Life Is Good!

"Sunset is a wonderful opportunity for us to appreciate all the great things the sun gives us."

~Mehmet Murat ildan

This is the first sunset of our vacation, and the first one I have photographed this vacation. It's merely the beginning of my favorite time of year. Autumn... sigh... when the sun is at it's most beautiful. When it turns everything a particular shade of gold that makes one believe nothing bad could ever happen on a day that ends like this. Of course bad stuff happens, but autumn makes it all easier to take, with the beginning of shorter days, and all the holidays that warm you from the inside out just around the corner. 

The end of this day, reminds me of what is to come!

Life is good.

The Leaf of the Day 

:)

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Whisper To Me

"Every time I stand before a beautiful beach, its waves seem to whisper to me: If you choose the simple things and find joy in nature's simple treasures, life and living need not be so hard."

~Psyche Roxas-Mendoza

What can I say? The weather in the Bay Area has been nothing short of summertastic! Yes, I know, not a word. But we will ignore it in favor of setting the mood. And what is the mood I am speaking of? Why... summertastic of course. LOL. It's winter, and it's so hot in the Bay Area that we are putting the air conditioner back in the window today!

All things being subject to Murphy's Law, you know what that means... right?

Snow in the Bay Area by Friday!

Just in time for Spring.

You may thank me now!

:)

Mood: Silly

~Me :)

Dot #2 Of Dot Quest

"You can't connect the dots looking forward you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something: your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. Because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well worn path."

~Steve Jobs
Stanford Commencement Address, 2005
US Computer Engineer & Industrialist (1955 - 2011)

Last month, while on my way back across the bay from the coast, I spotted this cool little dot, illuminated all by itself, on a highway alert sign on the eastbound side of the San Mateo Bridge. It made me smile. Was it a period? Was it the second dot in an ellipsis? What did this singular dot mean? Well, as of right now, I am leaning toward the ellipsis theory because I spotted a second one just a few days later on the same type of sign, on the southbound side of the Devil's Slide Tunnel, just south of Pacifica! Again, the singular dot made me smile! I don't know why, but there is just something really amusing about it to me. Anyway, I am keeping my eyes open for one more dot to complete my cosmic ellipsis. Who knows, maybe there is a message in there somewhere! I can't wait to find out!

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Memories As The Sun Sets

"Dusk is just an illusion because the sun is either above the horizon or below it. And that means that day and night are linked in a way that few things are. There cannot be one without the other, yet they cannot exist at the same time. How would it feel, I remember wondering, to always be together, and yet apart."

~Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook

While in Pacifica the other day, photographing the big waves, I spotted these two watching the sun down down together. They didn't leave each others side. It made me smile, and reminded me of two California song birds that had built their nest on my balcony, back in the 1990's, when I had my first apartment. The male bird took such loving care of the lady bird, bringing her food, and watching over the nest. I loved watching such love and devotion as that. It's a happy thing to carry as a memory. One of my very favorites when I am blue. 

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Round Robin Challenge: The White Stuff

"Some people like living in a black and white worlds. Let them stay there. Appreciate all the colors you see in your world though."

~Ashly Lorenzana

RRC: The White Stuff

For this round, Karen wants to see WHITE. I was able to get out with the camera a couple times, in between RRCs, so I have a couple brand new photos, and just for fun, I threw in some oldies but goodies from the archives. Some with a little bit of white that stands out in a colorful photo, and some that are mostly black white naturally. Okay, lets let the pictures speak for themselves. Shall we?

The White Stuff












"Women think of all colors except the absence of color. I have said that black has it all. White too. Their beauty is absolute. It is the perfect harmony."

~Coco Chanel, Chanel

Okay, that's my post. Now go see what the other participating Robins have posted for this challenge round! We have some awesome photographers in the community, so I know you won't be disappointed! Just click the link at the top of this post to be redirected to the official Round Robin Challenge blog. That's where you will find both the list of participants and all the information you need to join in. 

Thank you Karen for another great challenge!

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Every Day Is A Winding Road

"One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a cat in a tree. Which road do I take? she asked.Where do you want to go? was his response. I don't know, Alice answered. Then, said the cat, it doesn't matter."

~Lewis Carroll

Alan and I spent most of the day last Tuesday in San Francisco. Sometimes, we like to take the long way home along the coast. Especially if we are leaving the city at, or near, the usual commute hours late in the afternoon. So, in that we were leaving the city at 4:00 PM, we took the coast. One of the things I like best about this route, is the lovely scenery of the ocean, and the quirky points along the way such as the Point Montara Lighthouse, the Moss Beach Distillery, which is rumored to be haunted, although Ghost Hunters debunked that rumor pretty easily in my opinion, and the lovely town of Half Moon Bay. There is always something to see along this route, but one of my favorite sights is always the way the winding road slants just before we get to Pacifica.I thought about straitening out the photo, to make the scene a bit more appealing, but in the end I wanted to show you, accurately, how it looks. TILTED! LOL.





Alan is the one who usually does the driving in San Francisco and along the coast. It's just nice to sit back and relax and take in the view. I enjoy the challenge of taking photos out the window as the tilt of the landscape changes. It's fun. And I am happy when we are driving along those winding roads. I thank God every day for Alan, and of course, my cameras.

Happy Girl. Happy Life.

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

A Photo A Day For 6 Months: Day 79~ RRC: That's Odd

"There are two sorts of curiosity... the momentary and the permanent. The momentary is concerned with the odd appearance on the surface of things. The permanent is attracted by the amazing and consecutive that flows on beneath the surface of things."


