Blustery, Gray, Fall Day Walk In The Woods

It may not be Yosemite, but it was still very cool and only a 25 minute drive from home.  Here are a few pics from our McHugh Creek hike this afternoon.

Heading up the trail from the parking lot through the leafless cottonwoods.

We could hear the wind roaring above us, but down on the trail, in amongst the trees there wasn't much wind.  And despite the wet streets and rain earlier in the day, there were only scattered drops now and then.

Ripe rosehips provided snacks along the way.

The only wild life we saw were occasional ravens taking advantage of the winds.

At one point there was water runoff crossing the creek.  Some spots had little boardwalks - maybe a few feet over the worst water and mud.  Other spots had slices of tree trunk.  But at one point I realized that my foot had lifted up without my shoe.  The picture is after I got it pulled out of the muck.















Naked trees.

Trail through spruce.  Then through cottonwoods again.  Turnagain Arm in the background.

It felt great to be in the wind and winter ready trees and earth.

Tight Parking, Shoerageous, And Other Random San Francisco Shots

A grandpa trip to SF got me up at 5:45am to help feed the little guy.  The point was to give the parents a little time so sleep and do other things.  We did have him for a couple of early morning hours and then another two hours walking.  Some things are worth getting up early for.

Here are some random shots so far.

I looked at the truck and the garage and laughed.  But then I saw the woman opening the garage . . .






So I pulled out the camera.

And in she went.  It dipped down enough, barely enough, to fit.   That was last night.

Grabbing late breakfast at the Country Store after a long morning walk with the baby and the dog.  One car pulled over to comment on the dog - they also had a corgi.  Oh, yeah, and the baby's cute  too.

 

In the afternoon, we went to visit other friends of our son that have young babies too.  I was somewhat surprised by the crowd of people at the park on the grass.  I'm used to people  like this at the beach, but not in a park.  I thought there was a concert or something, but no, just people hanging out.  Lots of dogs and lots of babies.  And apparently alcohol is allowed in public parks here. 

I looked twice as we passed this shoe store.  Then turned around and looked again.  These shoes were paper mache, ceramics, and various other materials.  It was the Creativity Explored gallery.   

From Creativity Explored on the exhibit:

Shoes can communicate so much about the wearer: athletic, flamboyant, casual, professional. Green said, “Gerald and I got the idea for this show from looking at everyone’s shoes – all the styles and brands.” Wiggins commented on Green’s and his curatorial role: “We pick what artwork goes into the front gallery and the windows, choose the backdrops, decide on frames and arrangements – we’re in charge of the whole thing, which is really fun.”

. . . Participating artists include: Ian Adams, Zachary Adams, Antonio Benjamin, Laron Bickerstaff, Andrew Bixler, Elana Cooper, Christina Marie Fong, Joseph "J.D." Green, Nita Hicks, Camile Holvoet, Eva Jun, Hector Lopez, Berhta Otoya, Paul Pulizzano, Yolanda Remirez, Ethel Revita, Emma Reyes, Clementina Rivera, Ka Wai Shiu, Miyuki Tsurukawa, Kathy Wen, Gerald Wiggins, and Doris Yen.