One of my favorite Big Sur views
July 7, 2009
BIG SUR — The burst and rush of the surf, as it surges white against the headlands and around the rocks, carries 500 feet upward to this viewpoint near Partington Creek.
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The power of music
July 5, 2009
DAVIES SYMPHONY HALL, SAN FRANCISCO — Exhilaration and invigoration … that’s what I feel at the end of a concert, walking out into the night.
On this evening, violinist Julia Fischer and pianist Yefim Bronfman joined members of the San Francisco Symphony in chamber works by Robert Schumann and Franz Schubert.
Schumann — poor Schumann — was plagued by what we now believe to be bipolar disorder. Schubert died at age 31. But what amazing and wonderful music they wrote, in spite of misfortune.
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Crissy Field all to ourselves
July 3, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO — On this Monday morning, we had Crissy Field all to ourselves, the few of us who were here.
Yesterday afternoon, the promenade drew walkers, joggers, and bicyclists. And, above the grassy airfield, kites soared and dashed to and fro in the breeze. But today, the promenade is deserted.
So on this overcast-gray morning I enjoyed the near-solitude, when I was blessed with a surprise. A sunbeam broke through the cloudy layer, highlighting in fiery color the north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge.
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A San Francisco morning
July 1, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO —
It’s a most unusual day
Feel like throwing my worries away
As an old native born Californian would say
It’s a most unusual day
In San Francisco, it’s always a most unusual day. Step outside for a morning stroll, and be amazed along the way.
Sometimes, it’s a world-renown feature that captures the eye. But just as often are the surprises, the views not expected … such as this view across the yacht club in the Marina to distant Alcatraz.
You can enjoy this panorama along Marina Blvd. near Baker Street, just a hop, skip and a jump from the Palace of Fine Arts.
(It’s a Most Unusual Day, words by Harold Adamson and music by Jimmy McHugh.)
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An afternoon in the redwoods
May 26, 2009
LAGUNITAS, CA — In Samuel P. Taylor State Park, Lagunitas Creek flows quietly in the shade of the redwoods. You can walk along it for a while … or pause along the stream — perhaps skip a pebble or two across the water. There’s absolutely nothing to do here … and all the time in the world to enjoy doing it.
You’ll find the park 30 miles north of San Francisco, along Sir Francis Drake Blvd. between San Rafael and Point Reyes.
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Garden days
May 25, 2009
SALINAS — All this weekend, the coastal overcast has blanketed us with a gray overhang, and chilled us with a breeze that makes us reach for our jackets. We’ll huddle close around our barbecues for warmth as the tri-tips sizzle on the grill.
Weather like this makes me think wistfully of last weekend, which was sunny, hot, and perfect for afternoons in the garden. After the 80-degree heat, the artichoke buds shot up, the tomato plants started filling out, and the flowers were adding their pinks, golds, reds and lavenders day by day.
Garden weather. I appreciate those days. Last weekend I planted some basil, some bush beans, and some more tomatoes. And then I weeded.
Weeding is slow, only because of the good things among the weeds that I want to keep … little California poppies, volunteer thyme and tomatoes, and strawberry seedlings, thanks to Mr. & Ms. Robin Red Breast. The thyme, I’ve discovered, will spread itself, which is good, because I like to run my fingers through its leaves and enjoy its fragrance. And we’ll have plenty of strawberries through summer.
With some music playing … with the sun warming the day … and with an end-of-the-day glass of wine with my neighbors, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be. This is my place to relax and recharge. “Hurry” has been thrown out of the vocabulary.
And anyway, what’s to hurry, with all this thyme on my hands?
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A jog in the park
May 16, 2009
GOLDEN GATE PARK, SAN FRANCISCO — A mirror held up to the city … that’s how one person describes Spreckels Lake.
This is along one of my favorite jogging routes, John F. Kennedy Drive, which takes me through the length of the park from Ocean Beach to Stanyan Street and back. Jogging the park has the advantage of allowing me to enjoy much of the park in an hour or so.
At this pace, I can enjoy the park’s rhythm of forest shade and sunny meadows. I can also enjoy the surprises and the fun details along the way … the buffalo grazing in the paddock, their furry humps all pointed in the same direction … that sudden view of the red towers of the Golden Gate Bridge, beyond the treetops … Beethoven in bronze, out for a walk in the park, his hands clasped behind his back, a tempestuous expression on his face … a model sailboat being launched on Spreckels Lake, as a sea gull glides just above the water
… and the fragrance of eucalyptus after the fog clears.
One more reward at the end … a stretching-out stroll along the surfline at Ocean Beach … just me, the sandpipers and the waves.
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In Golden Gate Park
May 14, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO — When I stand here and take a deep breath, I smell the fragrances of freshly mowed grass, and the trees all around, and even the hint of salt from Ocean Beach, not far to the west.
For the past hour I’ve enjoyed this walk through Golden Gate Park. In a city chock full of favorite things, this is a very favorite place.
I’ve walked past meadows spread out in the sunlight … under century-old Monterey cypresses, and pines and eucalyptus … and along a bonnie brook. I’ve paused at a couple of lakes, enjoyed the avant-garde architecture of the De Young art museum, and taken a slow saunter through a redwood grove.
And now, here, I’m gazing out at the Conservatory of Flowers. Inside, there are tropical plants, protected in the warm indoors from the chill of winter storms and summer fog.
No chill today, though. It’s a sun-splashed spring morning … and this is the perfect place to enjoy it.
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The color of May
May 13, 2009
SALINAS — Seasonal color? The changing of the seasons? In California??
Absolutely. It’s happening right now.
The greens of the surrounding grassy hills, which deepened in intensity from February, through March, through April, are being replaced before our very eyes with summer’s golds and buffs.
First, there were just highlights of beige along the curves of the hills. Now the colors of summer’s dry grasslands are taking hold everywhere across the hillsides.
In just a few weeks, the hills all around us will be golden brown. In the hotter regions, around Paso Robles and in the Sierra foothills, they will be pure gold, dotted with oak olive greens.
Now, as the colors change, we say “farewell” to rain and welcome bright, sunny summer afternoons, when the sea breezes keep the temperatures in the seventies and send the flags snapping southeast-ward.
Topics: Salinas, Summer | 2 Comments »
The Golden Gate from the Marin headlands
May 11, 2009
BEYOND THE harp-like cables of the Golden Gate Bridge, the city drapes itself over the hills … while below, a forest clothes the headland, down to the waves washing onto an isolated beach.
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