Spring, rain, cold viruses

They're all hitting at once. Here's some quick photos between rainstorms and coughs and colds. Hope you're getting some blooms without all the allergies. During the day I hear birds tweet, even in heavy rain. At night the frogs are croaking and chirruping, filling the air with amphibious love song.

Jackson took a close-up of the tomato seedlings for a school project. I'm looking forward to orange cherry tomatoes.

This bird isn't going anywhere

The mourning dove couple who are nesting in my hanging plant have hunkered down to the point where I never see an empty nest anymore. I know there's eggs in there, but they're not budging. I'm assuming the male and female take turns sitting there. Maybe if I could catch them on the swing shift, I can get a quick photo of the eggs.

Because the pot is only inches away from the window, we are truly getting to know one another. Today I was watching "Friday Night Lights" on Netflix streaming. I looked out the window and the bird was watching TV too. I'm sure it's dull to sit still for hours at a time. I'll try and provide quality entertainment as much as possible until the eggs hatch.

Guy Lewis - Sunrise

Guy Lewis is a woodworker and sculptor from Great Britain. His mixed-media sculpture is entitled "Sunrise." Symmetry, patterns—meditative state. Check out his site for more beautiful work.

Last seen on this site here.

Spreckels Lake San Francisco Model Yacht Club Regatta plus Coference Bike

Back at Golden Gate Park for the first outing of the long-standing San Francisco Model Yacht Club--a club that's been making and sailing model ships since the 1898! I do like to see some nice model boats. Let's take a look.

Nice details.

This steam ship puffs steam and plays a stirring sea shanty while it chugs around the lake.

This one runs on gas--that's a different boat club, I think.

This had a lot of war-related gore. I'll spare you.

Jackson took his boat around the lake too.

Baby turtles!

Awwww...

This was a cool and weird surprise: The Conference Bicycle. Created by the uncle of one of these riders. They invited people to join them to pedal around the lake. I sat on the backwards seat, pedaled "forwards" and we met up with some more people and had a nice chat while we rode. It was something out of a dream...

New Neighbor

This mourning dove couple has been hanging around our house lately, cooing and flitting about the roof and fence. They finally picked this hanging flower basket as the site for their new nest. Very close quarters. I hope our nosiness doesn't upset the mom too much. No eggs yet!

Cherry Blossoms

I let February go by without any cherry blossoms here. That was a mistake on my part. There's daffodils out there too, but these blossoms are always the first sign of spring in northern California.

Great horned owl sighting, plus bonus baby turtles

Hanging out in Golden Gate Park this weekend, we spied a group of people gathered around a lone tree along JFK Boulevard, across from the bison paddock. They were pointing up and holding cameras with extra-long lenses. It was a great horned owl sighting. Apparently this owl has built a nest along the main roadway in the park and had chicks in the first week of February.

It was dusk and my tiny camera could barely handle a photo of the people gathered, so I apologize for the low-quality images, but they'll give you an idea of the urban situation. People, in general, tend to be curious about owls. This one was a beaut. Really large and hooting away. She probably wanted to go hunting and all the people were making her nervous about leaving her chicks.

David Cruz has posted some excellent close-up photos of the owl and her chicks on the SFGate blog.

Quite an owl-spotting crowd. They were actually blocking traffic, but traffic was stopped anyway, looking up.

Here's the tree.

Can you see the great horned owl? She's really camouflaged.

Baby turtles at nearby Spreckels Lake.

Zoom out - view of Mt. Diablo from Heather Farm Park

Let's go fly a kite

It's fun!

Now that's pretty

Yes, it's February but the trees blossom around here at this time every year. And we also get a week of warm weather every February, so this is it--highs in the 70s. Should go back to mild winter in a few days. Hoping for more rain. It's too dry this year.

Cool Oak Tree

I think most all trees are cool, but this one is especially so.

Sunset at the park

It's just our neighborhood park but it works for me.

Birches

I've always had trouble taking photos of birch trees. That white bark can really create a bounce-light effect in the bright sun. This isn't too bad, on a very warm winter day.

Let Sleeping Geese Stand

...on one leg. What great poise and balance these geese have. Yoga by the lake.

One minute of didgeridoo in Golden Gate Park

It's just a minute of didgeridoo in the tunnel beneath JFK Boulevard.

Snowy Egret is about to strike

That long neck and bill act like a lightning-fast spear.

Surface tension in water

Look how water drops hold it together on the nandina--cool! Also: I wish it would rain again.

Playland at the Conservatory - Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

The Playland model train layout at the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park will be going until April, 2012. Take a look. The miniature landmark buildings and Playland amusement park (long gone from San Francisco's Ocean Beach, but not from our memory banks) are all made from recycled materials. For example, the cages on the ferris wheel are made from old pencil sharpeners--a must-see!

The train this time around consists of cable cars and street cars, a minor disappointment (we love trains), but the layout is lovely with tons of plants from the Conservatory, as always. And there's a cable-car camera that takes you inside the train tunnel, for miniature spooky action. Plus vintage arcade games and fun-house mirrors, and an original Playland bumper car to pose in.

If you really want to experience antique arcade games, visit the Musée Mécanique at Pier 45 at Fisherman's Wharf. Epic kinetic toothpick sculptures, player pianos, moviolas, and Laughing Sal live on at the Musée Mécanique.


Museé Mécanique from Jan Sturmann on Vimeo.

My mom told me that my Grandma Tocha always had to hear this one player piano at the Playland arcade. That was her constant source of entertainment at the park throughout the years. You can experience similar thrills at Playland Not-At-The-Beach in El Cerrito. One admission price gets you unlimited vintage and modern pinball and skeeball plays throughout the museum of fun. There's amusement-park dioramas and magic shows--it's F-U-N.