 |
| River Otters - Point Reyes 2020 |
We had been told by Margaret that she and Jim had seen river otters while hiking the Abbotts Lagoon trail. So we had to go see for ourselves. There they were!
Taken with an Olympus telephoto zoom lens - 75-300mm - which wasn't available back in 2009 for one of my first otter photos.
 |
| Sunrise, Smoke - Marin County 2020 |
Taken last October from the Glen Drive fire road, during the wildfires.
 |
| Teachers' Names (Fairfax) - Marin County 2020 |
 |
| Playground Blue Dots (Fairfax) - Marin County 2020 |
Preparations being made for a limited school reopening at White Hill School in Fairfax. We sometimes walk through the school grounds in the morning, so we've never seen exactly how the kids are supposed to line up.
 |
| Gingko Trees (San Anselmo) - Marin County 2020 |
 |
| Maple Tree (Fairfax) - Marin County 2020 |
Top photo taken while I was getting some bread at "M.H. Bread and Butter" in San Anselmo. I keep wanting to call it H & M. Next one in front of the library in Fairfax.
 |
| Turkeys by Pool (Fairfax) - Marin County 2014 |
For a while we had a big influx of turkeys. Turkeys on the roof, on the fence and down by the pool. Now they're gone (but sometimes you can hear them off in the distance.)
Recently we've been seeing woodpeckers in the vicinity. Right now most of them are across the street, but a few adventurous ones have been coming over to our side.
Photo taken with an Olympus DSLR (E-510) with a 12-60mm zoom lens.
Below, a more recent photo taken from my car using an iPhone 7 plus, in Marin County's water district.
 |
| Turkeys - Marin County 2020 |
 |
| Coyote Bush, Oaks, Fog - Marin County 2020 |
 |
| Coyote Bush, Fog - Marin County 2020 |
Taken on a day following some recent rains. I hoped that there might be some fog in the San Geronimo Valley, and yes, there was.
 |
| Kinglet (Fairfax) - Marin County 2020 |
 |
| Kinglet (Fairfax) - Marin County 2020 |
No one could accuse kinglets of doing nothing. They never stop doing. Busyness is their trademark behavior. They are "unceasingly occupied," as Audubon described them.
--Jack Gedny, Marin IJ
Seen in October on our backyard fence using an Olympus E-M1II and a 14-150mm lens.
 |
| Spirit Rock, Fog - Marin County 2020 |
 |
| Spirit Rock, Fog, Hills - Marin County 2020 |
The Spirit Rock Meditation Center website features a photo of the actual Spirit Rock, but says nothing about the actual impressive rock outcropping found in the San Geronimo Valley. Serpentinite, I'd guess.
Two recent photos taken on two different days.
 |
| Branches, Leaves, Ripples - Marin County 2020 |
 |
| Reeds, Ripples - Marin County 2020 |
Taken during a recent visit; the wind-chill factor was certainly in evidence.
 |
| Pond, Leaves - Marin County 2020 |
 |
| Fern - Marin County 2020 |
A side trail heading away from Lake Lagunitas up to Colier Springs. Not used that much, it would seem.
 |
| Branches, Leaves, Reflections (Lake Lagunitas) - Marin County 2020 |
Reflections of redwood trees on the opposite side of the lake.
 |
| Deer, Phoebe (Fairfax) - Marin County 2020 |
I first noticed phoebes in our neighborhood in 2009. Now they're all over, busy snagging insects in mid-flight. Top photo taken by an iPhone 7 Plus.
Below, a later one using an Olympus E-M1II and a 75-300mm zoom lens.
 |
| Phoebe on Post (Fairfax) - Marin County 2020 |
 |
| Bracken (Lake Lagunitas) - Marin County 2020 |
We've finally made our way up to Marin County's Water District, our first visits since last March. Lots of trails, but our main hike is around Lake Lagunitas.
 |
| Free Things #11 (Fairfax) - Marin County 2020 |
 |
| Free Things #12 (Fairfax) - Marin County 2020 |
Wow. A lot of free things!
 |
| Slow (Fairfax) - Marin County 2020 |
 |
| Nandina (Fairfax) - Marin County 2020 |
October photos, taken in the dim early morning hours.
 |
| Coyote Bush, Clouds (Loma Alta) - Marin County 2020 |
 |
| Skyline (Loma Alta) - Marin County 2020 |
I hiked up the fire road until I could get a shot of some coyote bush in the foreground with some lowering clouds overhead, and then the San Francisco skyline.
 |
| Buckeye - Marin County 2020 |
Native American tribes, including the Pomo, Yokut, and Luiseño, used the poisonous nuts and seeds to stupefy schools of fish in small streams to make them easier to catch.