-~Robert Lynd


RRC: That's Odd


One of my favorite things to do is travel along the Pacific coastline here in the Bay Area and take all the gorgeous scenery in. There is a particular spot, on the San Mateo County coastline, that I enjoy and am awestruck by, no matter how often I see it. It's Devil's Slide just south of Pacifica, California. The short stretch of highway has been featured in film, but it also holds an interesting spot in history. As you come down the steep highway slope, you can't help but be awestruck by the natural beauty, but you might also be caught a bit off guard by just how narrow and steep the slope is. If you are going south on HWY1, you have the ocean on the right and almost no shoulder at all. It's gorgeous, but scary at the same time.


 


Now, here is where it all get's really interesting, and ODD. As you turn the corner you see above, you come around the side of the cliff and off to the right, on a wider cliff over the ocean, you will see a really ODD shaped dwelling, or is it a garage of some sort?  Maybe it's the worlds largest birdhouse? It could be a storage shack maybe. Ohh... I know, I bet it is a dream home of a wealthy eccentric, that found out they didn't fancy living precariously on not just any cliff, but Devil's Slide cliff. Could that be it? Ummm... well... no. That ODD little building is actually something much less spooky. In a weird way, that building might be described as a kind of lighthouse. Well, that's how I think of it anyway.




According to Wikipedia, it's called a Base End Station. These little dwellings were used in World War II by the U.S. Coast Guard Artillery as part of the fire control systems for locating the positions of attacking ships and controlling the firing of seacoast guns, mortars, or mines to defend against them. Wow! It is sometimes easy to forget that during that era, the enemy could pretty much walk, or swim, up to America and give us the WHAT FOR. I don't remember hearing anything about this kind of thing in history class, and I don't remember my parents mentioning it either. But can you imagine what it must have felt like to see it being built for the sole purpose of coastal defense?


 


Suddenly the natural beauty of the ocean, and the sandy beaches and the amazing wildflowers of the California Pacific coastline, has this strange, ominous, watchtower of sorts, heavily armed, and ready to fire on ships and submarines that might come to do us harm. I can definitely see the need for it, and I can see how it must have been a relief to know it was there looking out for us, but at the same time I think I would have felt really sad that it had ever been necessary at all. I think the people who lived in that area, during the 1940's probably felt the same way we do now, when he are faced with some of the choices that needed to be made in post 9/11 America.





The earliest of these Base End stations were built in the late 1800's and were used until about 1946, and then were closed, later to be sold off to private land owners. There is perhaps as many as 100 of this type of structures surviving across America, the ones inland used primarily for early detection of fires, but there could have been a number of different Base End operations sectioned off per floor. I am not sure when this Base End station was built on Devil's Slide, there isn't a lot of information about it, but it's seems it was sold to a private owner in 1983. It's possible that the state of California owns it now, as there is currently a bridge and tunnel is being built to replace the Devil's Slide section of roadway due to erosion and frequent landslides during the winter months.

 



I will miss driving on Devil's Slide after the new bridge and tunnel through the mountains opens. I love that drive, especially on sunny summer and autumn afternoons. The water below can look like crystal. It shines and seems to be so calm you could walk on it. And the natural beauty of the wildflowers and the occasional awesome bird, can make for a relaxing, peaceful drive. I understand the need for the bridge through the hills, it will be safer and more reliable, but as you know I am hopelessly in love with the Bay Area, and I hate for anything to change. Especially if there is a change that there might be a negative environmental impact. And believe me, there was some debate about that, but after many years of impact studies, the bridge project was a go.


The bypass is scheduled to be finished this fall, and after that time the only access to the Devil's Slide area will be by trail for hiking and for bike access. I will be looking forward to taking that on in the summer of 2012, and perhaps at that time I will finally be able to see the Base End station up close. And you know, I will have my camera in hand!

:)


If you can, feel free to join in with this week's Round Robin Challenges, I know Karen would be thrilled to have you play along. Just click the link at the top of this post, to be redirected back to the official Round Robin blog. You can also find a list, and the links to, the other participants in this challenge!


~Me :)

A Photo A Day For 6 Months: Day66~ Another Attempt At Natural Monochromatic Conditions

"No matter how much water a sink takes on, it never lives up to it's name. The Titanic would never have sunk if it were made out of a sink."


~Jarod Kintz, The Titanic Would Never Have Sunk If Were Made Out Of A Sink.


Well, I almost posted a new photo each day this week, but this morning I got up and could barely move. For whatever reason, my Fibromyalgia has decided to knock me down. It's okay, this happens from time to time, and all I need to do is rest and do my best until it passes. We had a few really hot days this past week, then a sudden cool down, which sometimes triggers it, but who knows... only the Fibromyalgia. Alan is a lot of help when it hits me hard, and as I have shared in previous posts, he is a trooper about the situation. He speaks ME. LOL. It's hurts, and days like today it's all I can do to move, but I know it's important to try.


So, lets discuss the photo for today. I am still working on spotting those opportunities to photograph naturally occurring monochromatic scenes. I think I came close here. I  was out with the camera while back, when I decided to grab some lunch and take it down to the Pacifica Pier. It was around 2 in the afternoon, and there wasn't much going on, even the surf was down that day, but I did begin to notice, that the sun was beginning to cast an even tone onto everything. Over all I was very happy with what I got that day, and I suppose if I had waited another hour or so, it may have delivered that grayscale I was looking for, but I think I came pretty close here. But then again, you know what they say, a miss is as good as a mile. Right? SHRUG. :)


Oh well, I will keep trying. That's all I can do... right? :)

"Always be like water. Float in the times of pain or dance like waves along the wind which touches it's surface."

~Santosh Kalwar




:)


~Me :)


Today's Link...


JR
http://jrclinephotography.blogspot.com/2012/07/apadf6-60-64.html