16 March 2015 - Art is a State of Mind

I have been back in San Francisco again.  It is such an amazing city. Vibrant, buoyant, eclectic and artful. What more could anyone ask of a city?  I don't want to live there mind you, but visiting is such a treat. 

I get a kick out of walking on the Embarcadero during morning rush hour. Where else do you see men suited up in full business attire with a phone to the ear while skateboarding to work? Or women in heels, skirts, big  purse over the shoulder et al, riding a motorized scooter (or kick type) down the sidewalk?  

The city celebrated St. Pat's Day on the previous Saturday. After the parade, you were likely to see sights like this everywhere as everyone put on their Irish and hit the bars. 

Golden Gate Park is a wonderful place for people watching. You will run into Peace Marches led by saffron-robed monks followed by hundreds of people all banging drums and chanting. 

Or you hear loud music and as you round the corner you will find a parking lot filled with disco dancers on roller skates. 

 And naturally, bystanders cannot stand still with that infectious beat and music so they join in from the sidelines. 

There was an entire line dance team of women and men who looked like something out of Flash Dance. Torn t-shirts and fishnet stockings for attire, and all doing the hustle or electric slide -- on skates.  

Then there is the clothing, piercings, hair color and tattoos. Such a parade of life. Wonderful. 

While you will probably not find me wearing t-shirts with logos or sayings, it doesn't mean I don't enjoy the good ones. This  one gave me a big laugh. It was worn by a young girl who sported dyed black hair with pink tips, quite a few facial piercings and tattoos. 

 I think my favorite was a t-shirt on a little boy who might have been three years old. It proclaimed "I'm all that and din sum."

The art is wonderful. There is so much public art that it makes other cities look look woefully underfunded and sad. 

There is a set of steps called the 16th Avenue Stairs. The stairs end at a viewpoint that defies description. 

Many photographers hang out up there to photograph sunsets over the ocean. The community came together and tiled the stairs. All 163 of them. 

It is hard to get the full effect to the top, but you can see there is a cohesive plan to the design. The gardens on either side of the stairs are also a work of art. 

The local Safeway has mosaic murals on an entire side of the building that faces the parking lot. Here are two of the four panels.  What a fabulous way to add color and beauty to what could have been a drab brick wall.

You would be hard put to find a single block that didn't have at least several displays of art. 
It could be a love letter on a building:

or personal art on the outside of a car

I am a particular fan of murals. Every time I visit I find more. 
This mural is in a lobby and is three stories high.  The photo on the left is just a piece of it, but more true to the vibrant color. Each little vignette is a piece of SF history.

From Chinatown.

 and on the other side of the same building

My current favorite is a mural covering up a construction site barricade. I am not the only one who still remembers Shmoos. This is serious fun!

Another favorite is this Japanese garden mural. The owners' back yard butts up against a big blank wall of the next house. Why not make it beautiful? I would love to see over the fence into that garden!

And you can't go wrong with this local icon!

Or what about a combination of sculpture with murals?

One of the things I love is that art seems to be a way of life. So many individuals have art in their yards, on their homes, attached to fences. 

Art is the gate to a house.

It's the bracket that holds up a sign. Note the mushroom design in the corner of the bracket.
 

 It is the way a construction safety fence can be made to surprise and delight as well as be functional. 

There are so many ways to incorporate art into the fabric of a city and San Francisco does it better than anyone else. 


 Sometimes, even the people themselves provide the art, just by being who they are. 

 In San Francisco art is a way of life, and something to be discovered on a daily basis. Much of it is temporal. Driftwood sculptures left on a beach. Chalk paintings on a sidewalk. It is very satisfying. My advice? Get out and look!


P.S. I could put thousands of examples of art on this post. But I will end with one of my very favorites. This sculpture was originally created for the Burning Man Festival. Where it now has lights, flames shot out. Must have been magnificent. It still is, just in a different way. I like it at night when the lights are on and you can enjoy the moment by watching it run through all the color changes. 

And as a little lagniappe, in the background you can see another work of art--the Bay Bridge light show. The lights on the upright supports are programmed to create patterns that never repeat. Yet another wonderful thing to see. 

You want to see more? Visit previous post on SF art from November 1, 2014.  

 

1 March 2015 - Not Peking Duck

Hands down, Peking Duck has got to be my all-time favorite meal. Granted I like duck just about anyway it can be cooked, but Peking Duck is pretty darned tasty. 

Today I saw a Mandarin Duck. The only thing it has in common with Peking Duck is that they are both from China. This Mandarin showed up in a small pond at a park not too far from me. What a treat to see this magnificent little bird. 

He has been hanging out with a bunch of mallards. He has even gone so far as to pick out a female whom he is guarding assiduously. He chases off any mallard that gets close. He is a very feisty little guy, considering he is about half the size of the mallards. 

Here's his girl. You can see she is quite a bit larger. And afterwards, you can see him in comparison to a male Mallard. 

Each time he chased off another male, he would do a little ritual where he stands up in the water and flaps. Who knew birds did victory dances?

