The Life in My Years

An anthology of life

California’s Central Coast Part 1 – From Pillar Point to Half Moon Bay

Paulie

no comments

December 12, 2018

Cora and I have had a forgettable 2018. It started with my recovery from a broken foot and then went right into her bout of cancer and the subsequent surgery and chemotherapy. By October the dust was settling and by November it was time to take a short trip.

Half Moon Bay, California on the central Pacific Coast is about a one hour drive from our house in the San Francisco Bay Area’s northeast region. Half Moon Bay was our base of operations from which we explored Pillar Point Harbor about 15 minutes north to the environs of Pescadero about 30 minutes south of Half Moon Bay. Continue reading

Friday Fotos – Excelsior Geyser, Yellowstone

Paulie

5 comments

December 6, 2018

 

Firehole 2 copy

Canon EOS 60D 

ISO 125

1/8 sec.  F36  135mm

What looks like a waterfall is actually a flow of water from the crater of the now dormant Excelsior geyser at the Midway Geyser Basin, a place which Rudyard Kipling once described as “Hell’s Half Acre.” The crater measures out at 276 x 328 feet and dumps 199 degree (F) water into the Firehole River at a rate of 4000 gallons per minute.  During it’s active period in the 19th century Excelsior’s spectacular eruptions would reach a a height of 300 feet. In 1985, Excelsior erupted to a height of 55 feet, an eruption that lasted for two days. It last erupted in 1988.

 

Excelsior Geyser Firehole River 1 copy

Canon EOS 60D 

ISO 125

1/8 sec.  F36  100mm

Hail to the Queen

Paulie

3 comments

December 1, 2018

We’ve left Erzulie’s Voodoo Store, strolling along Royal Street. It took some coaxing to get Cora to go into Erzulie’s and she was relieved and happy to leave. Left her a little creeped out, it did. Like most of the French Quarter streets, Royal is a splash of color, heavy on the black, gold and purple. Balconies with wrought iron railings decorated with flowers, bushy green plants a sprinkling of New Orleans Saints banners and cascades of multicolored beads.

Wrought iron rails and fences are everywhere in the French Quarter and the one on Royal in front of Saint Anthony’s Garden is adorned with paintings, colorful renditions of this brash, spirited city called The Big Easy.

Bike and paintings 2

Continue reading

Friday Photos – Tricolored Heron

Paulie

3 comments

November 29, 2018

Bluish bird edited

Tricolored Heron taken at Lake Martin Louisiana

Canon EOS 60D

ISO 200

1/500 sec. f/7.1 280mm

This photo was taken during breeding season as denoted by the bill. Normally yellow the Tricolored Heron’s bill turns blue during the breeding season.

The tricolored heron hunts in shallow swamps, lagoons and bayous for fish, amphibians, insects, and crustaceans.

The Ones That Got Away (A short photo essay)

Paulie

2 comments

November 27, 2018

We’re five days past Thanksgiving and the local wild turkeys are strutting around with unabashed self-assurance.

Actually being the honored guest at a family feast is the least of the dangers our local turkeys face. Their only concerns should be a speeding motorist or a hungry coyote. Continue reading

Tandoori Chicken and Other Thanksgiving Traditions

Paulie

4 comments

November 25, 2018

It’s Sunday morning after Thanksgiving and I’m scanning the refrigerator – and I’m not happy. Let’s see, there’s a quart of eggnog, orange juice, a gallon of milk, a bag of spring mix, a plastic container of rice, the usual mayo, mustard a collection of various hot sauces and containers of various leftovers. But on this particular morning I’m not feeling thankful. I’ve got a fridge that’s bulging full and I’m not happy about it. More on this later. Let’s go back to Thanksgiving Day.

 

Continue reading

Happy Thanksgiving

Paulie

no comments

November 22, 2018

 

Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more.  If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.     ~ Oprah Winfrey

“Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree.” ~ Emile Bronte

Trees snake river

 

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.
Albert Camus

When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.  ~ Willie Nelson

Leaves

 

“Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving.”   ~  W.T. Purkiser

I know the lands are lit, with all the autumn blaze of Goldenrod.
~ Helen Hunt Jackson

Golden trees

What if today, we were just grateful for everything?  ~ Charlie Brown

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