Round Robin Photo Challenge: Really Old

Sather Tower
Cal Berkeley Campus
Berkeley, California
1914 Opened to the public in 1917

"The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes."

~Marcel Proust, In Search Of Lost Time

RRC: Really Old

When I read the concept for this challenge, I just knew I had to feature some of the gorgeous buildings around the Bay Area! I love that there is such variety in architectural styles all around the bay, it definitely offers something for everyone! And what better to showcase first? Why the photo above... Sather Tower which sits on the Cal Berkeley campus! The tower can be seen from San Francisco, and every time I am in the city, I always find myself looking for it. It is a nice feeling to see home, just across the bay! Now, on to some different buildings I love to photograph!

#1. Dunsmuir-Hellman Estate and Gardens. Oakland, California. 1878.


#2. Tower Bridge. Old Sacramento, California. Opened December 15th 1935


#3. James Lick Observatory, Mt. Hamilton, San Jose, California. 1887


#4. Alcatraz Prison, San Francisco Bay, California. First Building Built 1853.




#5. Conservatory Of Flowers, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. 1878.


#6. Palace Of Fine Arts, San Francisco. Built For The 1915 Pan-American Expo.


#7. Potter Schoolhouse (1873) And St. Teresa Of Avila Church (1859), Bodega Bay, California



Okay, so I threw in one bridge... I couldn't help myself! It is so beautiful, and I am so fond of it, plus it has a wonderful, rich history! In fact all the buildings I featured here do, so click on all the links to see what these buildings are about! Most of them have been designated Historical Landmarks, so you can bet there are some stories behind those walls! Take the Potter Schoolhouse as one example. It had been closed a year before Alfred Hitchcock featured it in the movie, The Birds. In fact, Hitchcock is credited with saving the building from demolition! It has not only endured all these years, but has in fact thrived! 

It is currently owned by private party, and is rumored to be haunted It has been seen on several reality shows dealing with paranormal phenomena. Isn't that fun? Spooky! Maybe a former owner couldn't bear to part with such a beautiful building. If ever a building could inspire a story, it would be the Potter Schoolhouse. But that's whats so wonderful about REALLY OLD buildings... right? :)

If you would like to participate in this challenge, or if you want to see what the other Robins have come up with, click the link at the top of the post to be redirected to the official Round Robin blog, where you will find all the information you need to play along and links to the participating photographers!

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Looking Back At February 2013

I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers
From the seas and the streams;
I bear light shade for the leaves when laid
I their noonday dreams...

~Percy Bysshe Shelley, "The Cloud"

 It's time to close another month. This February was a mild one in the Bay Area, a fact that leaves me a little sad, and yet grateful for all the opportunities it provided. I enjoy cold February days. One of my favorite things about the winter months is how good a bowl of Campbell's Vegetable soup tastes after I have been outside, working with my camera, on a chilly day! However, the upside to having fewer truly cold winter days, came the opportunity to get outside and do a lot of late winter themed photography!

We had one blast of a cold, snowy storm come through the Bay Area, and it allowed for a leisurely trip up to the top of Mount Hamilton, in Santa Clara county, where snow had blanketed the mountain around Lick Observatory. The snow was so soft, and watching it melt in the trees made everything look like it was covered in tiny diamonds!

The sunsets in February were stunning, and the first of the spring flowers have arrived, much to my delight! All in all I have no complaints! Indeed, I have a lot to be thankful for this past month! The snow. The sun. The cool breezes. The flowers. The warm winter sun. The halos in the clouds. It's all good!

See...



"For me, a landscape does not exist in its own right, since its appearance changes at every moment, but the surrounding atmosphere brings it to life... the light and the air which vary continually. For me, it is only the surrounding atmosphere which gives subjects their true value."

~Claude Monet

On To March...

Mood: Content

~Me :)

Snow Day

"I love snow for the same reason I love Christmas: It brings people together while time stands still. Cozy couples lazily meandered the streets and children trudged sleds and chased snowballs. No one seemed to be in a rush to experience anything other than the glory of the day, with each other and however it happened."

