28 February 06
Visit To The Mother Ship
Fifty minutes is hardly any time at all for a visit to Powell’s, but it had to suffice. After my meeting yesterday, my coworker and I hopped on the streetcar for a quick visit to the legendary bookstore prior to taking the light rail out to the airport. I left with a haul of four books.
27 February 06
Swainson's in the Gale
As I was walking home tonight in the storm, two Swainson’s hawks—the first of the spring—were trying, in vain, to fly south over the creek.
I just got back from picking Numenius up from the airport; he was in Portland for the day. It was a VERY bumpy plane ride. Good to have him home safe and sound…
26 February 06
Leafing Out
The blossoms are almost done with the almond tree in our front yard, and its leaves are just emerging.
25 February 06
No Ducks Up Cold Canyon
We were asked at the last minute to help out on a bird walk for California Duck Days. Since it was up Cold Canyon, where the redbud is just emerging, and since this might be the last chance we get before it starts pouring here, we leapt at the chance.
Jeff Falyn is a docent at Cold Canyon and is recovering from an illness, but had us all do an exercise of finding plants named in a list and then renaming them. I came up with Floating Fern for Maidenhair Fern.
At left is a Henderson’s Shooting Star which someone renamed Purple Comet.
Singing California thrashers and Hutton’s vireos, T-shirts, sunscreen: California in February.
Postscript: Don Gallo met a bad end. He ventured into the yard with the dogs. By the time the commotion was heard, it was too late…
24 February 06
Tour De Californie
Were it not for the fact that we’ve been hanging out this week with our cycling friends Barbara and Susan, I might not have heard of the Tour of California, which would have been a sad thing. This is the inaugural edition of an eight-day cycling stage race throughout California, that started off in San Francisco last Sunday, and winds up in Redondo Beach this upcoming Sunday. This event has attracted the best field of cyclists ever to race in this country, with many familiar names to us from following the Tour de France. What is incredibly neat is seeing this field race over roads I’ve ridden on.
Today’s event was a race from San Luis Obispo to Santa Barbara, climbing over the 2184-foot elevation San Marcos Pass, a couple of miles from where we used to live. This was the biggest climb of the whole tour, though not a Category 1 climb by Tour de France standards. (Had they taken a left at the top of the pass and continued up Camino Cielo to 3900’ La Cumbre Peak, it would have been. But the race organizers thought that would have been too risky a route had it been raining.) The climb wasn’t enough to break apart the peloton, and George Hincapie won the stage in a sprint along the Santa Barbara waterfront, with thousands of spectators watching.
The history of stage racing in this country has been a spotty one, with events being held for a couple of successive years before failing to attract continued sponsorship and thus folding. I hope this race becomes the one to break this pattern, so we can see top-caliber stage racing in our backyard for years to come.
23 February 06
Chain of Events
Last November I hurt my hand which took me to the doctor’s which plonked me on the scale which propelled me to WeightWatchers which sent me browsing through the message boards which landed me in a group of vegetarian women working online through the Artist’s Way together…
Today I went back for my final checkup at the doctor’s. I’ve been dismissed. My hand will now heal slowly by itself, assuming I don’t aggravate it further. I’ve lost over 20 lbs so far, have not felt this good about being on my bike and walking for a long time.
And, waiting on the stoop in the sunshine outside the doctor’s office at lunchtime, I sketched a tree. Because I was sitting outside and I had a pen and some paper and because, thanks to Danny Gregory, I now know this is the best possible use of my time in such situations.
21 February 06
Morning Stroll
A little frost today does not deter our kitties as they saunter out onto the field.
20 February 06
Mount Diablo
Well, we’re back from a day hiking on Mount Diablo and I have NO BLISTERS.
!
This is amazing. I can’t even remember the last time I did a hike of this length without them.
There was snow on the top, and the kids were throwing snowballs.
We drove down the mountain and there, by the side of the road, was a guy playing the bagpipes. Frightening all the wildlife in a 3-mile radius.
Dinner was tortilla soup at the excellent Mariachi. Bed’s a calling me…
19 February 06
Coast Range Snow
There was a dusting of snow this morning on the Blue Ridge Mountains north of Berryessa Gap and Putah Creek. Unfortunately this portion of the ridge is inaccessible, despite there being 9000 acres of public land along the crest of the ridge, so no trips up to the snow for us. Tomorrow we’re going on a hike on Mt. Diablo: I suspect it too had a dusting today but I don’t think there will be much evidence of it when we get there.
18 February 06
Rumsfeld's Song
I woke up in a fury about Rumsfeld’s strategic communications speech this morning. Better to do art than to seethe, say I, especially if you’re deficient in zen skills. I am submitting this for Illustration Friday’s theme of the week, which is song when I scan this tomorrow on a large-format scanner. Click on the thumbnail for a legible version. This piece is dedicated to all those people who have suffered or died at the hands of this administration’s “communication.”