Also on Friday, August 29th, 2025

 

 

“There was no other sound in the world like a car crash.”

 
― Maggie Stiefvater,

  The Dream Thieves

 

Also on Friday, as we were returning from picking up our new kitty, Tyler, this happened! Not to us, but these two cars. One was making a left turn into a gated community, the white car was speeding in the right lane, coming in the opposite direction, and hit the SUV and a crash occurred which knocked the SUV on its side. We stopped immediately, to provide help if needed, and to make sure they had a witness if need be. As it turns out, the car parked behind the accident, also stopped, and that man had to run down the passenger of the white car that got out and ran. I am reluctant to show his photo, as he was only 15. But what does that say, that he would leave his friend, who was injured, and run? Amazingly, an off duty police officer was driving behind the white car and saw him hit the SUV! That's very bad news for him!

 

 And get this, that was the second accident we had seen in two days!

 

We had to drive down to the Bay Area on Thursday, to pick up Tyler. That ended up being it's own drama, I will share about that sometime. So, anyway, we were kinda stressed on the way home, which I am sure you understand, and then, suddenly, we were witnesses to an accident. We also stopped at that one. Fortunately, there were no injuries! They exchanged their info amicably and we were on our way again. Luckily, there was no need for the police. As was good, so we were on our way.

 

But...

 

On the very top of the Altamont Pass, the engine light came on in the Cooper! Holy Hell! It turned out to be a minor thing, and again we were on our way, but doggone, can anything else scare the Hell out of me? Whew! Thursday was a day, and Friday had it's moments too, but we were okay. The biggest dramas were happening to others. It didn't matter to me if it was a democrat or republican, it never entered my mind, all I knew was that we had to stop when those accidents happened, and help! End of story. I hope others feel the same, but I don't know, we are all so fractured right now. Sigh.

 

Anyway was a strange week, and I can't help but wonder how much the moon, or sun flares, or just plain being distracted, by all the worldly drama played a part. All I know is we are okay, and that's the story. Driving on HWY 4 and the Altamont is a challenge. People speed, and weave in and out of traffic. You have to really be aware of what's happening around you. You just do. I hate taking HWY 4 in any direction, but if I want to do some birding this year, at the Clifton Court Forebay, we have to take HWY 4. It's the only way to get there! I guess I will worry about it when the time comes, sometime after the middle of this month!

 

For now... Ohmmm Ohmmm, HERE KITTY KITTY KITTY😊

 

 

Past Interpretations

"A path is a prior interpretation

 of the best way to traverse a landscape."

~Rebecca Solnit

Wanderlust: A History Of Walking

This past summer I was on a path. A path that came along suddenly, and seemed to only have one direction. When my rental cottage was ripped out from under me, it meant one thing, Alan and I would be moving on, and moving on meant one thing, it was time to buy our own place. Buying our own place meant one thing... we would be leaving the Bay Area and heading east. And that's what we did! We moved east! Well, not at first. At first we planned to move slightly southeast, but when that all changed we took out a map, and a Zillow app, and ended up in Stockton, California. Oddly enough, Stockton was where I thought we might move to, prior to the ill fated decision to move southeast. Anyway, to get to either place from the Bay Area, one must travel through the Altamont Pass.

 The pass can be one of the most tranquil drives in the area, or a bumper to bumper nightmare, depending on time of day, and the day of the week. I took this picture almost a month ago, on one of those bumper to bumper drives, which as it turns out, would be my last trip over the pass. A bit of information I didn't know at the time. But that day, as I looked at that moon shining in the sky, I felt tranquil and ready for the future, whatever that meant. I don't know why, but the sight of the moon made me feel safe somehow. I had my camera out, the moon was posing for me, and the landscape was serene. I am smiling now just thinking about it, and I know that it makes me want to try really hard later tonight when the moon goes into it's eclipse.

 After all, I will be photographing it from the comfort of my own back yard! How awesome is that? My first lunar eclipse, in my own back yard! I have all the cameras charged and loaded with batteries! I have some snacks and beverages ready. My tripods are all set up, and everything is a go! Well, except for the ridiculous end of the world theories and the possibility of some low fog out here in the San Joaquin valley. It's always something! If the end of the world doesn't get ya, there is a "possibility of fog!"

LOL.

Am I worried? Nah! I am not worried in the slightest! If the end of the world comes, then so be it! All I ask is that I am not in the shower when the trumpets blare.And as for the fog, well, who knows, maybe some fog will give the photos just the edge I am looking for! Phooey on fog and end of the drama junkies. I am happy. 

And I am home!

Leaf Of The Day

September 26th, 2015

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

See Spot. See Spot Glow. Glow Spot Glow.

"Assumptions are the termites of relationships"

~Henry Winkler

I seem to be dwelling on all of my favorite Bay Area bridges lately. LOL. Which is probably better than dwelling under my favorite bridges. Right? Anyway, I took this photo last week, on our way back from a day in San Francisco, to show the effect of the BART strike on Bay Area traffic. But it seemed as though the traffic, at least on the San Mateo Bridge, was fairly normal. The word about the strike had reached everyone in the appropriate amount of time for everyone to make other arrangements. Both sides are continuing negotiations, so there could be another walkout situation I suppose, but at least folks seem to be acting with understanding and restraint in light of a frustrating situation.

