My Flowers

First in my new series.

I Don't Like Mondays

So there I was, having a quiet weekend, when out of the blue: "Bam!" it's Monday again.

The Three Dabblers

Some water birds are divers, and eat fish. Others, like these Canada Geese, are dabblers. They eat pond scum.

Going to Seed

The Autumn Leaves

Drift by my Window

Click above for a song.

Back to the Future

Busy Bee Spacebook, 1953

From Flight, Today and Tomorrow, by Margaret O. Hyde, illustrated by Clifford Geary

Space Science Fiction, December 1953

Mooncon 1
Conquest of the Moon, by Werner von Braun and Fred Whipple, illustrated by Chesley Bonestell

Mooncon 2
Conquest of the Moon, by Werner von Braun and Fred Whipple, illustrated by Chesley Bonestell

Back in 1953, space was on everybody's mind. In the not-too-distant future, we were all going to live there, work there, even walk our dogs there. Today those dreams are all but vanished. But there's hope. Private entrepreneurs, engineers, and explorers are making progress in reviving those dreams.

My birthday wish today is that they all come true.

Lift

Something we all need on a Monday morning.

Thank Dog It's Friday!

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!

Blossoms, Dearie

More examples of Colorado wildflowers. I've been making drawings of these on my lunch hours. I usually walk for a bit along the Boulder Creek Path, find myself a big rock, sit down by the creek, and get to work. Click on the bottom blossom for a song!

The Softer Side

Because we had a very dry summer, the wildflowers were late this year. Autumn's approach has also brought rain, and with it, my favorites.

Birds of a Feather

The weather is getting cooler and the birds are getting hungrier.

My Stachelig Nature

The real danger when hiking in Colorado is not the bears or mountain lions. It's these little pricklers.

The Twin Towers of Greatness

"I feel this way about it. World trade means world peace and consequently the World Trade Center buildings in New York ... had a bigger purpose than just to provide room for tenants. The World Trade Center is a living symbol of man's dedication to world peace ... beyond the compelling need to make this a monument to world peace, the World Trade Center should, because of its importance, become a representation of man's belief in humanity, his need for individual dignity, his beliefs in the cooperation of men, and through cooperation, his ability to find greatness."
— Minoru Yamasaki

Where the Seals and the Pelicans Play

Marin Headlands again. We did see one seal swimming in the inlet, above. And lots of pelicans. Three guesses as to why that rock is so white...

From Colorado to California in 60 seconds

"In a world where three people braved the dangers of the wild west, comes this new adventure. From a truck stop in Laramie, Wyoming; past the great Salt Lake in Utah; across the desert and the Bonneville Salt Flats in Nevada; to the Golden Gate Bridge and the Marin Headlands - they saw it all! "

The Claremont Hotel

Frank Lloyd Wright called The Claremont, “…one of the few hotels in the world with warmth, character and charm.”

Born of a “golden” era, The Claremont Hotel is situated on a mountainside in the Berkeley Hills, with a view of the San Francisco Bay. The history of The Claremont dates back to the early days of the Gold Rush, when a Kansas farmer, Bill Thornburg, struck it rich. He came to California with his daughter and his wife who dreamed of living in an English Castle. Thornburg purchased 13,000 acres (part of the old Peralta and Vicente Spanish grants) to fulfill his wife’s dream and built the castle and several stables, which housed pedigreed hunters and jumpers. Shortly after Thornburg’s daughter married a British lord and moved to England, Mrs. Thornburg died.

Bill Thornburg subsequently sold the “castle” to the Ballard family. While they were out on July 14, 1901, a dry and windy day, the castle burned to the ground. The destroyed property fell into the hands of Frank Havens and Borax Smith, a famous miner. They planned to erect a resort hotel on the property with trains running directly into the lobby. These plans were later abandoned. One night, Havens, Smith and John Spring, a Berkeley capitalist, played a game of checkers in the old Athenian Club of Oakland with the stakes being the property. As legend goes, Havens won.

Havens and the Claremont Hotel Company began building in 1905, but the earthquake of 1906 and subsequent Panic of 1907 interrupted construction. The additional land The Claremont now rests on was purchased in 1908 and The Claremont Hotel opened for business in 1915. In the 1930’s bands as Count Basie, Louis Armstrong and Tommy Dorsey performed. After the repeal of Prohibition, the Claremont Hotel continued to suffer from a state law banning the sale of alcohol within one mile of UC Berkeley. In 1936, an enterprising student and her friends measured several of the possible routes, finding that the shortest distance from the school to the hotel's front steps was a few feet over a mile. The Claremont immediately opened a bar and awarded the student free drinks for life!

Roses at the Claremont

When in California, we stayed at the lovely Claremont Hotel in Berkeley. It's a wonderful old place with an interesting history (the rights to the property were won in a poker game in 1915). While there, I photographed the beautiful roses that grow in the Claremont's gardens.

Weeee're Back!

There's just enough time today to post these photos; more about our trip later.

Top: Bonneville Salt Flats at about 9:00 p.m.

Middle: Marin Headlands

Bottom: San Francisco from the Claremont Hotel in Berkeley