linear shadow on the right side of the flower is that of a grass blade, which seems about right for this denizen of the prairie.

If you haven't gotten outside to enjoy the spring wildflower show, do it. Take pictures. Watch pollinators at work. Try to learn the names of your favorites. Study their colors, and wonder about these tiny creatures of vast beauty.

Pacific

China Beach, San Francisco.

"Pacific" is a strange name for such a raging beast. 


Take your pick of definitions from Merriam-Webster. Like a pacifier to a baby, one definition is "having a soothing appearance or effect." They offer the example of mild pacific breezes. I can understand a calming cool breeze, or slipping into a dreamy trance watching waves lap a shoreline. But much of how I think of the Pacific Ocean is far from this.

More often here in San Francisco, waves don't lap, they crash. The water is icy, year-round. The wind is relentless at times, and the fog that arrives in the summer chills to the bone. The only bastions of land on the coastline are ancient volcanic cliffs, who are reminded of their temporary nature by the pebbles and sand at their feet. The thought of charting a course across this ocean, as those who named it surely did, is frightening to me. 

Standing on a pier in the Bay a few days ago, I watched the tide sweep past the pilings of the pier under my feet and it was humbling.The sheer volume of water, bulging and flattening with the pull of the moon, astounds me. Water weighs 8 pounds per gallon. Answers.com just told me that there are

187,189,915,062,857,142,857 gallons

in the Pacific.  Minus one that just left on a soaking dog's fur, minus another soaked into the wetsuit of a surfer calling it quits for the day; plus one from a toilet flushing on a cruise ship.

About a year ago, my wanderings took me to China Beach in San Francisco (pictured). It's actually considered a calm beach because it basically faces north, and is free of the aggressive tidal forces and winds that hammer the more frequently used Ocean and Baker Beaches. It was quiet there at sunset, and cold, and the sun offered me a few peeks through the clouds right before it set. I guess you could say it was a pacific visit.

 

Furniture

Furniture Store on Lawrence, Chicago, January '11

I visited Chicago in January. I was long overdue to visit the friends who had sent me off two years ago, when my life was quite different.

The last weekend I had been there, I had wandered around on the North Side, near this location. It was September 2008 and very rainy.

It was cold and a clear blue sky made this store especially attractive looking to me. I noticed it when Mom dropped me off at Paul and Christine's house on Foster. I had flown into Milwaukee, spending a night with my parents in their new home in Mequon. 

Mom, in her infinite generosity, decided to drive me all the way to Paul's instead of what was first the Downtown Milwaukee Amtrak, which became the Kenosha Metra, and finally ended on Foster. On the drive between the Edens and Paul's, I spotted this sign and knew I should return to get a pic of it.  I finally did so fairly late the same day.

The polarizing filter made the sky dramatic. I also lined up the camera frame with the text, rather than orienting it vertically with the ground like I normally would have.

Here we go

First post.

Welcome!!

I quit Facebook a few months back and decided to start something else. Aside from reacquainting with close friends and family, I enjoyed Facebook as an 0nline medium for sharing my photographs and captions. That's the part I have been missing. As for the social aspect, well, I guess I realized that it feels better to interact with more faces and fewer Facebook pages.

I mostly enjoy photographing Americana (faded barns, billboards, neon); and nature (native plants, landscapes); but I might sneak a few images of my close friends and family in here too. There will also be a few from my travels, past, present, and future. 

Thanks for joining me as I embark on this new project -- I hope you enjoy the images and stories that go along with them.

Cataract Falls, Mount Tamalpais State Park, Marin County, CA, 2011

Terry's Lodge, 14th and Irving, San Francisco, 2011.

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