Working with a Princess

We work well together.  Sometimes making lampshades.

Sometimes at the computer.

Somehow though, she manages to get more breaks in than I do.

Just Ran Out of Time

Happy Valentine's Day!

A Chalalaca for Your Birthday?

Ferruginous Pygmy Owl

It's not a typical birthday thing for me to go out and watch birds. Especially with a charming and informative guide who came prepared with a powerful spotting scope. Even my best guy - who is definitely not on friendly terms with binoculars - at least said that he had a great time.

And how could you not have a fine time when you got to see motmots, chalalacas, honeycreepers with bright red legs and a cute pygmy owl?

Josue

Our guide, Josue de Leon Lux, knows every bird (in English and Spanish) at Los Tarrales Reserve in the Guatemalan highlands (we just happened to be in the neighborhood and thought we'd stop by...). He knows them by sight, by sound and probably even by first name. Most importantly, he could easily locate them through the scope so that we too could get a view. And in all his free time, he records the local bird calls for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, NY.

I'm ready to go again, anytime. Even if it means putting up with another birthday.







Special thanks to Jack Miller

Miller Atomic Research Services

People's Revolutionary Dept. of Public Works

Last December - that's 2011, mind you - I contacted Oakland's Dept. of Public Works to let them know that there was a vacant house on the block and that the disabled parking zone in front of it was no longer necessary. And hadn't been necessary for over six months. And maybe they could do something about it.

I waited for a response and within a coupla months, got a phone call: someone would be sent out soon.

Cool, but just how long is soon?

Well, not soon enough for some community-minded and relatively handy locals. One night last summer, some busy busybodies - closet radical renegades, no doubt - relocated the metal sign (I'm sure it got recycled) and repainted the blue curb to gray. The blue still showed through - I wouldn't hire them to work on my house - but it seemed to do the job. Suddenly, there was one more parking space available on the block.

So why should one more parking space matter, anyway?

Because my neighborhood, like most urban neighborhoods, is awash in cars. MTC, our regional transportation agency concluded that, way back when (1930 to be precise, when my house had already been around for nineteen years), there were about 29 vehicles per 100 residents in the Bay Area. These days, that number is estimated to be around 75 vehicles. Nationwide, the average is closer to 81 cars per 100 residents. Now dat's a lotta cars.

What has also changed is where those cars are stashed: it used to happen in garages. But now most garages are stuffed full of stuff, leaving many cars to live on the street. Some aren't even allowed in the driveway. Which suggests that maybe the problem is not parking exactly, but cars. Or could it be we car owners?

The final chapter? On December 11, 2012, a city truck showed up on the street. The very nice, and slightly bewildered, man from Public Works came with sign-removing tools, a paint sprayer and some paint, and instructions to remove a disabled parking zone...

They're Baaack!

November 2012

Your tired and cranky amaryllis is supposed to take a two-month snooze in the deep darkness of the closet during the fall. Then, come the holiday season, it should wake up fresh and ready to party.

Like an overtired toddler, however, one of mine refused to go down for a nap. It already had four flowering stalks and was not to be persuaded. So we had a gorgeous display from Halloween (the other holiday season) until mid-December. Just in time for my second plant - the obediently napping one - to send up new shoots. I count six... Nope, make that seven.

So if you are lucky enough to have an amaryllis this season, hang onto it and most likely you will have an amaryllis every season.

November 2012...

And six weeks later

The Other Potato

The rest of the potato story (I just knew you couldn't wait):

In addition to the Augustas, I planted Purple Vikings. They took longer to grow, and didn't produce quite as much (for each pound planted, I got only about eleven pounds back... which is still damn good by all counts). And they took a little longer to mature (110 days or so). But these babies were crowd pleasers.

All of my taste testers, with the exception of my best guy at home, preferred the Purple Vikings. Not by much, mind you, but still.  They were mashed, baked, roasted, cut up into potato salad, even turned into French fries (You can fry food at home? Who knew? I thought you had to eat out for that pleasure), and then gobbled down. No problems there.

Their other advantages: They are pretty fellas - purpley-pink on the outside and and bright white on the inside (you'd think that an eight-year-old girl had dressed them). And they store quite well.

There are only a few left in the box and I'm already looking forward to growing them again next season. Or rather, eating them.  Maybe even sharing them...

Brag, Brag, Brag #5: Pauline Autet

We were very fortunate to become acquainted with this wonderful New Zealander who was studying art at Cal this past fall. Everyone agrees that she is a treasure.

For her final project in her ceramics class, she created a series of small pieces to be installed outside. The point being to encourage people to become more aware of their surroundings. "People just don't 'see' anymore."

Most of the pieces were hung from tree branches around the southeast corner of the campus (think Kroeber and Wurster Halls). All - or at least the ones I located - were in plain sight of well-traveled walkways; some were even within plain reach. The ceramic pieces she produced were related in size, materials and colors, but some were round, others flat, some were dressed up with gold leaf and others sported major piercings.

I first saw them - around a dozen or so - a few days after they were put up. We then took an "oh-no-it's-not-going-to-rain-anymore-today" walk ten days later and got soaked. But through the rain we could just make out that only two were left hanging. People saw 'em all right. Pauline had hoped that when someone took one, s/he would leave a note, explaining why (the only note that I saw was my own). But we all know why they were taken; they were just too cool to leave behind.

Winter Time Blues

"I Hate

Rainy

Days."

       - Princess

Went & Discovered

We've been taking advantage of the Discover & Go program of the Oakland Public Library (which the Berkeley library and the Contra Costa County library now offer as well).

It wouldn't have crossed my mind to go see art at Saint Mary's College, but their Museum of Art had a knock-out show this past year. It caught my eye in the D & G line-up, so we went and felt very lucky. Even ran into some friends.

We also took advantage of the free tickets at Cal Shakes' for Blithe Spirit (somewhat listless) and Hamlet  (wonderful, but free-ee-zing).  And just two weeks ago we ambled out to the California Academy of Sciences. (If you possibly can, play hooky and go on a weekday afternoon. The school tours have mostly left by then and the decibel levels have declined to below "painful acoustic trauma".) We caught the baby ostriches on their last day there. Simply adorable.

And what do you do with the money that you've saved?  Duh, you blow it all on a wonderful meal at Chapeau!  Ooh-la-la!

Happy Birthday, Princess

A Turdmuffin

We believe that Princess was born in early December, 2009, one of seven kittens.  She showed up here, along with her two brothers, as foster kittens from the Humane Society in January, 2010.

She arrived with the name "Doughnut", but because she was so sickly, she and her one unhealthy brother were both re-named the "Turdmuffins." You can just imagine....  Princess's name comes from her other nickname of that time - "Princess Dag." Most Americans do not know the meaning of dag, which is probably just fine.

Three Years Old