Small Wonders.15 (Urban Aviary, Volume 2)
This little guy buzzed so close to my head one morning just walking down the street in SF last week that I simply had to try to get an image and/or video of him flying around. Managed to get one adequate shot ad one adequate video — in the still, he’s on the top right, but so small and green that he disappears against the leaves. I apologize that I couldn’t find a way to shorten the first three seconds of this video, in which I’m rapidly trying to get him in the frame – but he appears around the fourth second and does his hummingbird thing then 🙂
Covid Travel.1
Well, now that I’ve been on four flights during times of covid, I figure I might as well show a few of you who are avoiding airports what it’s like: still mostly empty. On July 4, I flew Dhaka->Dubai->Chicago->SF. Then two days ago I flew SF -> Chicago to spend some time with family in Wisconsin for birthdays and such. There are a few more people in airports now than I saw when I came back into the country in July – in both O’Hare and SFO. It’s a bit sad and a bit alienating, but probably a good deal lower risk than many activities that lots of folks are doing now…and the flights are mighty inexpensive. It does all get a bit exhausting, though, doesn’t it…?
By the Golden Gate
OK this is it, the last post with photos taken in my wanderings on three continents in 2019. If there are to be posts going forward, I’ll actually have to boldly try to get my camera out in this big crowded city I’ve now called home for two months. These are miscellaneous shots taken of or by me during visits down to SF during those lovely summer months I spent at home in Sonoma county: outside a BARS concert in June, of a flowering century plant on Bernal Hill (above & below), or during my last visit to SF when I had to pick up a few supplies at Target in SOMA, prior to flying out here. I shall now focus on sharing views of the streets of Dhaka or the beaches of Cox’s again, until or unless I’m elsewhere on holiday :-).
Have a golden 2020, one and all.
Vistas, Bridges & Buildings by the Bay
Each of us resonates particularly to some kinds of beauty more than others. I’m naturally drawn more to wilderness and natural areas than to cities, as you can probably tell by all the natural-world photos that occupy these pages. But I do find the combination of hills and abundant water, with densely-packed urban centers featuring tall buildings and dramatic bridges, interesting architectural features and urban parks quite compelling. San Francisco has all of the above in abundance. Now that each of my assignments begins and ends with flights from and to SFO — now that each trip back to my own home involves crossing the Golden Gate Bridge and seeing many of the views you see here — I find myself collecting photos two or four at a time, whenever I visit the city for a concert or lunch with a friend or just a trip to or from the airport. This post is full of my miscellaneous photos taken in such trips over the past year or so. As I prepare to head out for another assignment far away, some photos of my home region to enjoy while I’m away. 🙂 If you’re curious what’s shown in any of the photos, by and large they will have names that are descriptive.
From Sea to Sierra (SFO->EWR)
If you haven’t been to the San Francisco Bay Area yourself, and if you wonder why I’m always so happy to get home to it; or why visitors to SF and the bay area so often rave about it — a good place to start is to take in the photo just above. I’m still working my way through photos I took last year, before I headed over to Bangui, where I’ve been now for more than two months. I shot all of the photos in this post during a take-off from SFO en route to EWR last year, in May — but what I’m posting are just photos from the bay area and up til the time we reached the still snow-covered Sierra Nevadas. Since it was nearly a year ago, and this year hasn’t seen as much snow — just remember: it’s last year! Enjoy!
Columns & Cornices
I’m no architect so I’m probably using those terms wrong, but call it poetic license. I think of the uprights on the Golden Gate Bridge as columns through which I pass, each time I head home from an extended absence. And any time I’m home, I make sure to spend at least a fews enjoying the city of SF and its lovely architecture, hills, bays, vistas, people, restaurants, etc. Over lunch at work here in Port au Prince this week, a few of us from different parts of the world talked about what makes a city beautiful to us. The French person among us spoke strictly of architectural beauty; the Canadian and I favored a mix of architecture with what maps call “relief” — hills and valleys, rivers and bays. Thus, for me, SF is pretty much the top among US cities I’ve known: from ocean to bay, with valleys and hills between; girdled by bridge, mountain and water…and blessed with a progressive citizenry who, for example, voted early to tax themselves in order to ensure all residents of the city had access to basic health care — well it’s really a pretty cool city and one I’m currently far prouder to claim than that deeply-purple state in which I was born. At times like this, when an unpredictable and mean-spirited individual will soon inhabit the white house…well, I need to remind myself what’s enduring  and promising about my homeland…
Seven Views of the Golden Gate Bridge … Four of Twin Peaks
I’ve known the city of San Francisco for so long – from a childhood summer in Berkeley, from living in the city and/or staying for long period quite often in recent decades – that I tend to assume everyone is aware that it’s surrounded by water on three sides; that it’s full of hills which give beautiful views of its other hills, of the bay and the ocean that surround it, or of lovely San Bruno Mountain which draws up its southern border…that it’s full of beautiful Victorian houses nicely maintained and painted for the most part…that it is chock-a-block with parks at the tops of many those hills, giving thus even better views with greenery and flowers in the foreground, hills and Victorians n the background. But I realize, when I return to work and my international team of folks from Haiti and around the world, that my little corner of the world is one to which most people actually have not yet been. And so herewith some photos from lovely sunny days where I enjoyed the freedom to stroll at will and to pull out my camera any moment I felt like it. They’re all named in a way that intends to inform you of what you’re seeing. I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I enjoyed those strolls :-).
Paths and Parks, Poppies and Panoramas
In May, I spent a few weeks of holiday back in Sonoma County. As ever, I spent as much time as I could on the bike trails and in the parks. As you’ll see in these photos, the California poppies were in bloom, the days were usually sunny but sometimes – as when Amy & I climbed to the top of Hood Mountain — pretty cloudy and even occasionally rainy. (That’s rare for May in California, in case you didn’t know.) In Haiti, where I’m spending most of my time these days, I rarely have the chance to linger by streams with wading birds and gliding ducks, or to enjoy little irises or turkeys fanning out during a hike in the woods. I’ve also included a couple of shots taken at Dolores Park, one of my favorite spots in San Francisco, which has been under reconstruction much of the past year and now looks fresh, new and as popular as ever.
The Bay on New Year’s Day
2016 dawned beautiful, bright and clear in and around San Francisco. And for the first time in many years, I saw my first sunrise of the new year in the bay area instead of out on another continent across a ocean or two. True, the next day I flew out again to head back to Haiti and my work here…which would be why it’s taken me nearly 1/6 of 2016 to get these put up: sorry! As you see, though – the view was clear enough to see easily and clearly all the way out to Mt Diablo, and all the way up to Point Reyes National Seashore. Enjoy these little views of my home region :-).
Hills & Halls of San Francisco
Readers may be aware that I’ve recently taken a short holiday from work in Haiti, to soothe my soul and celebrate another birthday in my home counties of the bay area. The airline complicated my return, much to my chagrin, with the silver lining of an extra, unplanned day in the city — which I used to take in a big-screen movie & walk some parts of the city that I frequent somewhat less often. From that day emerged these shots, which I hope you’ll enjoy. 🙂
(so much world, so little time....) 
