July 31, 2012

The Story of Kitty, part 1 of 2


photo by Donald Kinney

Well, it has been one year since Kitty died. The memories are still fresh, but this house is, oh, so incredibly empty without her.



photo by Donald Kinney

I had always regarded myself as some sort of private and reclusive person--but that was before Kitty arrived to teach me that "no man is an island".



photo by Donald Kinney

So, in a way I became a dad--doing all the things that dads do. Love became just as important as food, and Kitty would eagerly chow-down on both.



photo by Donald Kinney

My little "helper" at the keyboard... Yes, normally Kitty would be right here on my lap making typing as difficult as she possibly could.



photo by Donald Kinney

So each morning for years, starting back in 2004, Kitty helped me type-out her own blog--KittyBLOG--the daily doings of Kitty. Okay, admittedly our writing got a bit sophomoric at times, but we had great fun.



photo by Donald Kinney

And never a discouraging word out of my beloved Kitty... Her demands were simple--food and love and one lap to occupy.



photo by Donald Kinney

So the story begins... One Saturday morning I heard an excited knock at my door--little Jolie from upstairs had GREAT news--they were going to the animal shelter to pick out a cat. Jolie was only 9 or 10 at the time, but she was quite the organizer--she had already made inquiries on the specifics of what the animal shelter had available for adoption.



photo by Donald Kinney

When Jolie mentioned, among a long list of others, that they had a black and white "tudedo" cat, something stirred inside me and I instantly told Jolie this one would be the one to pick. Little did I know that this black and white "tudedo" cat would eventually come to live with me. As I mentioned, she brought along with her that proverbial little lesson, "no man is an island".


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July 30, 2012

cloudy skies meet persistent morning sun


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photo by Donald Kinney

It might be because the hills are so tall, or perhaps it is because the foggy clouds are so low...



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photo by Donald Kinney

But usually it finally all gets worked out--sometimes on a grand scale.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Sometimes I am there to capture it.


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July 29, 2012

Balclutha, wind-powered schooner at Pier41


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photo by Donald Kinney

The Balclutha, tied up at San Francisco's Pier41 is a wind-powered schooner that transported goods up and down the Pacific coast. Instead of using a modern steam-powered engine, the Balclutha continued the tradition of using wind and sails as the most economical way of moving freight.



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The Balclutha was built in 1886 by Charles Connell & Co. Ltd., of Glasgow in Scotland, for Robert McMillan, of Dumbarton in Scotland. Her namesake is said to be the eponymous town of Balclutha, New Zealand, but her name can also refer to her first homeport, Glasgow, Scotland, which is a "City on the Clyde" - the meaning of her name derived from the Gaelic Baile Chluaidh.

Designed as a general trader, Balclutha rounded Cape Horn 17 times in 13 years. During this period she carried cargoes such as wine, case oil, and coal from Europe and the East Coast of the United States to various ports in the Pacific. These included Chile for nitrate, Australia and New Zealand for wool, Burma for rice, San Francisco for grain, and the Pacific Northwest for timber. (source: Wikipedia)



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photo by Donald Kinney

In 1899 the Balclutha transferred to the registry of Hawaii, and traded timber from the Pacific Northwest to Australia, returning to San Francisco with Australian coal. (source: Wikipedia)



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In 1902 the Balclutha was chartered to the Alaska Packers' Association. After having struck Sitkinak island near Kodiak on May 16, 1904, she was renamed the Star of Alaska when bought by APA for merely $500.

After extended repairs she joined the salmon fishing trade, sailing north from the San Francisco area to the Chignik Bay, Alaska, in April with supplies, fishermen, and cannery workers, and returned in September with a cargo of canned salmon. For this trade she carried over 200 crew and passengers, as compared to the 26 man crew she carried as the Balclutha.

In 1911 the poop deck was extended to the main mast to accommodate Italian and Scandinavian workers. In the 'tween deck bunks for Chinese workers were built in. Her last voyage in this trade was in 1930, when she then was laid up after her return home. (source: Wikipedia)



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In 1933, the Star of Alaska was renamed the Pacific Queen by her new owner Frank Kissinger. In this guise she appeared in the film Mutiny on the Bounty starring Clark Gable and Charles Laughton. She then eked out an existence as an exhibition ship, gradually deteriorating. (source: Wikipedia)



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In 1954, the Pacific Queen was acquired by the San Francisco Maritime Museum, which restored her and renamed her back to Balclutha. In 1985 she was designated a National Historic Landmark. (source: Wikipedia)


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July 28, 2012

morning, out past San Rafael


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photo by Donald Kinney

Quick, somebody call the DiscoveryChannel...
I've been noticing--the birds like to p-a-r-t-y at sunrise!



