sunrise, China Camp

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photo by Donald Kinney

I want to thank all the people who visited yesterday -- the Sky Watch Friday thing is great -- lots of participation.   I think I replied to everybody, good to meet so many new people, but of course some of you are old friends.

Hope you like the photo...   It's going to be overcast this morning, so not much chance for a beautiful sunrise, but there's always tomorrow...


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it's Sky Watch Friday !

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photo by Donald Kinney

This will make no sense to you "sleepy-heads", but I'm one of those people who enjoys getting up early -- somewhere around 4am -- long before the crack-of-dawn.   In the days when I was punching a time clock I liked to punch it at 6am, mainly so I could get off work at 3pm and still have a little bit of the day left to call my own.

I'll miss it this morning, but the past couple of days I've been trying to catch the sunrise at China Camp, on the banks of San Pablo Bay -- the upper thumb of San Francisco Bay -- which isn't too far away from where I live.   But even with getting up that early it's usually it's a mad-scramble to get out there before the show is all over.   I'm running late this morning so I'll probably miss it, but I'm hoping to have my camera in position to catch a really stunning sunrise one of these days.

Special Edition

Whoopie!   I got an award!

You'll see the award I got from Troy and Martha in the left sidebar.   I appreciate the recognition and my ego-meter is pegged at full-tilt...

Now, the rules were that I was supposed to nominate five other of my favorite blogs, but therein lies the problem -- I don't want to exclude anyone, so I am going to pick my all-time favorite and give only one award to a truly outstanding blog:   FogBay.com, an incredibly interesting and informative blog about San Francisco today and it's colorful history.   Every posting of FogBay.com fattens my knowledge and appreciation of this great area we are priviliged to live in.


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volunteer oats

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photo by Donald Kinney

In this corner of the world we probably have more volunteer oats than anything else.   This is the time of year they dry up, but they remain beautiful until the rains beat them down late in the year.   In the mean time their primary purpose seems to be to attach themselves to my socks and wiggle down into my shoes.   A small price to pay for such beauty...


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acupuncture model

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It's always a treat walking by this acupuncture model in the storefront on one of Chinatown's little side-streets.   I suppose that finding it would make a good "treasure hunt".


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spire + bay

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On Sunday I stopped by the National Cemetery at San Francisco's Presidio to pay my respects to our fallen soldiers.

In Vietnam 58,202 of our men and women died for absolutely no good reason at all.   And so far in Iraq we've lost 4,083 more.   In the process the United States has gone from a world leader to an unrespected second-rate nation.   Our government obviously has no regard for human life -- whether it is our own soldiers or that of the "enemy".   Your views may differ, but I for one, am ashamed to be an American.


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Tommy's Joynt

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The owners of this San Francisco landmark, Tommy's Joynt, want you to believe it has been there since the beginning-of-time, but actually it was opened in 1947, the year of my birth -- now, that isn't so old, is it?

The graphics on the side of the building are spectacular and bold, but I've always thought it as a tourist-trap.   I've only been inside once several years ago, and that was only because a friend was raving about their pastrami sandwiches, but I understand it is popular among many the "locals" as well.


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at the bog, Miwok Meadows

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reflections + ripples

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octagon house

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This octagon-shaped house is in western Sonoma County, near the Marin border. Octagon houses date to the mid-1800s when Orson Squire Fowler wrote "A Home For All" in which he described the benefits of this unusual house shape.   Most octagonal houses were built in the eastern United States, but some were also built around the San Francisco Bay Area.   This particular house was built by Silas Martin around 1850 on land purchased from the Spanish government. Members of the Martin family (direct descendants of Silas) still live in the house.


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Bolinas Estuary

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photo by Donald Kinney

The local residents call this the Bolinas Lagoon, but actually it is an estuary.
And a rich one it is...   A favorite spot for nature-lovers...   Highway 1 passes alongside the shoreline, offering excellent views of wildlife; including pelicans, cormorants, egrets, herons, seals, sea-lions, etc...   At top-left in the photo is the rustic little town of Bolinas...
See more photos of Bolinas on my newly re-designed "big" website


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volunteer oats + Mt. Tamalpais

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Mt. Tamalpais (locals just call it Mt. Tam) is the center jewell of Marin County, just north of the Golden Gate Bridge.   Beyond tremendous views, it offers a plethora of trails to the adventurous.   An added bonus for me is that Mt. Tam is nearby.   I snapped this photo on Monday, about a mile from where I live.


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Bay to Breakers 2008

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photo by Donald Kinney

Now, imagine 65,000 of these ambitious and wacky athletes...
Shot near the summit of Hayes Street Hill, which is the toughest part of the seven mile course across San Francisco.   Read more about the history of the party/race at:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_To_Breakers


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deer at Roy's Redwoods

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photo by Donald Kinney

...and if those deer had cameras, I suppose they would have been shooting back...


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newly mowed fields

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Marin County is fairly large, but most residents stay cloistered in the populated areas and seldom venture into the wide-open spaces...   I have a favorite loop through the area...   This photo was taken near the Cheese Factory on the Petaluma-to-Point Reyes Road where the oat harvest is in full swing...


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Malcom X

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forbidden roses

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streamside

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Lupine + Pacific Ocean

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fern + painted ladies

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three

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Three dollars, three chickens, or only three fingers left...   Take your pick...


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curved creek

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photo by Donald Kinney


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monuments to the sky

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colorful water

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Round about early mid-morning, with the sun behind, with surrounding vegetation illuminated but creek still not -- colorful things can happen on the ripply surface of water...


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China Camp

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photo by Donald Kinney

China Camp is an historic shrimping village on the sleepy banks of San Pablo Bay, the upper thumb of San Francisco Bay.   The little cafe is seldom open, and the visitor center might be open, but don't expect any attending docent.

You may run into China Camp's only remaining resident, Frank Quan.   Say hello -- you will be speaking to a genuine and living relic of Marin County history...

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Frank Quan's home.

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photo by Donald Kinney


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afternoon ripples

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sunrise on Mt. Tamalpais

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photo by Donald Kinney

Sunday morning I thought all the "fireworks" would be happening down towards the Golden Gate Bridge, but a huge fog bank wasn't cooperating so I made a hasty retreat to the north-east side of Mt. Tamalpais.   This is the appropriately named, Alpine Dam.   It's one of five man-made lakes that provide water for Marin County.


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Kitty

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photo by Donald Kinney

Yes folks, this is Kitty...   The love of my life...   The Alpha and the Omega...   The feline for whom I would walk barefoot across hot coals for the privilege of caressing her head while saying something soft -- like, "What a good Kitty"...


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GGB from a distance

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photo by Donald Kinney

Yes folks, this is the "Golden Gate" -- the entrance to San Francisco Bay.
Boat captains sometimes call this area of water the "potato patch" -- the mixing of tides churns up the water.   Shots taken from the Point Bonita area.


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slow creek

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The Lagunitas Creek can usually count on at least one major storm each year, and the deluge usually comes just after New Year's.   It's the signal for the two year old Coho Salmon to return to their birthplace and start the life process all over again.   The salmon are protected, and the experts are always running studies, but their numbers keep diminishing.

As you may have heard, on April 10 commercial and recreational salmon fishing was banned for the season along the coast of California and most of Oregon.
Read more here.


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tree fern

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photo by Donald Kinney


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golden and flowing

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--------------------------------------

LATE ADDITION:
The shot above is from seven days ago, and lower shot is from this morning.
Kind of interesting (at least to me) how similar they are.

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photo by Donald Kinney



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