November

"A few days ago, I walked along the edge of the lake and was treated to the crunch and rustle of leaves with each step I made. The acoustics of this season are different and all sounds, no matter how hushed, are as crisp as autumn air."

~Eric Sloane

 

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Hey look... at tree with leaves on it! Autumn leaves! 

So Long Donny And Nina (Not Their Real Names)

LOL. Why does everything look more lovely when one is completely relaxed? I am completely relaxed right now because my nasty neighbor has finally moved out! No more yappy dog barking at 3:00 AM. No more mean spirited remarks made by them as I walk by. No more having to listen to the two love birds call each other ASSHOLE. No more someone trying to turn neighbor against neighbor. After 4 long years of almost solid tension... Calm. Quiet. Peace.

NO-Barking
NO-Yelling
NO-Assholish Behavior
NO-Door Slamming 
NO-Tension

NO-vember!

Mood: Thrilled. Grinning Ear To Ear

~Me :)

 
 

It Was A Witching Time

"There is a child in every one of us who is still a trick-or-treater looking for a brightly-lit front porch."

~Robert Brault

The Stylish Witches... 

  

It was a wonderfully warm, and fun Halloween over our way! This year's most popular costume goes to the witches! Not a big surprise, considering the ratings American Horror Story: Coven is receiving! I know it's my favorite show! I thought about putting together a costume of my favorite black skirt, a white silk blouse, and then donning my cool velvet witch's hat I bought some years back, and going as one of the coven, but I decided to go a more whimsical route at the last minute. I decided to be a rubber duck instead! LOL. I thought it would be fun, and it was. And Alan got into the spirit of things... he went as Uncle Si from the A&E show Duck Dynasty. It's fun when we get costumes together! We are still just kids at heart!

  

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

October Round Up And HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Eye of newt, and toe of frog
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog
Adder's fork, and blind worms sting
Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing
For a charm of powerful trouble
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble
Fire burn, and caldron bubble

~William Shakespeare

Happy Halloween! As we speak, I am out and about, Trick or Treating. Mostly in San Francisco, but I have a few places to haunt in the East Bay as well! I might show you some photos of our costumes later this next week. We'll see. So, for now, I will say goodnight. Be safe ghoulies and ghosties. Look both ways and under the bed! Be sure to check the closet. If you hear disembodied voices, or far away moans, no worry, it's just the neighbors having sex! Or is it?

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!

A Look Back At October...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On To November...

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

50 Shades Of Pumpkin

"October, tuck tiny candy bars in my pockets and carve my smile into a thousand pumpkins... Merry October!"

~Rainbow Rowell, Attachments

 

Well, not fifty shades, but then again, I am still looking for the perfect pumpkin! 



Stay Tuned!

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Zombies, Trees, And Leaves Oh My...

Bitting into heads.
Is much harder than it looks.
The skull is feisty.

~Ryan Mecum, Zombie Haiku: Good Poetry For Your... Brains













Our Halloween costumes came today. I may or may not post a picture of us as our alter egos, so you will just have to stay tuned! But if you care to take a guess, feel free to leave me a comment in the thread for this post.

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

A Face In The Crowd: The Whistling Tree

"The truest smile are those which spread across our faces when no one's watching us."

~Minhal Mehdi

While out and about, shopping for Halloween costumes with Alan, I spotted this tree in Hayward. It's been fairly windy this weekend, leaves are blowing about everywhere, so I found this angle on the tree rather amusing. As the wind blew, and the leaves went tumbling past, it almost looked like the tree was blowing the leaves along. Or maybe the tree was whistling. There was a spooky whistling in the wind. You know the one... it kind of sounds like there is a ghost somewhere nearby... or maybe it's the sound of a witch, riding her broomstick, and making good time, thanks to a cooperative breeze. Shrug.

One never knows about these things.

But I know a pretty cool face when I see one! And the smile on the tree made me smile.

Mood: Silly

~Me :)

Every Hundredth Of A Second...

"Taking pictures is savoring life intensely, every hundredth of a second."

~Marc Riboud

TaaDaa! I did it! I finally got the shot of Pier 39s 35th Anniversary Celebration fireworks! It was the last Saturday evening they were going to put off the fireworks, so it was my last chance, and I did it! I got the shots that have been evading me for the last few weeks! Yay!

 Behold...

 

I Love October!

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

In Twilight And Fog

"At night the fog was thick and full of light, and sometimes voices."

~Erin Bow, Plain Kate

 

Last Saturday night, Alan and I decided to stay in San Francisco, after a long day of playing tourists, to watch the Pier 39 fireworks. They have been holding a fireworks show, each Saturday evening this month, to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Pier 39! So far we haven't been able to see a single fireworks display, for one reason or another, but most recently, last Saturday, it was because of some very ill timed fog. Fog that just somehow knew what time to roll in, to keep us from seeing the fireworks from high atop Twin Peaks. Sheesh! It was clear all day. And the evening was wonderfully clear. Perfectly clear. Until 8:15 PM, when the fog came rolling in, settling nicely between us and the fireworks. It's hard not to believe that fog, once in a while, has a sense of humor!

Yeah, yeah I know... but you know? (Insert perplexed expression here).

Mood: Silly

~Me :)

Crunch, Crunch, Crunch. Squish. Crunch. Sigh. Smile.

Cull Canyon Park
October 24th 2013
Late Afternoon

“Autumn. It's crispness, it's anticipation, it's melancholia, it's cool breezes replacing summer's heat. It's long days in the field, a harvest festival when work's done, a cheering crowd in a football stadium, chrysanthemums punctuating a somber landscape. It's Halloween highjinx, pumpkins grinning toothy smiles, the crack of pecan pressed against pecan. It's the first curls of woodsmoke, fresh blisters from pushing a rake. It's crisp and fresh and mellow and snug, solemn and melancholy. And it's very, very welcome.

