{this moment}

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, ordinary, moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by Soulemama.

More up close and personal with Pumpkin

One Word Wednesday

Self-Portrait

P.S. Upon further reflection, other good words would be "wrinkles" and "jowls."

Our Turn

So, for many weeks now the news has been filled with stories of the terrible heat that has afflicted just about every place in the United States except the very far left edge.   We here in that very narrow strip of coast from Canada down to the Mexican border have had a lovely summer.   Well, maybe people in places like San Francisco, Portland Oregon and Seattle might take exception to me calling the fairly chilly weather they've had at times this summer "lovely" but it's true that it hasn't been HOT.

So, we've had a lovely summer -- until last week, that is!  And now some of us -- particularly those of us from Los Angeles south -- are experiencing a little of what most of the rest of the US has been living through for weeks and weeks.  It's HOT.  And it's MUGGY.   Well, maybe people in places like Washington, D.C.,  Orlando and Charleston might take exception to me calling 35-40% humidity "muggy," but that's muggy for us out here where more typical humidity is in the teens and 20's and sometimes even as low as single digits!

Even if I didn't go outside and feel the heat first hand, I'd have lots of signals to tell me the weather has turned hot.  And here are a few of them:

Heat clouds. Driving east on I-8.  

The same cloud a few minutes later from my backyard.

These clouds form over the mountains east of San Diego most days in late summer.  Sometimes they bring torrential rain that results in flash floods and sometimes they bring lightening with no rain -- and that can mean fire, something we here in Southern California fear.

On both Saturday and Sunday, more than 500 lightening strikes were recorded in our county.  At least one fire was started and it is now under control. 

 

The Iceberg roses in my front yard don't melt in the heat -- they love it!

Dogs with jet black coats are good at finding whatever shade they can -- in this case, my shadow!

Cilantro bolting before we really got to enjoy it.

Green peppers turning red, seemingly overnight.  I've made three batches of green chili stew with the green version of these peppers.  I'm looking forward to tasting them now that they've ripened further.

As if rolls and puffs of dog hair weren't enough, the heat brings drool drips from panting dogs just in from the heat.

I realize that we have nothing to complain about with our relatively mild summer heat, especially because it isn't accompanied by damaging rain, a derecho and days or weeks without power (and its blessed gift of air-conditioning and cold drinks.)  But, for us this weather is HOT and after a week of it, I'm ready for our turn in the summer oven to be over! 

Well, maybe not the coldest winter... (no corgi content)

Have you ever heard the saying "The coldest winter I ever spent was summer in San Francisco"?  It is widely attributed to Mark Twain, but according to Snopes, he never said it or wrote it.  Whomever did say it, had good reason for doing so!   San Francisco in July and August is often very foggy and very, very, chilly.  That was true 30 years ago this month when Glenn and I were there on our honeymoon and, it was true this past weekend, when I made a quick trip to The City with my dear friend Betsy for a wedding shower for her soon-to-be-daughter-in-law.

We flew up from San Diego on Friday night and after a leisurely Bart trip from the airport, headed for the famous Fisherman's Wharf restaurant Scomas.  Not the trendiest restaurant, of course, but a real nice, San Fransisco tradition.

I guess bibs are a tradition, too -- at least when one orders crab in the shell.

 (I hope the poor guy didn't notice me taking his photo!)

Earlier in the evening, when we landed in SFO, the sun was shining and it was comfortably cool.  But, by the time we finished dinner,  I found myself wishing I had packed something more substantial than a lightweight cotton, 3/4-sleeve sweater! Even though I knew better, I hadn't come prepared for the winter August in San Francisco can often be!  Betsy was a little better prepared with a jeans jacket she threw into her bag at the last minute, but we both were happy for the warm-up that came from a couple of these: 

Irish Coffee at The Buena Vista where the drink was born! (Bless their hearts, some of the waitstaff looked like they might have been on the job back in 1952!)

The next morning, before it was time to head to the bridal shower, we shivered our way around the Fisherman's Wharf area for breakfast and a little sight-seeing.  

Then we took a quick street car ride out to the market at the Ferry Building.

We saw so many wonderful foodstuffs that Betsy suggested we should buy a small cooler and load it up!   We talked ourselves out of that idea and instead left the market with a couple of small, non-edible souvenirs.

Before we knew it, it was time to head for the St. Francis Yacht Club for the shower.  Several times that afternoon I wished I had felt comfortable pulling out my cell phone to take photos -- not of the bride-to-be, although she was lovely, and not of the many wonderful gifts she received but, rather of the view just beyond the yacht club windows: the Golden Gate bridge peeking in and out of the fog, pelicans diving for their lunch (and, just like Olympic divers, making very little splash!) the sun glinting off the water, and lots of sailboats and parasailers.

Later that evening, we retrieved our bags from the hotel and after a harrowing ride through (UP and DOWN) the streets of San Fransisco in the back seat of a Towne Car, arrived at the airport and a flight that was delayed by a little more than an hour -- the only glitch in an otherwise fun little get away. 

Yesterday morning, when I stepped outside into a sultry (for San Diego) 75-degree morning, I found myself thinking wistfully of the lovely winter-in-August chill of the previous morning!

Next time I visit San Francisco, no matter what the calendar says, I'll be going prepared for winter!