In June, I posted about a trip to the Rose Garden in Golden Gate Park. We went there for a second visit and saw many more roses in bloom.
Continue reading “Another Visit to the Rose Garden in Golden Gate Park”
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.
This little trail is located near the Conservatory of Flowers.
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.
Here are my favorite pics from that trip. I have named the roses where I could.
Here are a few other flower posts
A San Francisco Flower Adventure
Battle of the Sprinklers at the Arboretum in Golden Gate Park: Part 1
Battle of the Sprinklers at the Arboretum in Golden Gate Park: Part 2
I got up this morning planning on making a post to the blog as I neglected to make one yesterday. Instead, I wound up wearing my computer tech hat and trying to find out why my browser kept crashing. I turned the air blue and even the poor kitties went into hiding. Instead of accomplishing that, I downloaded another browser. Terrible Tuesday was terrible after all. Ok, no one died. The kitties are well and have had extra scritchings and everything. There was still a lot of cursing and gnashing of teeth.
Sooooooo, here are a few photos from one of our outings in The City. We wandered over to the old shipyards on the South East side of town. There are plenty of old abandoned buildings that might be considered urban blight, but I think they have character.
While we were out, we went over to India Basin.
Today we’re going back to the San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum. That last trip provided me with plenty of beautiful flowers and foliage to admire. Hopefully these photos will make your day a bit brighter.
In case you missed it…
Battle of the Sprinklers at the Arboretum in Golden Gate Park: Part 1
Other Arboretum posts:
A stroll through the Arboretum
Wednesday Walk in the Rain
Not Quite Spring Flowers
The month of May, when plants grow and bloom, has been spectacular this year. Ka-Pow!
Bookending a visit to the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park were a solar eclipse on the 20th preceded by the apparition of the Perigee (or Super) moon on the 5th. Whamo!
This trip to the Academy of Sciences was made even more enjoyable because of the San Francisco Neighborhood Free Days, making our visit free. Zing!
Having said that, and after viewing all the exhibits, it is well worth the regular admission price. We will take you along on our trip in three segments. The fourth would have been the Planetarium, but since photographs were forbidden and the material copyrighted, we are left with the aforementioned celestial shows available to all (or most). Zoosh!
I have played with the solar eclipse pictures a bit as the originals look like this and are not sexy enough (crash!):
The title is only slightly tongue-in-cheek. We love to go to Golden Gate Park very early, when there are no crowds and it’s quiet. Needless to say, we were waiting at the gate when the Arboretum opened. We had to dodge the sprinklers the whole time we were there. It was worth the effort, as always.
The San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum is my favorite place in Golden Gate Park. Ok, it’s one of my favorite places. Its sprawling 55 acres is home to vast array of plants and trees from around the world. Follow along if you want to see more.
Continue reading “Battle of the Sprinklers at the Arboretum in Golden Gate Park: Part 1”
San Francisco is famous for its hills. Bernal Hill is probably my favorite. As I mentioned in my last post, we went there to take a walk. The wind was pretty gusty so we stuck to the paved road that circles the peak. Usually we go to the South side of the hill as its closest to home, but this time we headed over to the North side.
Did I mention that it was windy? I don’t like wind. I really don’t like wind. I grew up in the desert and we had ferocious winds storms. Ok. I’ll shut up about the wind already. Here are some of my photos from the hill.
The rains are almost done for the season and the clouds will make way for the summer fog, but it has been glorious. When the clouds are that great, it means a trip to Sierra Point with the camera.
After that, we went to McLaren Park to take a walk around the reservoir and watch the dogs play in the water.
The dog never did catch up with the duck. When the dog got too close, the duck would flap partway across the pond to lengthen the lead. Then the dog would chase the duck until it got too close and then it would start all over again. Twenty minutes later, the duck was still leading the dog around the reservoir. The dog got his/her exercise for the day.
After the entertainment provided by the dog and the duck, we headed back to the car. On the way, we found a pair of lizards enjoying the sunshine. The male lizard was doing a little romantic dance for his lady lizard that alternated between head bobbing and push ups. He was quite enthusiastic. We moved past quietly so as to avoid disturbing their budding romance.
On April 18, 1906 at 5:12 a.m. the people of San Francisco and the Bay Area were awakened by violent shaking. The ground shook for a whole minute and when it was done, the city and it’s people were devastated. The magnitude 7.8 was felt all over California, Western Nevada and Southern Oregon.
While the quake caused massive damage, it was the fire that completed the devastation. Of a population of about 410,000, up to 300,000 were made homeless. The death toll was originally reported as a mere 375 because government officials felt that the true number would hurt real estate sales and the rebuilding effort. It’s now estimated that a minimum of 3000 perished in the quake and ensuing fire. Chinatown, with a population of around 14,000 was destroyed and the dead were never counted. As a result, the true death toll of the 1906 quake will never be known.
Every year the event is commemorated and attended by the survivors. The number of survivors have been dwindling over the years. This year, three of the four remaining survivors attended the parade and private dinner on Tuesday evening.
From the San Francisco Chronicle:
William Del Monte and Winnie Hook, who are both 106 and George Quilici, 108 — will all be on hand to remember the great earthquake and fire.
Ruth Newman (b. 1901), the other survivor, wasn’t well enough to attend.
This morning, the survivors met at Lotta’s Fountain. There, they had a moment of silence beginning at 5:11 a.m. to mark the time of the quake.
Lotta’s Fountain is San Francisco’s oldest surviving monument. It was donated to the city by Lotta Crabtree and dedicated in 1875. In the aftermath of the quake and fire, people met at the fountain to exchange news and find out who was missing and who wasn’t. That is why it is used today to commemorate the Great Earthquake of 1906.
In 1910 Lotta’s Fountain was a meeting place again when the famous opera soprano, Luisa Tetrazzini came San Francisco and kept a promise to sing in the streets. At the fountain, she gave a free concert that was attended by an estimated quarter of a million people.
For more information, please visit these links.
Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco
The Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake at the USGS
