Category: walkabout / local

rDay One-Hundred-Forty-Two

Up early to beat the heat.  Over three hours took us up Bushnell to the Fifth Gate (a personal record) and back.   The gates, in reverse, return-trip order:

Sun filtered through wildfire haze intensifies the usual post-sunrise glow, but the sky would intermittently darken, seeming to threaten rain.  Now and then some normal blue would pop through (as well as a raindrop or two).  On the way, we tried to mark the area where Kim previously saw the wolf; saw the purported site of an early homestead and orchard; talked to an ATV-er trying to locate cattle; and gave the Atrabilious Animal a good dose of exercise.  For the birder in the family, the highlight surely was seeing a very large owl, well-camouflaged in the deepest, darkest part of the woods off the trail — and, in a sheer spit of luck, shaky-hand Lawrence was somehow able to handhold the camera at max zoom for a 1/6 second (at f5.6) to tease out a record of the sighting before the fowl flew away.  At higher elevations, we smelled and tasted the strong forest fire smoke.  As we returned home, the haze was easily seen above town and around Mt. Emily.

rDay One-Hundred-Forty-One: As the Day Proceeds

Late morning stroll downtown to visit the ISP and wrap up a project.  Fairly warm.  Discussed Windows 10 and computer miscellany with Gary, traded observations on movies and TV series with Lucas.  Jim graciously shared his latest automotive reading material.

Later on, after returning home, we pick up a prescription:

rDay One-Hundred-Thirty-Eight: Adventures with Ivi

First, let’s get the semi-obligatory car stuff out of the way. While Ivi stopped for a few minutes at her bank auto-teller, I took a look at some of the cars at the adjacent Historic Texaco Station, something devised by a local preservationist/entrepreneur.  The Station is usually littered with a number of old cars in various states of being.    Today I saw a faded pink ’57 Oldsmobile and a circa ’49 Chevy (with the Fender Bender? sign across the street).   I also bumped into a woman who was photographing the cars as well, and our brief chat revealed that she was trying to document a Thoreau quotation bumper sticker that appeared on one of the cars.

Then less than a block away, I spot a circa 1939 Buick parked in front of the GM dealer.  Next was an otherwise nondescript Subaru painted in the Subaru rally racing team livery colors. Finally, as we drove up Island Avenue, I sighted a Cayman (any Porsche model is a rarity in these parts), but thought I was too late to capture it.  Nevertheless upon later inspection, I found that it can be barely seen in the extreme right of my blind, over-the-shoulder attempt (like fishing, the photograph not taken — the one that got away — doesn’t count).

One of our major errands was a trip to the local shoe repair shop — apparently one of the very few still in existence in the entire state — where we discussed the economy and made plans for recycling comfortable old footwear. And right outside we also get the Dog Photo of the Day and, once again, I capture the local retro-bus (I could explain about this: a few years back, when I built a website for the city, part of the package was to be photos of, among other things, local public transit. But I never did get a proper picture of the old buses, so I keep trying whenever an opportunity presents itself).

Finally, we check on the status of the 103 entrance deck. Looks quite different, depending on the angle of the light, but one thing is for certain. The experiment to embed non-slip grit into the finish is less than successful, so Ivi intends to install 3M no-slip tape as a better alternative. Maybe tomorrow morning.

What I don”t present here was the continuing and often hilarious running commentary provided by Ivi on all these events.  Need movie mode, maybe …

rDay One-Hundred-Thirty-Seven

We abruptly change our early morning hiking plans, and decide to revisit Deal Canyon.  Charlie meets and greets a new acquaintance in a civil manner.  Then we continue on our way, revisiting what is probably the most difficult — i.e., relentless elevation gain — constant uphill grind except for a patch of a few yards, then a knee-pounder on the way down — of our usual hikes.  After a couple of hours, it was a relief to walk through the neighborhood (spotting an old Saab, the Guards Red 944, and some other miscellany) on the home stretch.

rDay One-Hundred-Thirty-Five

The big events today were going down to EONI to retrieve Ivi’s new phone and a biz/pleasure luncheon meeting with ex-colleague Tim.  While walking to and from lunch, as usual, we took in the local scenery.  At one point, someone yelled out, “You better watch where you point that thing!”  This led to meeting a guy named “Dave” who showed me his point & shoot camera and told me that he had worked in a darkroom in the 80s.  And pizza for dinner tonight.

rDay One-Hundred-Thirty-One

A gray day for a change, meaning a lot of difference in shadows and photographic approaches.  Walking a long loop around town, I take in side streets, local bikers, Eric and his shop (where I see his personal project Toyota Land Cruiser, being rebuilt from the ground up after he “took off every single, stinking bolt”) and cars and trucks in general.  Returning home about 2.5 hours later, Ivi and I almost immediately take off on errands, including a visit to the former workplace to get a second opinion on her smashed smartphone.

rDay One-Hundred-Thirty: Charlie Meets A New Friend, Sort Of

Up early to try to beat the predicted 101 degree heat.   Revisited an old favorite, Morgan Lake, for proximity to water.   An unknown canine meets up with Charlie, accompanies us on two loops around the lake, and even tries to go home with us.  No owner was discovered.

Some B&W experiments, fwiw …

rDay One-Hundred-Twenty-Nine: Ladd Marsh Birdwalk

Kim arose at some horrendous, early hour to hike and exercise The Beast Most Foul so that we could get to the 7am FOLM birdwalk.   On the way, we seem to have occasioned a windshield crack plus chip (this following Ivi’s spill last night — while jogging she hit the pavement, resulting in skin scratches and abrasions and a destroyed smartphone).  

I think that I made exactly one photograph of a bird (and one of a dragonfly, if that counts), but we saw many, including those viewed through the scopes of other birders (guess what Kim wants for Christmas or her next birthday!).  Our binoculars are inadequate to the task.  My short 105mm max zoom meant that I could only capture other birders and to try to get a sense of place.   (And even one birder with a 500mm tele lens on his Nikon couldn’t always close in on the target.)  Anyway, that is how we kick off this Saturday, August One.