~Good Housekeeping Magazine

 

Crunch... crunch, crunch. Squish. Crunch. Sigh. Smile.

And I mean every word of it!

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Dir. Mr. Hitchcock

“At the top of the hill he waited. He was much too soon. There was half an hour still to go. The east wind came whipping across the fields from the higher ground. He stamped his feet and blew upon his hands. In the distance he could see the clay hills, white and clean, against the heavy pallor of the sky. Something black rose from behind them, like a smudge at first, then widening, becoming deeper, and the smudge became a cloud, and the cloud divided again into five other clouds, spreading north, east, south and west, and they were not clouds at all; they were birds.”

~Dame Daphne du Maurier, The Birds (The Birds And Other Stories) 

Don't you just love the euphoric feeling you get from a fever? Everything feels surreal, and spooky, no matter what time of year it is! But there is something about an autumn cold that makes it almost worth having, just so you can revisit that time in childhood, when you just knew there was a ghost in the closet, or a phantom under the bed!

God, I love this time of year... and the common cold!

“It occurred to me that if I were a ghost, this ambiance was what I'd miss most: the ordinary, day-to-day bustle of the living. Ghosts long, I'm sure, for the stupidest, most unremarkable things.”


~Banana Yoshimoto, The Lake

Mood: Kachooooooo

~Me :) 

Family Day 2013 (Postponed)

"Happiness is only real when shared."

~Jon Krakauer, Into The Wild

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you might know that October 23rd is celebrated in our house as Family Day! It's a made up holiday that Alan and I have been celebrating since our honeymoon in 1990. It came about by way of a chance encounter with a Bay Area sports hero at the time, Joe Montana. You see, Alan and I decided to visit the home of all things pumpkin, in the Bay Area, Half Moon Bay. It was there, at Pastorino's Pumpkin Patch, that we met Joe Montana and his family, as they enjoyed a "family day" out among the pumpkins! Alan and I decided on that day, that October 23rd would from then on be referred to as our Family Day. Well, we never had children, but we did keep the tradition. Family Day... our own holiday. A day to walk among pumpkins, and remember family we love.

This year Family Day is being postponed, you see, because we both have colds! I blame the evil elf of vacations! But, I am afraid, it might actually have been the twilight cruise on the bay we took last week. Cripes. I would rather blame that naughty elf, than that awesome cruise. Either way... we are both sick. So, we will postpone the fun until another day, sometime between now and November 7th!. It will come around, and it will be fun! And who knows, maybe that day will be brighter, or spookier, or stormy, or perhaps we will have a chance encounter with a new celebrity! No Kardashians though! I draw the line at Kardashians. We'll see. Sometimes with us Plan B works out better than Plan A ever could!

Always Keep Your Mind Open To The Possibilities!

Mood: Kachoo

~Me :)

Art About Town: San Francisco Pier 39 Piano Stairs

Piano Stairs By Artist Remo Saraceni
Pier 39
San Francisco, California
October 16th, 2013

"If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music."

~Albert Einstein

Of all the public art that I have photographed, the Piano Stairs at Pier 39 is definitely in my Top 5 favorites! Created by artist, Remo Saraceni, who also created the walking piano keys featured in the Tom Hanks movie Big, they are whimsical and really fit the mood and fun of Pier 39 nicely! I had a lot of fun last week, trying my hand, or actually foot, at making music! Sadly, I didn't do well, but I did manage to make a few folks giggle a bit so it had a happy outcome at least! I love public art, but when it also happens to be interactive, it brings the experience to another level to be sure!

"Life is for the live.
Death is for the dead.
Let life be like music.
And death a not unsaid."

~Langston Hughes, The Collected Poems

Visit The Artist's Website: Remo Saraceni

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

The Best Moments From Last Week...

Red And White Fleet Sunset Cruise
San Francisco Bay
October 17th 2013

"Happiness consists of living each day as if it were the first day of your honeymoon and the last day of your vacation."

~Unknown

Did I mention that Alan and I are on vacation? Yeah, I think I did at the beginning of the month. As of right now we about half way through, and I am finding myself conflicted. I am tired because of all the activity, and yet I am mourning the fact that it's half over! LOL. I guess there is no pleasing me! Anyway, as I said there has been a lot of activity, so I thought it would be nice to share my comings and goings once a week, rather than every single day, because, after all, there is other stuff going on in the world, besides my vacation. And besides, even I know how boring it is to be stuck looking at someone else's vacation photos, especially when one hasn't had one for a while.

I get that! So, if you would rather not view my "Monday Vacation Updates" feel free to run now, but don't forget to comeback on Tuesday. :)

Fun At Pier 39...
Alan and I spent last Tuesday at Pier 39. We found a wonderful deal from Free/Cheap San Francisco/Facebook for 3 Free Play days at the 7 D Experience. So, we spent the better part of those days laser shooting 7-D zombies, robots and pirates! We had a BLAST... pardon the pun! It's fun to spend a little time acting like a kid once in a while, especially when you still feel like you are dating your husband after 23 years of marriage! After the zombies, we did a little walking around Pier 39, sightseeing and playing tourist. God I love this city!


 
 
 
 

I had To Pause To Play In The Autumn Leaves...

 

On Thursday night Alan and I took a romantic Sunset Cruise on the Red And White Fleet! The provided appetizers, a lovely array of sandwiches and salads, and cookies for dessert! YUM!





And finally, Saturday was spent at the beach!



I may need a vacation soon... from the vacation! Life Is Good!

Stay Tuned, There's More To Come!

:)

Mood: Tired But Happy

~Me :)