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photo by Donald Kinney

And now I suppose birds have got the r-o-u-n-d earth thing figured out.



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photo by Donald Kinney

We humans s-t-i-l-l seem to be working on mechanical concepts of flight.



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photo by Donald Kinney

It is an a-g-e-l-e-s-s progression at variable rates. Some time scales are brief and fleeting, while others--like that of my beloved Mount Tamalpais--endure beyond comprehension.


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July 27, 2012

grapes of Los Carneros Region, Napa Valley


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photo by Donald Kinney

With yesterday's post, I was already at the "top of the bay", which also denotes the lower part of Napa Valley's Los Carnaros grape-growing region.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Carneros AVA) is an American Viticultural Area which includes parts of both Sonoma and Napa counties in California, U.S.A.. It is located north of San Pablo Bay.

The proximity to the cool fog and breezes from the bay makes the climate in Los Carneros cooler and more moderate than the wine regions further north in Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley. The cooler climate has made Los Carneros attractive for the cultivation of cooler climate varietals like Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Many of the grapes grown in Los Carneros are used for sparkling wine production.

Receiving its AVA status in 1983, the Carneros area was the first wine region in California to be defined by its climate characteristics rather than political boundaries. (source: Wikipedia)



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photo by Donald Kinney

They're still a bit bitter, if not downright sour. I'll keep you posted.


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July 26, 2012

Mare Island Naval Shipyard, near Vallejo


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photo by Donald Kinney

Vallejo and Mare Island Naval Shipyard have seen better times, but regretfully those "good times" were times of war and a years lived in a prolonged sense of fear.



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photo by Donald Kinney

The Mare Island Naval Shipyard (MINSY) was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located 25 miles northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates the peninsula shipyard (Mare Island, California) from the main portion of the city of Vallejo.

MINSY made a name for itself as the premier US West Coast submarine port as well as serving as the controlling force in San Francisco Bay Area shipbuilding efforts during World War II. The base closed in 1996 and has gone through several redevelopment phases. Parts of it were declared a National Historic Landmark District in 1975. (source: Wikipedia)



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Beginnings
The Navy purchased the original 956 acres of MINSY in 1853 and commenced shipbuilding operations on September 16, 1854 under the command of then-Commander David Farragut, who would later gain fame during the US Civil War Battle of Mobile Bay, when he gave the order, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!"

MINSY served as a major Pacific Ocean repair station during the late 19th century, handling American as well as Japanese and Russian vessels in the course of duty.

In 1861, the longest lived of the clipper ships, Syren, was brought to Mare Island Navy Yard for $15,000 of repairs. Syren had struck Mile Rock two times while navigating out of the Golden Gate.

By 1901, this shipyard, Union Iron Works built two Adder-class submarines. They were known as USS Grampus / A-3 and USS Pike / A-5 and were the first United States Navy submarines built on the West Coast.

Some of the support, logistics and munition requirements for the Spanish-American War were filled by Mare Island. MINSY sent men, materiel and ships to San Francisco in response to the fires following the 1906 earthquake. (source: Wikipedia)



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World War I
In March 1917 MINSY was the site of a major explosion of barges loaded with munitions. The blast killed 6 people, wounded another 31, and destroyed some port facilities. Agents of U.S. Military Intelligence tied the blast to roving German saboteur Lothar Witzke, who was caught and imprisoned in 1918.

MINSY saw major shipbuilding efforts during World War I. MINSY holds a shipbuilding speed record for a destroyer that still stands, launching the USS Ward in just 17½ days in May–June 1918. Mare Island was selected by the Navy for construction of the only US West Coast-built battleship, the USS California, launched in 1919. Noting the power of underwater warfare shown by German U-boats in WWI, the Navy doubled their Pacific-based submarine construction program at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard by founding a submarine program at MINSY in the early 1920s. (source: Wikipedia)



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World War II
Base facilities included a hospital, ammunition depot, paint and rubber testing laboratories, and schools for firefighters, opticians, and anti-submarine attack during World War II. MINSY reached peak capacity for shipbuilding, repair, overhaul, and maintenance of many different kinds of seagoing vessels including both surface combatants and submarines. Up to 50,000 workers were employed. Mare Island even received Royal Navy cruisers and destroyers and four Soviet Navy subs for service.