Native groups occasionally used the plant as a food supply; after boiling and leaching the toxin out of the seeds or nut meats for several days, they could be ground into a flour or meal similar to that made from acorns.
It is used as an ornamental plant for its striking leaf buds, lime green foliage, fragrant white flowers, red-brown foliage in mid to late summer, and architectural silver branches through fall. The tree also acts as a soil binder, which prevents erosion in hilly regions.
 |
| Madrone - Marin County 2020 |
Another early morning hike on the Loma Alta fire road, this time under overcast skies.
A handheld shot taken at 1.3 seconds exposure . . . I was able to do this thanks to the Olympus E-M1II camera's amazing stabilization system.
 |
| Oaks, Backlit - Marin County 2020 |
Up the Loma Alta fire road, smoke-filtered light coming through.
 |
| Coyote Bush, Smoke, Mt. Tamalpais - Marin County 2020 |
 |
| Fencepost, Smoke, Mt. Tamalpais - Marin County 2020 |
I used an Olympus E-M1II with a Panasonic 12-60mm lens.
 |
| Loma Alta Fire Road - Marin County 2020 |
 |
| Coyote Bush - Marin County 2020 |
I've taken a couple of hikes up the Loma Alta fire road recently, the first with a view affected by wildfire smoke, the second under overcast skies.
 |
| Apple, KitchenAid - Marin County 2020 |
Nice looking apple! Tasted good, too.
An iPhone photo . . . I removed the appliance's electrical cord using Photoshop.
 |
| Not A Through Street - Marin County 2020 |
 |
| Not A Through Street - Marin County 2020 |
Walking though the streets of Fairfax in the dim predawn light.
Who among us can say, with any degree of certainty, exactly what they were doing on this date 56 years ago?
Well, maybe some can . . . and maybe there are some that weren't even born 56 years ago.
Anyway, as it so happens (as it was meant to happen) Mike has documentary evidence of what he was doing on November 3, 1964. Yes, as part of his PsyOps training, he was kneeling on the grass outside some barracks in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, getting a first-hand look at the capabilities of a psychological warfare unit. Wow!
So that was the big event of that day. Of somewhat lesser interest was the presidential election also taking place on November 3rd, won by LJB over Barry Goldwater.
Below, the reverse of the "1st Psy War Bn" leaflet.
 |
| Frog (Fairfax) - Marin County 2020 |
Grabbing onto some drip irrigation tubing. It considerately stayed put while I went into the house to fetch the camera (an Olympus E-M1II with a Panasonic 12-60mm lens.)
 |
| Limber Pine - San Gabriel Mountains 1980 |
 |
| Limber Pine Root - San Gabriel Mountains 1973 |
Stop a moment and listen to the whistle of the mountain wind it its short, stubby, thick needles. They are lifting their voices in a tale of their life that is all fierce endurance. The sort of winter wind that would get into the headlines of newspapers if it blew down below, blows here for days and weeks, raising the voices of the Pines to a high sustained keening note. Snows that would stop all traffic on our roads and streets weigh down its branches. But they do not break, for this a Limber Pine whose long boughs and twigs can bend and bend without snapping. A tree better adapted to endure timberline conditions does not exist. — Donald Culross Peattie
Both photos were taken while hiking with my brother up to the Mount Baden-Powell summit in Southern California. The root picture came first, in 1973; I used a Nikon F with Panatomic-X film.
So I knew of these trees' existence when I hiked back up in 1980. I wanted to take some photos using larger 120 roll film, so for that trip I managed to carry up a large Mamiya RB67 medium format camera, used for the top photo.
