The 366 Project: October

 

It's rather late for the October part of my 366 project, but since we only came back from our 4-week trip to Germany, France and Belgium the day before yesterday, it still seems on time for me. The first half of October was spent in Santa Rosa and ends with the drive over a very foggy Golden Gate Bridge on our way to San Francisco Airport.

The second half of October was spent in Germany and France.

On the first weekend in Germany - in Münster, Westfalen - we had our Bartz family reunion with the Geek's parents, his two brothers and their families.

On the last Friday of our trip we met with my brother and his wife.

And in between the three of us - the Geek, Kaefer and myself - travelled in Germany, France and Belgium. Here you can see us in Hamburg's Miniatur Wunderland, which has become the no. 1 tourist attraction in Germany and has been on my list for quite some time. Definitely a must-go!

The best part? Seeing Kaefer again. It had been almost two years since we saw her the last time.

There will be future posts about this trip, but for now I want to share these faces with Nicole's Friday Face Off. It might take me a while to visit your blogs, since I still haven't quite arrived yet. I wish all of you a lovely weekend.

Bowling at Dawn

 

When we first went to Bowling Ball Beach it was during a low tide. But then we learned that there was a zero tide two days later at 5:38 in the morning. While scrambling down the cliff in the dark wasn't really appealing, nothing could keep us in our little cabin.

When we left, it was pitch dark and there was no one else driving along Highway 1. We arrived at the parking spot a bit more than 10 minutes later and started our walk toward the beach along the same path we took two days earlier. It was a clear morning with no marine layer which is rather unusual for our coast. Above us we saw a magnificent starry sky. Our flashlights helped us going down the difficult part of the cliff, but then the walking was easy on the beach until we reached the big boulders.

When we arrived it looked like this

but looking south we already saw the day dawning.

We lit up some of the "bowling balls" with our flashlights and took a couple photos in that light just for fun.

In all my photos you will notice different quality of light. This is because some of the pictures have been taken with my DSLR and some with my phone. The phone camera is more light sensitive than the DSLR (except if I crank up the ISO at the expense of the quality of the photo), but the mood is different. You can easily tell which photos were taken with which camera - the lighter ones are the phone pictures and the more atmospheric ones are the DSLR photos.

In reality it wasn't quite as light as in this picture. The phone picture does an excellent job in picking up light, but unfortunately at the expense of mood.

While the Geek was setting up his equipment, I turned my view (and lens) to the ground and explored all the tiny tidepools.

I think these tiny green fish might be Tidepool Sculpins (Oligocottus maculosus) and I'm pretty sure that the black snails are Black Tegula (Tegula funebralis) since they are so abundant on the West Coast. The lighter ones might be Checkered Periwnkle (Littorina Scultulata), another abundant snail on our shores. You can also see sea anemones.

The light changed constantly and the sky displayed a tender pink glow.

It was time to take pictures of the bowling balls before the tide would come back in.

I wrote about the ruts in my previous "Bowling Ball" post. As you can see, they were covered with seaweed and algae and it was really difficult to walk on them since they were very slippery. Even my hiking boots couldn't always find a secure footing.

Since the boulders are covered with salty water most of the time, they were covered with seaweed and algae as well. Most of them had a bad hair day.

When I looked up, the light had changed again. Looking toward northwest:

I decided that I had taken enough pictures of the boulders and focussed now on the beautiful views around me.

To the south the light became more dramatic and I loved the reflection in the water.

The reflection of the cliffs and the trees on top were stunning, too.

Of course I had to take photos of the gulls - how could I not?

Looking down, I noticed the different texture of the sand.

Then it was time to slowly walk back. By now it was an hour after the lowest point of the zero tide and we noticed the water coming in again. While walking back I still had my eyes trained on the sand and the ocean (you never leave your eyes off the ocean while on the beach anyway - that's a lesson you learn very quickly when you live near the coast). This read algae, Callophyllis, I often see on our beaches. Fun fact: Callophyllis is commonly known as carola.

Of course there was a rock cairn as well. They almost always are.

Looking back we saw the sun touching the cliffs in the north, those that were reaching out into the ocean.

The Geek while walking up the path, and a look back toward the beach.

When I looked down, I could clearly see the ruts disappearing in the water. We hadn't seen this the last time when the tide was much higher.

When we reached the top of the cliffs, the sun touched the trees. It was such a lovely morning.

I leave you here with a few more atmospheric photos of the ocean.

It was such a wonderful start of a new day.

I will take a break from blogging for a few weeks. I hope all of you have a lovely, colorful autumn or joyous spring depending where in the world you are, and I will "see" you again in November or December. 

The 366 Project: September

 

September had hardly begun when it was already over - at least that's how it felt. It was a busy month.

My friend Kris and I went on some beautiful walks in our regional parks where we saw the first signs of autumn.

At the lake we discovered a huge hornet nest.

Look at that intricate work! Isn't it impressive?

I love to be at the lake early when the water steams and is backlit by the morning sun. Such a beautiful and slightly mystical mood.

It also was a busy month in regards to knitting. I was often sitting in the garden knitting up hats and socks, often with Kibeau as my reliable but mostly sleeping companion.

At the farmers market I could still get peaches and made buttermilk peach cobbler. Next time I will not make it in the cast iron pan because it was a bit of a pain to clean out the baked-on parts, even though my pan is well seasoned and it shouldn't be a problem.

We were very excited that the Mourning Doves came back to their nest and had another brood. I'm happy to say that they raised both babies and about a week ago I saw them taking off. I still see the little ones occasionally in our big tree. The other excitement was that I noticed a bird in my garden that I hadn't seen before. After consulting Merlin and my Sibley and confirming with David, I now know that this is a Black-headed Grosbeak. This little guy is very camera shy.

And of course we're getting closer to the election. Campaing signs have turned up in our neighborhood. I love the cat ones, but I love the handmade signs by children even more. I asked one of my little neighborhood girls whether she would make one for me, and we now proudly display it right next to our frontdoor.

Unfortunately, there was also this:

I have no idea what people who steal campaign signs want to achieve with that. Do they think people would change their mind? Hardly. This behaviour makes me mad, and I would be just as mad if this would have happened with Trump/Vance signs. I wish we would return to respect and civility.

Together with other neighbors we were busy writing letters to voters in states with voter suppression laws to let them know how they can get heir voter ID. That there even are voter suppression laws in a country that boasts about its democracy is shameful.

Last but not least, September is a special month for the Geek and I. 28 years ago we had our first kiss on top of the tower of Stiftskirche in Tübingen. You can see the tower here - taken on a cold but clear and sunny winter day. It was warmer back then on that day in September, but there was a constant drizzle - which didn't prevent us from kissing.

For us it's a reason to celebrate and open a bottle of bubbly. Cheers, my friends!

With all these faces, I'm linking up with Nicole's Friday Face Off.