Let There Be Light!!

It is certainly nice at this time of the year when the sun starts rising early enough, and starts setting late enough, to let there be light both on my walk down the hill in Sausalito to the ferry in the morning, and on the walk home again at the end of the day. Here are a couple of shots taken earlier this week on the ferry ride home to Sausalito from San Francisco.


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What a NICE Day!

There are some days that are just more beautiful than others. Today was such a day here in the Bay Area. Above is a photo of the sun rising this morning over Richardson Bay between Sausalito and Belvedere, and below are two clips taken on the 7:10AM ferry ride - the first at the dock in Sausalito and the second approaching the Ferry Building in San Francisco. Enjoy!

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Out Like a Lamb

6:45AM - March 31, 2009 - Angel Island from Sausalito

OK, so maybe I have to be content with having to take only the second most beautiful ferry ride to work in the morning, but I think I must have the most beautiful walk to and from the ferry of anyone -- especially now that it is light both on the way down the hill in the morning, and on the way back up (pant, pant!) in the evening.

6:40PM - March 31, 2009 - Richardson Bay and Angel Island from Sausalito

March has gone out in very mild fashion here in Northern California. We have enjoyed a number of absolutely beautiful days. Last night Nancy, Pat and I met up at our favorite Sausalito wine bar, Wellington's, where our friend Cornelia (formerly of our former favorite Sausalito wine bar, Cork) is now working on Monday's and has somehow managed to make the already friendly atmosphere even friendlier....

A very pleasant hour at the bar looking out on the Sausalito yacht harbor and sipping some Spring-like Cremant d’Alsace Sparkling Rosé from Allimant Laugner - the same producer of the excellent Muscat we enjoyed at our Alpine Cheese and Alsatian Wine class last week.

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Only the #2 Most Beautiful Ferry Ride??!!!

Not many words are needed to describe the below photos. The Sausalito/San Francisco ferry was recently voted the #2 most beautiful ferry ride in the world (after Hong Kong). It is hard to imagine it is not #1.




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Un Bel Tramonto - GG Bridge After the Storm

Finally some rain. Yesterday was one of those days here in the Bay Area where we would have a downpour one minute and sunshine the next. I had been called for jury duty and spent the day cooped up in a courtroom in San Rafael only to be dismissed at the end of the day. On my drive in to San Francisco I came through the Waldo Tunnel and found the GG Bridge lit by bright sunshine from the setting sun with a backdrop of dark clouds over San Francisco. I had to make a brief detour up to the Marin Headlands to snap the attached.


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Sunset Over San Francisco

Happily we finally had a couple of days of rain this past week. Yesterday on my way home to Sausalito on the ferry the clouds were just beginning to break up and the sunset over San Francisco and the Golden Gate was quite spectacular.



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Herring on the Bay

When I got down to the bottom of the hill this morning in Sausalito I saw that the herring boats are back for the herring season. A number of them were moored just off the Sausalito shoreline and the buoys marking their nets were visible not far from shore, together with flocks of seabirds and some very happy-sounding seals.

The herring and those boats have made an annual appearance on the Bay for as long as we have lived here, and it was good to see them back again this year, given that catches have been declining in the recent past. I believe that most of the catch is still exported to Japan each year. The boats also haul in kelp in order to harvest the herring roe – called kazu-no-ko in Japanese – which the herring lay on the kelp, and which is a special delicacy in Japan. Needless to say, it is that roe, together with the fish themselves, which draws all of the seabirds and seals.

For any who may be interested in learning more, the Bay Model Visitors Center in Sausalito is holding a program entitled "Birds and Herring on the Bay" starting at 11AM on Satuday, February 7. Additional information about herrings and their spawning cycle is available here. Continue Reading »

Summer in, January??

It is hard to imagine a more beautiful day that the one we had today here in the Bay Area. The temperature was in the mid-70's, no wind to speak of, and if there were any clouds in the sky I missed them. At the risk of being trite, here are a few photos and a video taken earlier around the Golden Gate.

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Bay Crossing

I love to commute by ferry, in part because every day on the Bay is unique. Here are a series of photos from my ride in to San Francisco yesterday showing the contrast on just one morning.

7:00AM - Ferry docking in Sausalito in heavy fog

7:20AM -- Mount Tam and Angel Island astern

7:25AM - Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge

7:30AM - Arrival in San Francisco - sunrise behind the Bay Bridge

7:40AM - Walking to the office - Coit Tower in the morning sunlight

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Good Bye to 2008

On the last day of the year we have fog over the San Francisco Bay, but clear skies out to sea. A couple of pictures and a short video taken this morning from Hawk Hill in the Marin Headlands. Happy New Year.

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