Northwest for Spring Break

We're heading north to see some fabulous nature and visit cities and family as well. Tomorrow begins National Poetry Month for April, so I thought I'd try for a poem a day. There's a group called NaPoWriMo, based on the novel-writer's group (write a novel in 30 days, in November), that encourages the practice of daily poetry. I think NaPoWriMo is perhaps the least poetic name ever created, but the idea behind it is not bad. What if we all wrote a poem a day? Yes, there would be some very bad poems, but also some surprisingly good ones. And writing every day is not a bad plan overall.

Here we are heading toward Mt. Shasta. Mt. Lassen was visible on this drive as well, but it is off the beaten path and tends to be the forgotten mountain of the Cascade Range. Maybe a poem would help.

I'm on a different computer without Photoshop, so bear with me as I attempt to manage some photography on the road. Craggy peaks. Keith knows the name of this formation (update: it's Castle Crags, everyone). I'll check in with him on that and get back to you.

Mt. Shasta barely visible in this image in the bright north sky. The white sports car is a Tesla—my first sighting of a solar-powered car. A young, breezy guy was driving. A young, breezy guy with decent cash-flow. Oh, that's not very poetic. Tomorrow for poetry...

Pow! Spring

As far as this little tree's concerned, it's spring.

 

Chapel of the Chimes Columbarium - Oakland, California

A columbarium is a building full of niches that hold cremated remains. Oakland happens to have a very beautiful one, designed by Julia Morgan—The Chapel of the Chimes. The older section of the chapel—a Moroccan-style maze of a building dates from 1928. Additions have been added and all sections contain a multitude of skylights, gardens, fountains and mezzanine levels.

The Chapel sponsors a jazz-concert series and holds a surprisingly weird annual Summer Solstice ambient-noise concert throughout its mysterious hallways and secretive rooms. A strange and enchanting experience.

We found the resting place for John Lee Hooker, a Bay Area blues master.

We took a hike up the hill at the adjacent Mountain View Cemetery, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted.

The higher you go, the more elaborate the monuments on "millionaire's row"

A view of the San Francisco skyline—pyramids galore

Great Egret, preening

Is there anything cooler than a great egret's neck? Maybe an elephant's trunk.

Otters at Heather Farm Park

This blog has been so neglected, but that's how it goes in the winter, unless I tour a greenhouse. The weather is spring-like this week, so I've been outside more often. Today's walk in the park was fruitful. I almost didn't bring my camera when I left the house, but then I thought: I bet I'll see otters. I haven't seen them in a while since the last time I tried to photograph them on my pathway, hissing at me (a speeding mountain-biker chased them away). My intuition proved correct and so: otters. They were fishing. Not razor-sharp clarity due to my tiny lens, but good enough for my purposes.

Stonington, Connecticut

Mystic River, Connecticut

December along the Mystic River and cove. A lovely but cold day—barely 30 degrees with a brutal wind. This was just before the big snowstorm (next post).

Sunrise - December 21, 2012

Still here.

Walnut Creek and Heather Farm Park after 1.5-inch rainfall

Normally this section of Walnut Creek (uglified as a canal to prevent flooding) is placid and so shallow, you could theoretically walk alongside the water without getting your feet wet. But not today after a RAGING monsoon hit this morning. It was a wall-of-water falling for at least two hours, dumping more than an inch of rain before 9 A.M.

It cleared up by early afternoon and we took a stroll to see what we could see. Crazy-fast water from the creek, heading out to sea. And the lake in the nature habitat at Heather Farm Park rose up over the road and into the creek along the walking path. A lone worker (later joined by a small crew) was trying to unclog a drain with a single shovel. Hail, water-district personnel!

Zoom out mighty oak tree

Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve - Oakland, California

A walk around the Sibley Volcanic loop in the Oakland Hills is a geological trip through magmatic time! Grab a map at the information kiosk in the parking lot and head out for a footnoted hike around the remains of a sheared section of a 10.5 million-years-old volcano. Oakland truly has it all.

The labyrinth at the bottom of the remains of a quarry. Mt. Diablo is visible from this bluff and in the other direction, we saw Mt. Tam in Marin. It was a very clear day.

Mossy Oak - Lafayette Reservoir

Mossy oak at lovely Lafayette Reservoir.

The Incredible View from the Lawrence Hall of Science Parking Lot

The San Francisco Bay Area has some incredible parking-lot views. The parking tower at UCSF on Parnassus with the entire Golden Gate Park and Pacific Ocean to its left, comes to mind. Same with the top floor of the structure above the Festival Theater in Walnut Creek, surrounded by three mountain-ridge formations plus Mt. Diablo towering over all and more often than not, shining in the sun.

But the parking-lot view adjacent to Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science is the most breathtaking in scope. Yesterday we pulled into a space overlooking the sweeping panorama of the San Francisco Bay where five cities were easily viewable, along with the Bay, Golden Gate and Richmond Bridges. Plus Mt. Tam and the Berkeley campanile. Why, we could see our old house from there! (Not really, but with less tree cover—no doubt we could).

It was a bit hazy in the afternoon, clearing up by sunset. My little camera cannot do it justice, but here's a captioned image of the view from our car. As always, click to enlarge.

The Lawrence Hall of Science is a fun, interactive kids' science museum. A big bunker of a bomb-shelter-like building cut into the side of the Berkeley Hills. The cafe has more breathtaking views from the hillside basement. Best time you'll ever have eating a bag of chips, I promise. The roof of the museum has gigantic whale and dna-strand climbing sculptures, but surprisingly, for such an expanse of concrete—no plant life in containers or otherwise. I guess you need to drive down the hill a quarter-of-a-mile and visit the excellent UC Botanical Garden. Hey, somebody get a grant to hire a gardening team for that rooftop.

Jackson and his friend Clarabelle had a very fun day, building stuff, testing flight patterns of modified junk in air tubes, riding a tricycle with square wheels, petting a snake, viewing a baby mastodon skeleton, and creating dams in the outdoor water and rock garden. Good stuff.