Now, with the absence of nightmarish traffic, I had plenty of other sights catching my eye as we crossed the bridge from west to east. The cormorants that like to roost on the high power towers, the flow of the bay, the gorgeous view of Mt. Diablo, the way the marine layer drifts across the bay. There is a lot to see, but what grabbed and held my interest the most was that tiny dot on the state owned message board. There it was, just a dot, or a period, or 1/3 of a proper ellipsis, just sitting there, brightly illuminated, trying to tell me something methinks, but what? What? It was a mystery. Alan told me he has seen it for several months, in the day, at night, at twilight, at dawn... just the dot... all alone.

 Just a ( . ).

Period.

End of discussion.

Of course I shouldn't assume anything. It might hold a very special meaning for someone, somewhere. It might mean "I love You" or maybe a message like when Carol Burnett would tug on her ear at the end of her variety show each week. Hmmm. I wonder if I called 511 they would know the answer? Nah... probably not. Hmmm. (Insert Tiled Head Here).

Any thoughts?

Mood: Silly

!me :)

The Photographers

"Life is a journey, photography is thy shepherd."

~Destin Sparks

It was nice to get in a little bit of photography as the sun went down on the Independence Day! I don't get that opportunity very often, especially in the summertime, but holidays like Independence Day, and the fact that we don't have to be up early the next day means being able to photograph some spur of the moment subjects. Like the one you see above. As the sun was going down, the bright glow turned everything north of Yerba Buena Island a gorgeous silvery/green glow. Alan and I have briefly stopped on the island to see if we could get a good parking spot to view the fireworks, alas it was not to be, but we did pass the photographers lined up on the side of the cliff facing the city. I couldn't pass it up! I had to shoot past Alan, who was driving, but it was worth a bit of a body contortion to get the shot! Oh my... we had a lot of fun! Alan is a pretty good sport! I kinda like that guy!

:) Look at what the camera and I saw...











Everybody was taking pictures. Most just turned their engines off, and turned their cameras on, and enjoyed the fabulous fireworks display! For a photographer like me, life doesn't get much better!

:)

Mood: Happy

Me :)

Unsafe At Any Speed

"Driving round a bend, and skidding on a mat of toads is very unpleasant for all
concerned."

-Amanda Hillier

Tell me, do you find yourself looking at other drivers while you are moving along in traffic? I do. Sometimes when I am the driver of the car, but mostly when I am the passenger. I always have my digital camera out, because you never know when you might see something interesting. I didn't always keep it out of the case when the car was moving, but see, Alan and I had a very near miss incident in August of 2006, which scares the pistons out of me to this day. I decided that day, that I would keep the camera out, and turned on, just in case we ever came that close to being hit again. I want to get a photo of the plate number. It scared me, and it was months before I had a lot of confidence about driving on HWY 580, either as a driver or a passenger. Shame on those who deliberately cut you off in traffic! The only thing I knew to do to conquer the fear it had left me with, was to get right back on the freeway as a driver, and keep my trusty camera by my side as a passenger. I thank God for that camera every day.

So, you can probably imagine how I felt last Thursday, when I saw a woman, a rather age mature woman, in the car next to me, working a puzzle in a book, while driving her car, sometimes exceeding 50 MPH. We were on the San Mateo Bridge, heading eastbound, in late afternoon rush hour traffic, and she was doing a puzzle! She had to know better. I got so tired of folks screaming about the evils of cell phone use while driving, while other just as negligent behaviors go unaddressed. Eating, drinking coffee/sodas, smoking, and driving with animals who aren't properly restrained, all play into the possibility of negligence. Why do folks have to multi-task every last moment of their lives? Alan and I lost sight of her in traffic at some point, and I am glad. I didn't really want to be anywhere near her. You know? But I did wrestle with whether or not to call the CHP with her license plate number and location. I am not sure there is a law exactly about this kind of action. I see folks reading maps, while driving, all the time, but this was different. Was it my place to report her?

A part of me says, yes, I should have. I have to learn about second guessing myself on certain things. If I had come home, and heard on the news later that evening, that she got into an accident, would I have been responsible somehow? I probably would have felt responsible for not turning her in. At the same time, a part of me wonders if I was invading her privacy somehow? Didn't she have the right to do whatever she wants in her own car, if she is willing to accept the consequences of her behavior, should something go wrong? Is it up to me to intervene under any circumstances?

Opinions please. Tell me what you think. Would you have turned her in? Would you have shaken your finger at her, in disgust, as you drove by? Would you have just ignored it, and hoped she was paying better attention then it seemed she was? Have you ever been tempted to turn in a fellow motorist, after seeing them engaging in a similar activity? Share your thoughts with me. :)

"Reckless automobile driving arouses the suspicion that much of the horse sense of the good old days was possessed by the horse."

-Unknown

-OndineMonet
"Shame On You"
HWY 92
Hayward, California
September 13th, 2007
Late Afternoon