The Familiarity and the Difference

We’ve been visiting The Sea Ranch for over thirty-three years. It is located on Highway 1, about 110 miles North of San Francisco. However in spite of the relatively short distance, it takes about three hours to get there, due to the long windy road. Perhaps this is why during the two and a half days we stayed there, we saw very few people on the trails along the ocean, unlike our recent trip to Carmel.

During our vacations, we want to visit new places, and have different experiences. But then we come back. Why? Doesn’t the place look the same as before? You may have heard the Chinese saying “You cannot cross the same river twice.” However, there is a continuation – “since it is not the same river, and not the same you.” While this is a true statement; nevertheless, we “cross the river” again and again. We just need to learn how to see our world and the people we encounter through a “different” lens (the new iPhone 11, has three lenses, for instance). Of course you can learn how to become a better photographer, which in the core is an art of seeing, and then you will be able to perceive the difference.

P.S. I would like to share four “similar” images to show what I mean.

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Is The Road Always Better
Than The Inn?

The immortal words of the proverb come from the book “Don Quixote de la Mancha”, which was written in 1613 by the famous Spanish novelist, poet and playwright Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra.

I am writing this email on a Sunday night, while staying in The Sea Ranch. We arrived here on Friday afternoon. It took us three hours to get here because of the traffic and road construction. On the way, we stopped in Jenner to stretch our legs and to have lunch on the deck overlooking the Russian River, before it connects with the ocean. We’ve taken this journey many, many times and in spite of the familiarity and the winding road, it takes an hour to drive the last 27 miles on the winding, very picturesque road.

And though we enjoyed the road which goes through the agricultural area, this joy is nothing in comparison with the experience which we have during our stay in The Sea Ranch – the Inn (hence the question mark in the title). But this experience I will share with you next week.

P.S. These four images are from our journey, including our stop in Jenner.

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Why Crissy Field is Called Crissy

San Francisco is blessed to have many parks and open spaces. One of them is called Crissy Field.

If you are one of the 1.2 million people who stroll, cycle and walk dogs on the 1.5-mile promenade along the water with the view of Golden Gate Bridge every year, you know the place. I read about this in the article titled, “It’s Crissy Field’s Turn For a Green Redesign”, written by Peter Fimrite, which appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on Monday, August 5, 2019. The number of people mentioned in the article surprised me, since the population of San Francisco is about 884,000. In the past, I visited Crissy Field only once or twice over many years, that is, until we got Max, and started to go there more often. It is part of Presidio National Park Service, and named in honor of Major Dana Crissy, who died trying to land on the airstrip, which was part of the Presidio airfield at the beginning of the twentieth century. The Presidio has served as a military reservation from its establishment in 1776 as Spain’s northern-most outpost of colonial power in the New World. But in 1994, it became a park and part of the Golden Gate National Reservation Area.

About a year ago, a friend told me that there is a group called SF Doodles, which meets once a month on Crissy Field. Max belongs to this group of dogs, which were developed by crossing different breeds with Poodles. The original purpose was to have a dog that is hypoallergenic. It started in 1989 in Australia, and now there are different hybrid breeds such as, Goldendoodles, Maltipoo, Yorkpoo, Pekapoo and others. They come in different sizes and have different traits, inherited from the original breeds. Though not all of the 1287 members of the Doodle meetup group come to monthly meetup, the crowd of people and their four-legged companions is quite lovely. You are welcome to join just for fun, if you don’t have a doodle, you can borrow one from a friend.

P.S. It seems that dogs have a good time here, running over Crissy Field, as four of these images can attest.

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Where Is Mount Davidson?

Our house is located in the area of San Francisco called Monterey Heights, which became a neighborhood in early 1920s. It’s a five-minute walk down the hill to the commercial pocket, West Portal, and about a twenty-five minute walk up to the highest mountain in our city – Mount Davidson, which stands 738 feet above sea level. And in spite of the fact that the 103 foot high cross at the top of it can be seen from many areas of San Francisco, the mountain which is covered with lush vegetation, and the forest in the center of our city remains a big secret. Every time I have climbed to the top of the mountain, I did not see many people there. Before we got our dog Max, I would go there often on the weekends. My favorite time was before the sunrise, for the main reason to photograph, and I have quite a few interesting images of the sunrises and the fog covering San Francisco, which I have shared with my readers in previous postings. One of those images will appear in my next book, “42 Encounters with Love in San Francisco”; which you will be able to see in a few months (I want to keep you in suspense).

Mr. Nolte quotes someone whose name was James Decatur, who described his walk through Mount Davidson– “Peace and quiet were so profound that it seemed almost unbelievable that the noise and roar of a great city was only a few minutes behind.” It was written almost a hundred years ago, and still is true today.

P.S. In all of my comings here, I did not see wild flowers, however my camera “picked up” red flowers and berries. I am glad to share these four images with you. Do not wait for the new book to come out. You can start your own collection by going to Amazon.com and checking out the incredible reviews about my previous books, and to buy a gift for a friend.

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