Mike's Playground

September 2007

I went to San Francisco this past week on business to attend an Oracle vendor meeting. It was a nice trip and I brought along my Nikon automatic camera just in case. I stayed at the Four Seasons hotel off Market Street, and found time to see a few of the sights. Oracle has a private pilot and crew that do air shows, and we were treated to an air show staged near the Golden Gate Bridge.

Along the boat ride out to the air show, a seagull coasted on our wake while the yaht navigated out into the Bay. The bird looked totally effortless, and I am surprised at being able to capture even this clear an image with my Nikon instamatic.

I had time to go down to the Pier for a meal. Whenever I can, I like to go to Bubba Gump's. It is not the finest dining in San Francisco by any means, but the fish, shrimp and chips are a treat none the less.

Here is a nice view of the city skyline. I took this shot from the yaht, also, but it is near the tourist area where the shops and restaurants are located. I always think of the old computer game Sim City when I visit San Francisco. It is surprising to see skyscrapers perched on such preacarious places.

The sea lions at Pier 39 are famous. They tolerate the tourists, and seem to enjoy having hi-jacked the floating docks that serve as group hammocks. They sometimes squabble a bit and are rather loud, but in general tolerate their neighbors to sneak in a snooze in a relatively safe environment

I hiked up Nob Hill one morning and got this great look at the TransAmerica building. That is the Bay Bridge in the background with some fog rolling in. There are lots of hills to climb in San Francisco if you are on foot, but this one was all I wanted after walking through China Town earlier.

It is porch weather now. I like sitting out on the front porch, where I am here, in the mornings looking west. It is a great place for some coffee and the occasional neighbor visit. We just got back from a walk when the rain started, and I decided to watch it sprinkle. The dogs and these nice Adirondack chairs are part of the reason we don't to to movies as much as we did a few years ago. There is a lot to be said for focusing all your energy on doing absolutely nothing but enjoying the moment. The hours certainly melt away.

We haven't seen as many grasshoppers this year, for some reason. We have had lots of dragon flies recently, but of course they seldom hang around for a snapshot. This little guy posed throughtfully for us for quite a while. We left him alone after getting a couple of pictures, and figured it just must be tough out there this year.

The pups are showing a bit of impatience as we prepare for a trail walk. CJ has her camera bag, ready to go. The dogs were very good on this particular walk, though it got a bit warm later. They are learning the "loose lead" walking approach a little at a time. Practice, practice, practice... I like this photograph because it represents so much the way we spent this summer. I did the same shot in black and white towards the bottom of this entry, but liked the color copy as I thought about it later and decided to include it, too.

If you have been doing some geneology work this might be fun for you. This picture is shared by our cousin Pat (Russell) on Grandma Elizabeth's side of the family. Her explanation of the peope in the picture follows:

...your G-Grandfather Reuben and our G-Grandmother Mary Ann who were siblings. Here is the picture I told you about, of your G-Grandfather Reuben Abney's five sisters----

Back: Destia Abney McCoy (Jim Kaufman's grandmother, if you knew him) and Grace Abney Guimpeline.

Front: Mary Ann Abney Reed (mother of Lee Sr., Joe, Cal, and Jennie; grandmother to Lee Jr. and our mother Dorothy Reed-Russell. Her husband was Austin N Reed) Maggie Abney McCammon (Homer McCammon's grandmother, Jim's G-Grand), and Cecelia Abney Powell.

Your G. Grandfather Reuben, father of Charley Abney & Lizzie Abney-Jackson, also had two brothers William Lincoln Abney (father of Marion Arch Abney) and James (husband of Narsises).

I didn't do much with the web site in August. Work consumed most of my free time, but I managed to get some time off recently. CJ and I took a trip just down the road to Kill Creek Park off K-10 highway. There is a small fishing pond and hiking trail. It is very well manicured, and would be a great spot for a family cookout. Here are a couple of shots from the trip.

We spent much of the summer working on the house. The list of issues is rather endless, but one of the better projects was installing this pre-made shed. CJ and I spent quality time painting and landscaping a bit around it, including a number of rock hunting expeditions. Here, CJ proudly displays her work.

Another project meant replacing all the windows in the house. We had several that leaked, were poorly installed, or just let in too much heat. We put in triple paned windows. It was expensive, but I am hoping it will be worth it. Here is a shot of the backside of the house with the new windows. CJ is hiding somewhere in the shot, trying to avoid the camera I suspect.

Charlotte doesn't like to have her picture taken. She typically fusses with me in particular to remove sunglasses. This was kind of a tough shot because of all the dark background colors and my reluctant subject. Still, perseverance (or maybe stubborness) allowed me to get a pretty good shot of CJ.

This is the first thing I typically see when I open my eyes in the morning...my old pal, Henry.