Most San Francisco visitors I encounter seem eager to run through certain areas of the City, just so they can snap a few pictures here and there, before returning to their hotel satisfied they’ve pretty much seen it all… Fools.
It is like this:
The photos below were taken at tremendous risk, hence the shaky quality of some shots, but one does not simply tangle with raccooneers and expect to hightail it fully intact.
They saw us. Sh*t’s about to get real
For those few who understand there’s more to the park than meets the cursory glance, I say go to the Conservatory of Flowers, Bison paddock or Stow Lake, all those storied places worth hours if not days of exploration, “but I do warn ye, if ye value yer life: ye stay well clear o’ North Lake. Place be full o’ monsters with ’em little teeth”.
The party readying to come ashore
We ain’t – I mean we’re not talking about cute Strawberry Hill over in Stow Lake with them owls and their neighbors, the blue herons. No.
Land Ho!
I’m talking about that gloomy islet, New Barbary Coast, where Charlotte Raccoon (née Badger) and the others, like the Harpes, scourge of squirrels and raiders of birds’ nests, ply their trade from dusk ’til dawn…
Who’s that devil with a blue peeper? Major Tom?!?A stare to chill the hardiest soul
One last word of warning: don’t feed the raccooneers, they’re turning into fat b****s… This ain’t no Disney movie.
Yeah, bring your camera too, ‘cuz we’re gonna eat all of that
Lastech works graveyard and last night was his Friday. Following his suggestion, we made a quick trip to the park hoping for cool, frosty pictures. Quiet it was, for a short time.
We started off at the Japanese Tea Garden…
A moment of zen
It was nice while it lasted…which was less than 15 minutes. We heard the obnoxious and icky sound of horking (Lastech: she means puking) coming from the other side of the garden. Jeebus! It’s really not a good idea for a girl to party all night and then go out to the park while NOT dressed for the cold and still inebriated.
We made our escape before I found myself wanting to join in with a sympathy hork. Ugh!
We crossed the street to the arboretum in order to restore our moment of zen. Ceiling Cat be praised, we found it.
CamelliasMagnolia leafIce on the pond
The last photo is a rare sight in San Francisco. Frost is rare here and frozen water more so.
I was suddenly reminded by a Facebook friend that I had these photos. The only thing they have in common is that they were taken on the same day in Golden Gate Park and involved water.
Now is the time to take a minute and look back on this past year, and the ways it affected the JBoD microcosm.
We spent much of 2012 watching sunsets and wildlife (fins!) from local beaches, but in April, we chose to visit the neighboring hill known as Bernalwood where stunning California poppies in full bloom awaited. On another more recent trip, amazing clouds treated us to an ‘air show’…
California poppies on Bernal Hill
In May, we finally managed a trip to see the California Academy of Sciences. The albino alligator named Claude is a real beauty.
Claude on his warming rock. He’s quite a handsome devil. Photo by Ron DeCloux.
I took a lot of photos, so it’s in four parts. One, two, three and four.
In June, a contractor working a few doors down from our home base cut into a gas line, resulting in a gas explosion and fire. Purely by chance, prevailing winds minimized the spread of the damage, a very good thing considering how long it took to shut off the gas. The kind of scene best left in movies, not real life. The Pointy Eared people weren’t amused…
Firefighters in action. The tan and brown building on the far left is where the construction was. The dentist office was in the white building.
Then in July, we lost our sweet, comical tyrannical food thief Kitsy to FIP. It was sudden and awful and I still haven’t been able to write a proper post for him. As for Lastech, he is still coming to terms with the possibility that the virus which took him might have been introduced by Miss Jenny. So little is known about FIP and no test being available, it remains a painful mystery.
The hawk was sitting in the tree just above eye level and only ten feet from the path.
A week or so later, we went exploring the Coastal Trail near the Golden Gate Bridge. We encountered another hawk, a couple of hummingbirds, a slug and a wonderful sunset.
Did I mention that hummingbirds like the pretty purple flowers?
We finished off the year by exploring the cliffs around Battery Mendell, a coastal battery that was built before WWI.
Photo by Rudha-an
That was our 2012 for the most part. Some was good and some was bad. Hopefully, 2013 will be an even better year.
Happy New Year from JBoD
Rudha-an, Lastech, Tito, and Miss Nightshade Jenny
A couple of weeks ago we went to the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park. As we exited the Conservatory, a splash of color caught our eye. It turned out to be a large planter brimming with dahlias. It was stunning. Here is a bit of color for everyone headed into winter. Enjoy Continue reading “Dahlias!”
Counting down to Halloween on this gloomy Tuesday morning, let’s stroll through Autumn, Ray Bradbury’s country.
I hope you’ll enjoy these photos as I do, taken between the beaches of San Francisco, Golden Gate Park and the Shoreline at Mountain View, CA.
“That country where it is always turning late in the year. That country where the hills are fog and the rivers are mist; where noons go quickly, dusks and twilights linger, and midnights stay. That country composed in the main of cellars, sub-cellars, coal-bins, closets, attics, and pantries faced away from the sun. That country whose people are autumn people, thinking only autumn thoughts. Whose people passing at night on the empty walks sound like rain.”
San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park is where we go when we want to relax a bit.
Stow Lake always looks pretty in the fogFlower and water droplets
I had just taken the fog photo when I saw it. It was a belligerent seagull. It was yelling at its reflection in the car. It was a riot. Even the people who owned the car got a laugh.
After that, we started to drive around to the other side of the lake when I saw it. It was another belligerent creature.
He was a feisty critter and he was just strolling down the sidewalk. We patiently herded him back to the lake as the gulls began to gather ominously. He made it back in one piece.
At 1017 acres, Golden Gate Park is the largest park in San Francisco. It’s even bigger than Central Park in New York which is 843 acres. We have brought you pictures from our adventures in the Arboretum, Stow Lake, and the Japanese Tea Garden. Winding around the park between all those areas are a multitude of little unexplored trails and park gems. Well, they’re unexplored by us, at any rate.
We should all take time to smell the roses. However, until computers come in scratch ‘n sniff, we’ll have to make due with a few photos. We went to Golden Gate Park early, as usual, so we had to play “dodge the sprinklers”. It’s worth it though as the park is quiet at that time.
The Rose Garden
Here are my favorite pics from that trip. I have named the roses where I could.
