Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park is home to a vast number of turtles. Most are red-eared sliders. My love for them is mixed. They are not native to the area and quite invasive.
If you have turtles or frogs or any other animal as a pet, do NOT release them into the wild! Non native species can be very destructive.
Now that I’ve said that, enjoy. 🙂
“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”
― Søren Kierkegaard
There’s a look on Titanescu’s face that sometimes brings to mind a tortured but not defeated soul. Perhaps a Russian writer after ten winters in a gulag, lasting twelve months each.
The enigma of cats, who do not judge but reflect: a throw back without absorption, and a convoluted intro to three shots I took at the Strybing arboretum. I really liked them, which is what I want to share…
The butterfly counts not months,
but in moments and has time enough. ~Author Unknown~
The Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park has a lovely exhibit of called Butterflies and Blooms. The exhibit will run until October 20, 2013.
Yesterday, we made the first of several trips to see the butterflies.
Recently, I wrote a post about aging gracefully (or not). Today is a bit of show and tell, with lots of photos to share what Dad and I saw when we ventured in the great, hot and flat outdoors… Follow us beyond the fold, because as Pinhead says, “I have such sights to show you…”
I remember mom telling me to act my age. It was really silly as she said that when I was two, five, ten and so on. The fact is, I WAS acting my age. 🙂 Now, not so much. There comes an age where we have to be responsible adults and that’s understood. I see absolutely no reason to leave childhood joys behind though. If I had one, I could still entertain myself for hours with an Erector Set.
Men (and women) do not quit playing because they grow old; they grow old because they quit playing ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes
My dad, for one, has never lost his joy of playtime. He’s had to adjust a bit over the years and his toys have changed, but he still finds time to play. I had that confirmed when I went back home to the desert for a visit recently.
In the Netherlands, Koninginnedag is a national celebration to honor the birthday of the Queen. Although Queen Beatrix was born on Jan. 31, she kept the April date in honor of her mother, Juliana. In January, Queen Beatrix announced her abdication on April 30, 2013 in favor of her son. Willem-Alexander will become King of the Netherlands on April 30, 2013. As a result, the celebration in 2014 will be called King’s day.
Why do I write this? Well, our Dutch Windmill was built in 1902 and had fallen into disrepair. In 1980 a campaign to save the windmill began and the Wilhelmina Tulip Gardens were created next to it. The top of our windmill was sent to the Netherlands for restoration. The windmill and the gardens are now a beautiful place to visit in Golden Gate Park. A celebration at the Windmill is held in honor of Koninginnedag. I got lucky to be at the gardens at the right time this year and got to see the tulips before it was too late.
We have been busy preparing for an upcoming trip and neglected the blog for a few days, but I wanted to post something else about our city.
The one thing I really dislike about San Francisco is the traffic. It’s dense, aggressive and plenty rude. But then, since I chose to work nights, I get to enjoy it a lot more. I took these pictures at work with my phone, which explains the poor quality of some shots. But if you can get past that you might enjoy some of what I see every night.
Now, the photo below shows Forbes Island with its mock-lighthouse (center left) and the silhouette of the WWII ship Jeremiah O’Brien in the distance on the right. Forbes Island is a restaurant, built by Forbes Kiddoo in Sausalito, which can only be accessed by boat.
This next and last shot is disappointingly blurry but it has elements to it that I really liked, so there it is:
It was one of those WTF moments. We sat on a bench on a hill to enjoy the view. Then we looked up. 🙂
The bottle wasn’t the only thing in the tree. Lastech spotted this one.
I was lucky and got some pics of the tulips at Pier 39 before they were gone.
Fist things first. We want to congratulate our friend StateOfGrace for her adoption of Pearl, a bengal mix and Mabel, a beautiful black kitty. We know those two furbabies are very lucky and have a wonderful human who will love them, forever. Hugs and head bonks from the JBoD family.
Now… I’m beginning to get cranky. I want my rain and/or fog darnit! There’s too much sunshine. It’s hard to take pics that aren’t over exposed or suffering from terminal purple fringe. Oh well. We managed to escape and Lastech got a few nice pics in spite of the sunshine. These were taken around Lands End and Sutro Baths. It provided me with some much needed exercise as there were lots of stairs to deal with.
As for that white whiskered tyrant named Titan… He’s coming along. He’s still a hissing spitting old fart. Today we opened the door to his room and left it open for a while. He hissed at Tito. Tito was unfazed and ignored it while exploring Titan’s room. Jenny was napping elsewhere. 🙂