Following the War, MINSY was considered to be one of the primary stations for construction and maintenance of the Navy's Pacific fleet of submarines, having built seventeen submarines and four submarine tenders by the end of hostilities. (source: Wikipedia)


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July 25, 2012

St, Vincent's School for Boys, near San Rafael


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photo by Donald Kinney

In 1853, a wealthy Irish landowner who had governed the larger part of Marin County for the Mexican government, Don Timoteo Murphy, deeded 800 acres of beautiful countryside to the Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco.

Since then St. Vincents has been an orphanage, and more recently a treatment facility for boys with troubled pasts. To quote information on the St. Vincent website:
Many of the boys struggle with deep emotional disturbances that result from severe parental abuse—physical, sexual or emotional—as well as parental neglect. Typically, a St. Vincent's resident has lived in many foster-care households and other residential situations prior to reaching us.


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photo by Donald Kinney

This is near the top of San Francisco Bay. We call it the North Bay and the map has it as San Pablo Bay.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Our hills roll and undulate. Our oak trees are round and the shadows are sometimes long.



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photo by Donald Kinney

My beloved Mount Tamalpais.



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photo by Donald Kinney

It is an impressive church although I haven't been inside.
The road leading to the church and school is lined with tall Eucalyptus trees.
I like finding abstract patterns in the thin shaggy bark of those trees.


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July 24, 2012

my Lagunitas Creek, part 2 of 2


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photo by Donald Kinney

Like brilliant and colorful fleeting works of art.
Only seen at certain angles and only best at certain times of the day.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Life clings to rock. Simple moss and tiny trees.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Swirling pools of water reflecting the surrounding colors.
Channels carved along an undulating bottom. Persistent water.


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July 23, 2012

my Lagunitas Creek, part 1 of 2


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photo by Donald Kinney

I thought I had taken every picture I could possibly take. Perhaps I had plum worn out my beloved old creek with having taken so many photos there over the years.



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photo by Donald Kinney

But then I saw gold...



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photo by Donald Kinney

And I once again snapped away at it while trying not to fall in...



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photo by Donald Kinney

And grooved on the ripples...


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July 22, 2012

St. Mary's Church, Nicasio, California


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photo by Donald Kinney

Just west of where I live, over the hill, is a tiny unincorporated town dating back to the 1860's. 150 years ago is, pretty much, ancient history for California and the white-man in this part of the world.



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photo by Donald Kinney

A tinier town would be difficult to find. Just this old church, and a few old houses that can be counted on one hand with about two fingers left over.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Rancho Nicasio, a steakhouse and bar, pulls in an urban crowd on weekends. Curiously there is a baseball field in the center of town that motorists need to carefully navigate around. Recently a cheese factory came to town--giving the other cheese factory, about 5 miles away, some competition. In October, families arrive at a farm on the outskirts to carefully select and buy pumpkins.

Old St. Mary's shows off a style known as Carpenter Gothic. The likeness of Mary has a perfect view of the baseball diamond. I imagine she silently keeps score and can recite important vital statistics of all games played here, going way back in time.


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July 21, 2012

China Camp Village, a slice of yesterday


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photo by Donald Kinney

Oh, it was a SPLENDID morning. Oh so early, and oh, what a low tide.



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photo by Donald Kinney

And under the pier, a world of its own. Mossy, muddy, and very slippery too.



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photo by Donald Kinney

Dinghys turned upside-down and strewn about. Not going anywhere soon.



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Going way back to the 1860's, Bay Shrimp was spread on mats covering the hillside, using the sun to dry the catch, but sometime in the 1930's Frank Quan and his brother, being young and innovative, had a notion to build a "modern" evaporator made from a large diameter steel tube encased in bricks. A fire was built at one end of the pipe and hot dry air was fanned over tiers of wooden trays evenly distributed with the shrimp they had been able to net that day.


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July 20, 2012

bridge with a colorful name


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photo by Donald Kinney

Although the entrance to San Francisco Bay was named the "Golden Gate" 89 years before the completion of the Golden Gate Bridge in 1937, I suppose many visitors are disappointed when they see that the bridge is, indeed, painted international-orange. To find gold they've got to arrive pretty darned early (yawn) in the morning.



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photo by Donald Kinney

But who knew the bridge would turn out to have such an artistic flair...



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As big as they come, yet dwarfed by nature. Oh, so early in the morning.


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