green fields, stormy sky

I haven't posted any pictures for a while... so long that the seasons have already changed! The hills have turned emerald green from all the rain and I forgot how much I love it this way.

We passed through this landscape on the way back to San Francisco from Tahoe (where it was snowing a lot). Dramatic sky...

sunset from Badger Pass

We glimpsed this sunset on the way down from cross-country skiing at Badger Pass.

Reflections in the Merced river

Taken on a peaceful snowy morning.

Tree in the evening mist

We saw this tree in the Yosemite Valley just around sunset, as the mists had crept into the valley and the last golden rays were hitting the tops of the mountains.

Yosemite Valley, Tunnel view

This is the grand sweeping view you see as you exit the Tunnel down into the Yosemite Valley. You can see all the main granite sites of Yosemite (the massive El Capitan is on the left, and Half Dome is peeking out in the center in the distance). It is so picture perfect you can hardly believe your eyes...

view in the Yosemite valley

I have been terrible at posting lately - and I don't have any recent San Francisco pics, but I did go to Yosemite National Park in the snow, and it was so gorgeous I thought I would post some images from my trip there. Here is one taken form the Swinging Bridge down in the Yosemite valley. More to follow...

Cali night shot

I just got back from a trip to New York. It was cold and grey. But here, it looks like this! The palm tree says it all...

foggy night shot

The fog blanket streams down the side of the hills as the city settles in for the night.

foggy evening

I love the pink and mauve-ish hues brought on by the evening fog. The quiet and stillness reminds me of when it snows back East and everything in the city becomes muffled and white.

oldie diner

While I'm on the oldie theme, here is a snap taken from the counter of one of my favorite diners, It's Tops, on Market near Octavia. I'll have to try one of those malts one day...

old car on Mission St

The great thing about snowless winters is that you see many more old cars up and running here in California than in the Northeast coast because they don't rust. We were stuck behind this one on an unusual rainy day. I think they look so much cooler than modern day cars.

Lithotype Co at sunset

I drove past this building in South San Francisco reflecting the orange of sunset.

Union Machine Co

An old industrial building under a dramatic sky, viewed from the Trader Joe's parking lot.

dusk in the city

People driving home (or so I'd like to imagine) under a pink evening sky.

Moorish house

I came across this huge Moorish house in the Union St neighborhood, not far from the Marina. That whole neighborhood has some pretty interested "in the style of X" architecture.

crowd at Dolores Park for Red Bull soap box races

This weekend there was a soap box race hosted by Red Bull at Dolores Park. the racecourse was the really steep hill (one of my favorites!) on Dolores between the South end of the park and the couple blocks further south. It was a pretty goofy event but there were tons of people there (as you can see here). They estimated 60,000 to 70,000 people were there.

Mickey Governator at the Radio Habana Social Club

The Radio Habana Social Club on Valencia between 22nd and 23rd has a ton of very cool paraphernalia/artistic chimeras adorning every single inch of wallspace. Definitely worth checking out.

one tree

This sign is in SoMA just off the 101 freeway at 9th St. I've been meaning to snap a picture of it for a while. I like it!! and the tree too.

Green near the Embarcadero

A peaceful green in the early evening. You can almost feel the bright clean air in this city...

hip people in hip SF coffee shop

Good coffee is an obsession in this town... This is at Blue Bottle coffee at Jessie and Mint.

palm shadows and woman on the phone

The palm trees in this picture are so California to me, even though palms aren't native to this country. They either say Florida or California (or other places in the US that have palm trees that I haven't been to...)

ocean creature sculptures

These amazing sculptures with their shadows are on view at the De Young museum in the exhibition space at the bottom of the elevators up to the tower.

Rodeo Beach

Another dark sanded beach on the Pacific. If you cross the Golden Gate Bridge and wander into the Marin Headlands, you might come across this lovely beach. Just nearby is the marine mammal conservancy where they tend to injured seals, sea otters, and the like. It's currently under renovations, due to reopen next June.

road in the Presidio

view of Bay Bridge from halfway up Telegraph Hill

Taken on a morning walk up towards Coit Tower. There was a foggy view of the Bay Bridge and Treasure Island (on the distant left).