I was enthralled with all the colors on this duck. Turquoise crest, purple neck, plus all the orange and gold.  

 
The two sails that stand up near his tail are each a single, very large feather.   

Here's a good look at his crest and purple neck.

 
 I know, way too many pictures, but oh my, this is one handsome duck. 

Just another day watching birds. Doesn't get much better than this. 

27 Feb 2015 - Jellyfish DNA

Okay. I tend to think that I am pretty up on what's going on in the world. Every now then I run across something that gives me one of those head-slaps. The old how-come-I-hadn't-ever-heard-of-this before kind of slap. 

Today's event happened at the pet store. I was making the wet food, dry food, cookies and litter run and on my way to check out I decided to cruise the tropical fish aquariums. Part of me really wants to have an aquarium again, but fortunately common sense has prevailed. So far. 

As I walked down the aisle checking out all the fish, I was stopped dead in my tracks by some fluorescent fish. Red, yellow, green, purple fish and blue fluorescent fish. Just like something from Dr. Seuss: One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish.

The label called them Glofish. Oh, yeah, they really do glow.

I talked with one of the employees who told me that the fluorescence was created by injecting fish embryoes with jellyfish DNA. After that, all subsequent babies breed true with the DNA.  Astounding!  Turns out this started in China when scientists were trying to use fish to determine how polluted streams or lakes were. 

I have never been one to condone genetically modified food or animals, but if I could fluoresce I would be happy to be modified. Wow. Then a little Googling and I discover that piglets have been treated as well. Glow in the dark pigs. Green pork anyone? 

But seriously, look at this. Doesn't it make you want to set up an aquarium? 

14 February 2015 - Earliest yardwork ever

Two years ago, Jack and I were astounded to find ourselves working in the yard in March. We had quite a warm March with no snow and we chopped down some trees, raked leaves, turned the compost pile and other outdoor work. 

 So far, this has been the warmest February on record. Last weekend the temperatures reached 68 and this past week we have continued with low 60s all week. Today was a balmy 61. People are jogging in shorts and t-shirts. The roads are full of motorcyclists and convertibles with the tops down. 
  
So what was I doing on Valentine's Day? Working in the yard, earliest date ever.  I was out spreading rabbit poop on my raised beds and digging it all in.

 My brother works with a woman whose daughter raises rabbits as a 4-H project. Good source of poop.  

And because it has been so warm, I actually planted some primroses in a pot for my porch. They are very cheerful and the smell is wonderful. Definitely rushing the season, but so worth it. 

I have snowdrops in bloom, again way too early. My brother has snowdrops, crocus and violets happily blooming in his yard.
 

Yesterday, I went out to Timpie Springs to go birding. It is about 60 miles west of me. There were only five species of birds to be seen. Guess I was rushing the bird season as well, in spite of all the warm. But the scenery was lovely. The mountain was misted over, looking quite ethereal. 

I love how golden the grasses are before any spring green-up begins. 

 In case you are wondering about the few birds I did see, there were quite a few of the ubiquitous Canada geese, many California gulls, one single early red-winged blackbird, a few horned larks and a house finch.  Still, a lovely day out.

30 Jan 2015 - Lucky Ducky Days

January. Another overly warm month. One small snowstorm, a week of wind and cold, then back to warm days. Days that were 20 to 30 degrees higher than normal. While it wasn't t-shirt and shorts weather, it was warm enough to go look for a bird or two. And I found some pretty gorgeous ducks. 

I was tickled to find three beauties--a  Barrow's Goldeneye 

and a Common Goldeneye.

It was a day for black and white ducks. Next up was a Bufflehead.

Followed by a Ring-necked Duck. 

 

On the way home I stopped to see what was happening at a local wetlands where I saw a Harrier. Naturally, I had to send a picture to my brother. 

I was immediately informed I needed a better bird book because this was no Harrier, it was an Osprey. He always manages to make me laugh while at the same time one-upping me. So funny. This "osprey" was a lifer for me in the mechanical bird species.

The day after seeing these ducks I was back in San Francisco. I spent some time at Heron's Head Point where I saw yet another duck, a Surf Scoter who has a most amazing bill. 

 As long as we are talking about amazing bills, I was really happy to see a Brown Pelican in his breeding plumage which consists of the bright red on the pouch and the dark stripe down the back of the neck. Stunning.

San Francisco was good to me birdwise. I added quite a few to my list while I was there.

Anna's Hummingbird

Allen's Hummingbird

Lincoln's Sparrow

Red-bellied sapsucker

Varied Thrush

 Townsend's Warbler -- did not want to pose for me.

Purple Finch

Golden-crowned Sparrow

And like any good fish story, there are always the ones that got away.  I got some really great looks at a Pacific Wren,  Pygmy Nuthatch and a Bushtit. But they are so tiny, fast and furtive, I could not catch up with them with the camera.  I'm looking forward to another chance. 

And while this is not a new bird to me, it did give me a chance to get a nice shot.  

Yellow-rumped warbler