Moment.

George and Veronica's Wedding.  Danville, California.

Parasitic Daughter

 You know you have seen too many crime shows when a pile of orange stuff in a field feels like the beginning of a Bones episode.  Dodder (Cuscuta salina) is a native parasitic plant that occurs in wetlands-- it's bright orange, hugs close to it's host and is usually spread out.  However, last week, Ingrid and I saw this... pile of the stuff in a mitigation wetland we were checking out.  The denseness made the parasite seem even more alien.

Uvas.

Shindo, Derek and I headed out to the Uvas Reservoir area to do some pro-bono work for a local non-profit.  The weather was gorgeous and not-too-hot which can be a challenge in the foothills.  My new boots handled the ups and downs (all 4.5 miles!) really well -- no more toes slamming into the front of my boot!  The boys hiked in front of me because I was "slower"... which really meant I was letting them hike in front of me because there were tons of ticks.  Novice mapping boys, hahahahaha.  Good day.

 

Here they are, leading the way, picking up the ticks, and gingerly stepping through the poison oak!

All in a day's

work

Mori Pt (there is blue sky in Pacifica)

 
From this point and back, 2 miles. Steps.  Kid and pet friendly.  

A field visit left me with gorgeous time to spare yesterday in Pacifica, so I decided to hike to Mori Point. Part of the trail is called Bootlegger's Steps -- there was a lot of smuggling n' such in this area during prohibition, so I imagine the name has something to do with that. Mori Point has a ton of native plant species currently blooming.  If you are looking for a pretty, quick, and easy hike, this one is a good one.

Crescendo (show not tell)

Confession:  I didn't like Ken Follet's Pillars of the Earth.

Confession:  I love period piece dramas.

Confession:  I did not realize a mini- series adapted from the book was produced in 2010.  That it had Clive Owen (swoon) and Ian McShane (fave! Deadwood much!?!) in it.

Absolution:  This is the best opening credits to a mini-series I have ever seen.

The Pillars of the Earth - Main Titles from Acme Filmworks on Vimeo.

Iron Horse*

Iron Horse Trail to Pleasanton.  27 miles.  Three hours.  

Amy and I, as my dad put it, "got a bug in our ear" to ride the Iron Horse Trail on our bicycles.  I just got my bike a few months ago and am determined to ride more, so....why not?  Sure, I hadn't been on a bike more than riding at Crissy Field in, dunno, over ten years, but sometimes I'm overzealous and like to just jump on in.  

And it was hecka fun.**

*totally should have been on the 2011 bucket list.
**my sit bones are super sore.  I need awesome padded shorts.

Randomly Weird: Modesto

Yep.  That is a bear paw mitten.  My boss had to convince me that this gross furry thing wasn't alive or real  or recently dead before I would get any closer.  He also said it was probably shiny because animals were peeing on it.  

We left it there.  

I'm pretty sure it's rare, but that's cool.

Legion of Honor

Museums you live near, no matter how cool, often get ignore simply because they are 'always going to be there.'  This year, I created my 2011 bucket list and included visiting the Legion of Honor -- I have lived in San Francisco for almost ten years and never set foot in that pretty pretty building.

Last Saturday, sun and fog duked it out and I made my way to the LofH.  I, for certain, found the museum quickly and did not, no did not, get lost in the Presidio, which would have been silly since that is not the part of the city where the museum is.....

LofH is a beautiful building idyllically set along Lands End -- the views alone are a reason to make a visit out there.  The museum itself has a fair share of baroque, impressionist, and neo-classical art and a sizable collection of Rodin sculptures (the Rodin museum is my favorite in Paris.  If you ever have the opportunity, you should go there). I have discovered that the type of art I lean towards can vary on any given day, but I have a general appreciation for usable art: railings, coins, common glassware.  I like to picture the item as it was intended, being passed around a table, grasped while walking down stairs, or passed from hand to hand in a market.     

The LofH generally has at least one exhibit running at any given time.  While I was sad to just miss the Magna Carta exhibit, I was so glad catch the last day of Pulp Fashion:  The Art of Isabelle Borchgrave.  Borchgrave is an incredibly detail oriented artist who recreated past fashions and costumes out of paper.  We weren't allowed to take photos of the exhibit, but you can cruise through her website (image below).  Keep in mind -- that is all constructed from paper, even the lace!.  Absolutely stunning -- I walked through it three times.  Slowly. 

And now, some cool things I saw when wandering:
 

Odilon Redon (French1840-1916)

Vase of Flowers 1901, oil on canvas

 "Flowers are the confluence of two river banks, that of representation and that of memory.  It is the soil of art itself, the good earth of the real, harrowed and tilled by the spirit." -Redon

 Detailed Bust: Victorian.

 A room from King Henry the somethings house.  Same mirror!

 A dad super excited about Rodin, explaining to his son how the artist made the face from a block of marble.  Rodin's Bust of Edward H. Harriman was a great contrast example between the raw material and artistic representation.

Some basics.  Parking: awesome, free, got one right up front.  Ticket: booyah, 20% discount on-line.  Photos: throughout museum, exception exhibits. Crowds: minimal.  Views: awesome.  Building Amazing.  Coffee: Peet's.  Time: FUN. 

Share Time: OMG.

It tastes like a mounds bar.