Sentinel Building

I love this green copper-trimmed building. It reminds me of Europe. It houses Francis Ford Coppola's movie production company, Zoetrope. And on the ground floor is his Italian restaurant.  

sunset at Ocean Beach

Two people frolicking on the beach at sunset (and some pelicans above).

curvy bike rack

This amazing shadow was cast off a bike rack along the Embarcadero. Now that the fog has receded, we get this really lovely evening light.

house on Chrissy Field

This house is part of a marine conservancy at the very West end of Chrissy Field. It's a strange mixture of New England style building and West coast palm trees. These days the skies are very clear. The foggy "summer" is over, and now it's time for the summery fall months.

view of the I.M. Pei building from the pier

Sutro baths at Land's End

I still can't believe this is in the city of San Francisco. Seems much to wild and unspoiled to be so close to a big city. That's sort of what makes SF so special - its proximity to lots of beautiful nature. 

This is taken from outside the Cliff House at the edge of a park called Land's End - on the Pacific coast and between the Presidio (North) and Golden Gate Park and Ocean Beach (South). In the distance you can see the hills on Marin County - to reach them you need to cross the Golden Gate Bridge.

 The sun was about an hour from setting and the pelicans flew across as if on cue.

City Lights bookstore

This bookstore is a gem. It's famous from the days of the Beat generation when the likes of Ginsberg and Kerouac used to hang out there. There still hold regular poetry readings on the top floor.

statue at the top of Dolores

Summer mornings often start like this: fog everywhere and a wet chill in the air. It makes this statue at the top of Dolores St look pretty dramatic.

mural by night

It was barely light enough to still see this mural, but I liked the lady's expression on this otherwise faceless building.

twilight view of downtown from North Beach

mural in North Beach

This mural is near Columbus and Broadway, just where Chinatown meets North Beach.

family walking on Bernal Hill

A San Francisco family taking a weekend walk at the top of Bernal Heights. I love this hill.

bicycle on Abbey Rd

from Bernal Heights

From the top of Bernal Heights, you can get a bird's eye view of the city from an interesting angle. In this photo you can see Twin Peaks and Sutro Tower in the distance. Downtown would be to your right (out of the frame.)

This photo was taken in the spring when the grass was still green. Seeing how dry the grass is now, it's hard to believe it was this green only a few months ago...

deserted house

I don't know why, I kind of like the way this façade looks with the different unfinished paint jobs, and the forlorn yard space... There aren't many houses like this on Dolores Avenue. Maybe it is or used to be a squat?

floral balcony

The flowers on this balcony cheer up the otherwise drab colored row of houses on Guerrero.

fuzzy pink flowers

Does anyone know what these tree blooms are called? They come out here in the spring, either pink or red, and I've never seen them before. A West coast tree, I'm guessing...

esta noche

Sutro Tower through the glass

I was riding a bus into San Francisco from the Peninsula (south) and got a good view of Sutro Tower through the window pane. 

view of downtown from Dolores Park

When the weather is nice on weekends, this park gets super crowded with picnickers and frisbee players and people with their dogs. It's a fun and colorful place. And the ice cream around the corner is fantastic  (Bi-Rite creamery).

South San Francisco

This is just by the bay in South San Francisco where you can watch the planes taking off and landing into SFO.

palms at 16th St bart station

This was taken going up the escalator as I exited the 16th Street bart station (BART is Bay Area Rapid Transit - the public rail transportation system). The skies were unusually sunny for late July - usually this is heavy fog season...

electric wires

Some of the streets here are so full of electric wires, it's a whole landscape in itself when you look up at the sky. It's very different from New York City where I used to live, where all the wires and everything are underground.

Harlequin VW Polo

This car immediately caught my attention because I had seen a photo of a very similar one posted on The Berlin Image daily photo website a little while back. This one looks a lot more beat up...! but it kind of fits SF with its many colors.

bookmobile

While the public library branch in the Mission is closed for renovation, there is a Bookmobile parked outside. I wonder what books are inside.