February 7, 2008

Last week, I let the main page do my talking as I celebrated the snowfall at the ranch. By now, I'm sure we all have had our fill of winter. It's definitely time for a change of seasons or at least, a change of topic.

I decided that the next motif here would be romance. Okay, so it's a cliche to talk about hearts and flowers around Valentine's Day. However, I choose to ignore the gloss, commercialization, and Hollywood-ation of the subject and let the inherent beauty cut through the BS.

So I took my first set of photographs on the theme and was all prepared to re-design the main pages of the site, when my son Instant Messaged me. Seems he wants to start a web-based business, and wanted me to design the site for him. So I've been busy coming up with prototypes for his scheme. In the course of which, I'm learning more about blogs and website styles. So real soon now, I'll be setting some of those lessons into practice here at the ranch.

So that's why it's still winter here. Eh, no worries. There's still plenty of beauty to be found this time of year.

January 30th, 2008

It finally snowed at the Ranch. At the elevation of the Flying Aardvark Ranch, snow comes rarely and stays seldom more than a day. With my two dogs joyfully gallivanting around, I crunched through the six plus inches of snow and explored this strange terrain of white and crystal, searching for the visions that caught my fancy.

January 23rd, 2008

When Corey headed to the Bay Area to play bridge with Richard Aronson, our long-time friend, I headed there to take pictures. The Stanford Shopping Center caters to the well-to-do with its Bloomingdale and Nordstrom stores (although one of the longest running joints there is McDonald's). It did have wonderful displays of plants and flowers, so even though I don't like shopping, it was a pleasure just to stroll around. Many other people thought so, too, judging from the number of baby strollers and dogs that were being walked there. The weather was cool and sunny. Not bad for the middle of winter.

Because my theme is winter, I looked for flowers that reflected the season's colors. It was a treasure hunt to seek out the perfect blooms. Oh, there was plenty of gold and gems of garnet, amethyst, and topaz to be found, but I wanted the ivories, rubies, and emeralds to grace the main page of the studio. Still, I couldn't resist snatching a few of the other beauties that were so abundant. I took over 600 pictures that day. (Yay for the age of digital photography!) What better way to spend a winter's day than gathering the riches of sights and scents and hording them away in the caverns of memory?

Since I was in the Bay Area, I thought it would be nice to actually take some pictures to show it. I drove around until I found a jogging and bike path running beside the bay's edge with a view of the San Mateo Bridge. The ice plants that covered the sides of the path were just starting to bloom. The water was extremely shallow here (I assumed it was low tide). The bottom was littered with the occasional ooze-covered tire, obscure junk, or rock.

It was a very different mood here than at the mall. A few people passed by as they biked or jogged, but there was an illusion of solitude gained from looking across the still water. The distant shores were obscured by haze. The noise of the surrounding city was muted. It was a quiet and calm sort of beauty.

As I now bask in the warmth of the fireplace at the ranch, snow is falling with the rain outside my window. Hopefully in a day or so we will have real snow at the ranch. If not here, then certainly there will be more snow up at Yosemite. With luck, I'll be able to get a few more traditional winter pictures. But even though the flowers of the Bay Area or the spring are far away and the world outside is cold and dreary, the memories of the beauty warm the heart.

January 20th, 2008

As beautiful as the first snows of the season can be, there is more to Winter Wonderland than the ice and cold. I live in California where the weather is as varied as its politics. Since it hasn't snowed in our area for a few weeks, I took a trip to the San Francisco Bay Area. An open air Mall across the street from Stanford University was a gourmet feast for the eyes with all its blooming flowers. Here is a sampling of the visual delights.

January 14th, 2008

There is really more I should say about my photo trip of last Monday. I didn't say much the last time because I really felt that the pictures spoke more beautifully than any words. This time, though, the words are going to have to work for it.

On my way back from Yosemite, I stopped off at the parking area for the Lewis Creek hiking trail. The trail is a nice, meandering path down into a canyon. I sprained my ankle and seriously bunged up my knee the last time I tried to walk it with rambunctious two dogs on a leash and my camera at my side. This time, it was drawing onto sunset, the snow was on the ground and the trail was slick and I was all by myself. It would be foolish to go hiking now. Besides, it was getting dark and there would be no light to take pictures by the time I followed the trail to where the stream created the Corlieu Falls.

Still, as I stood by the parking lot, I could hear the rush of the falls below me. It was like a lure I couldn't resist. So, rather than walk the long, out-of-the-way trail, I forged a path down the steep, slick hill. The worse part was knowing that as hard as it was going down, it was going to be even harder going back up.

Needless to say, I made it down to a vantage point for the falls. And, as I suspected, there was no real time or place to take a good photograph. I just took a few pictures and then climbed my exhausted way back up the hill.

So what was the point of that rather masochistic hike? I had the satisfaction of accomplishing a difficult task. I definitely got my exercise for the month. And I had the pleasure of seeing the Corlieu Falls at its glory. Definitely worth the effort. Then, to crown it all, as I drove the rest of the way to Oakhurst, I got to see the clouds in the east turn to a glorious pink and fuschia that was unbelievable. I may not have a photograph that does that experience justice, but I do have the memories taped in the scrapbook of my heart and mind.