~Rachel Cohn, Dash & Lily's Book of Dares

Yesterday was a snow day. Well, actually, that's not all together accurate. The snow actually fell on Tuesday, as a fast moving cold front, down from Alaska, moved over the Bay Area. As soon as the snow began to fall, all the roads leading to it were closed! Isn't that always the way? The Bay Area isn't known for it's snowfall, and because of that, when we do get the maybe once yearly dusting, the powers that be tend to keep it walled off from us because folks tend to not know how to behave in it. Driving way too fast. Parking in dangerous places. Parking on private properties. You name it, we in the Bay Area do it. Not always on purpose, but that's not really the point. Anyway, the snow came and went so fast that we were lucky to be able to drive, not to where we usually go to see snow, South Lake Tahoe, but rather to the top of Mount Hamilton, in Santa Clara county.

It's a lovely long drive up the mountain, and it was a nice warm afternoon, so Alan and I decided to stop for a picnic at Grant Ranch Park, which sits about half way up the mountain. From there you get the first look at the domed buildings at Lick Observatory, which sits at the summit of Mt. Hamilton, at 4,200 ft. The summit still had a good bit of snow, and the road wasn't passable until the afternoon, so we got to the park just in time to have a nice relaxing lunch, and then drive up to the top! I thought it would be colder than it was, so it was a nice surprise to have the lovely view of snow, but to actually be comfortable. Grant Ranch Park was so lovely, I almost hated to leave it behind for the snow, but it didn't take long for me to change my mind. The drive to the summit was stunning!

Grant Ranch Park, Mt. Hamilton Rd

 

 

 

 

The Drive Up Mount Hamilton

 









The view on the eastern slope, looking toward Patterson, and Livermore...




And when it was time to go home, we decided to take a little bit of the snow with us! The medium size pack of snow lasted on the hood of the car all the way back down the hill, and was still there as we merged onto HWY 680!



Alan and I had such a good time together, I wish it would snow more often! I love snow days!

Lick Observatory

Mood: Happy :)

~Me :)

What? It's March Already?

"Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is it's current; no sooner is a thing brought to sight, than it is swept by and another takes it's place, and this too will be swept away."

-Marcus Aurelius

I am so happy it's finally March! Jeepers, did it seem to anyone else like January wasn't going to end? Sigh. It went on, and on, and on, and on... ! February, had the class to end early, or on time, I am never quite sure what is up with that. Either way, here we are, firmly in the month of March. Finally. I have to be honest, my year hasn't gotten off to the best of starts, long story, so I would just be very happy if we were in June already, even with the fact that I turn 45 in June. I am OK with it, age has never been something I have had a problem with. Forgetting things, making weird noises when I have been sitting too long, the gray hair I have been collecting, and the sore, swollen muscles I have... now that I have a problem with! Gosh, I was watching an old episode of "Mama's Family" the other night, and it occurred to me that she wore support hose, and by golly, that might not be a bad idea for me. LOL. Hell's Bell's... as I actually sat pondering the idea, it dawned on me, can space diapers be far behind?

Anyway, I took a drive up Mt. Hamilton last Thursday, in search of snow, but unfortunately, like with Mt. Diablo, I wasn't allowed to go up to the very top, where Lick Observatory is, due to... SNOW. Lick Observatory... does that sound like the name of a strip club to you? I mean as opposed to a place where you look for heavenly bodies. ;) Anyway, I was able to take some photos from McCarthy Ranch, of the beautiful snow covered hills, and the not so snow covered hills, and well, what you see below...

I'm not in a bad mood, really I am not, but I am ready for 2007 to be over already. I am RESTLESS. And yes, I know, a watched pot never boils, and time flies whether we are having fun or not, and life is not fair, but it is not fair for everyone, so that is what makes it fair, and...

"It takes a long time to understand nothing."

-John Emerson Dalberg

Lick Observatory

-OndineMonet
"Mt. Hamilton"
San Jose, California
March 1, 2007
Mid-Morning