So Where was I? Oh yeah, I was getting on a ferry to Alaska. That was three weeks and a few thousand miles ago. Ah, the romance of the high seas... "Just give me a tall ship and a star to sail her by"... and all that. Things have changed a little. On a modern ferry to Alaska it's more like "Give me a massive engine and a even larger, resonant steel hull to bolt her onto." There is a huge amount of power in one of those engines, the entire ship is vibrating with it's exertions. White this is all very exciting at first, the thrill wears off after a few hours & you begin to wish for some place quieter. Yes, it's loud. And you have signed on for three days.   ...Read more

This set of pictures is from the western end of highway 162 in California. The 125 mile long section of road, the greater portion unpaved, that takes you from highway 101 just south of Laytonville all of the way to Willows at Interstate 5.

From 101 it begins by winding though rugged canyons. and over rolling passes until it decends into the beauty of Round Valley with it's magnificent oaks. From there you come to the unpaved section that climbs up into the Mendocino National Forest. Be aware that some parts of this section are not maintained in the winter and will be unpasable due to heavy snow or delightfully slick mud that can spin you over the precipice. But if you are travelling after Memorial day & it hasn't rained lately it should be fine.
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Though San Francisco is the place to be, it was no more the place for me. It was the end of February. Time was up for my place in Pacific Heights and I wanted to get a little more distance between myself & the house remodel. My solution was to move to Fort Bragg for the remainder of the house thing. "But why, then, did you drive to Nevada?" You sagely ask. It's simple. Since we were selling the house, I needed a new mailing address. Since my intent, after the house sale is to take a drive and land someplace that isn't California. All I really needed was a Mail Forwarding Service. Nevade means I would get to drive around with non-California plates. And, even though I will be oficially homeless, the mailing address would give me residency n the State of Nevade and they have no income tax! Heck corporations do it all the time!

The agenda was: from San Francisco run up to the storage unit in Willows. From Willows pop over to Fallon NV spend a day or so there getting the PO box License & such. Finally, from Fallon buzz over to Fort Bragg. I love making plans like this. They are so simple, purposeful & solid. And so easy to break.
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We all do it, some folks more than others. Perhaps your practice is utilitarian, maybe you are just following a whim, whaterver your purpose San Francisco is a great town to do it in. Even with all the hills, in fact the hills might make it better. I have heard it said that San Franciscans have such fine posteriors because of all the hills. Yes, I am talking about walking and in this installment of San Francisco Skylines I'll hit a few locations that are all walking distance from each other.
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If you listen carefully you can hear it.... Humphrey Bogart in his best film-noir voice-over....

"They call her San Francisco... City by the Bay. She's taken many hearts... Poor saps, they think they left left'm, but they were stolen, every one."

Whether you are wandering around with flowers in your hair or down sitting on the dock of the bay one thing that San Francisco always seems to have at hand is a nice skyline. Let's explore a few of them.   ...Read more

One of the nice things about July is that the ginger plant blooms. This is probably the last year I get to see this one do it. It's growing by the front door & some of the stalks reach 8-feet in height. This year there are about 16 stalks.

A ginger plant like this is a truly wonderful thing. I tend to cut all of the stalks down to the base in November when they are looking a little reedy. So during the winter the root looks kind of like a nasty scar. People who are unaware of what a wonderful thing emerges from the homely mess will give me a questioning look like "why do you have something like that by your front door?"   ...Read more

On American farms, the most important innovation of the last century is the tractor. From its introduction as a steam-powered behemoth, the tractor enabled a farmer to accomplish more work with less labor. The farmer was able to till and harvest larger sections of land. Tractors are versatile too! There are all kinds of attachments that can transform a tractor so it can be used to drill holes for fence posts, muck out the barn, or any of dozens of chores around the farm. The tractor soon became an indispensable helper that allowed the farmer to finish the innumerable chores about the farm more quickly. What this really meant was that more chores could be added to a list that already seemed endless. In the business world such a thing is known as "increased productivity." Such improved efficiency in an industry already so lucrative as farming promised even greater profits which could then be spent on... yes, more farm equipment and higher bank payments, which leads to in even greater efficiency. This is easily proven by counting the many retired farmers that live in penthouses on Fifth Avenue.
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