Fridays with Manny

  

How To Get Around

This is the second essay about our trip to Alaska. Here is the first one.

When we took a Trolley Tour around Anchorage, we were taken to some points of interest. One of them was an Earthquake Park, which commemorates the quake of 1964.

Another one was to watch the floatplanes. Anchorage used to be called “Air Crossroads of the World”. It was the busiest floatplane base in the world and has more pilots and airplanes per capita than anywhere else in the United States. It also has the largest U.S. Air Force base in Alaska. Anchorage has five sites, where planes land and take off, which is fun to watch. We visited Lake Hood. The seaplane floats that cost between $20,000 and $50,000, which does not include the cost of the parking spot, which are not always readily available. We were told a story about parents, who registered for a parking spot when their son was born. Sixteen years later, the spot was available; however, the young man did not have his pilot license or experience yet. Since then, the rule changed and only pilots who have both can apply. We did not try to fly it but flying on a private seaplane could be a fun way to experience Alaska. Perhaps on our next visit to Alaska. Meanwhile, please enjoy these three images. 

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Fridays With Manny

  

Greetings From Anchorage

When I tell friends that we just came back from a cruise to Alaska, the common response is that Alaska is on the top of their destination list. Therefore, I decided to share our experience to “whet your appetite”. Please let me know when you are ready.

This is the first post describing our daily encounters during a two-week voyage from Anchorage to Vancouver. Our trip to Alaska was almost accidental, though my wife Elfa has wanted to go there for many years. Before Covid-19, we were booked for a cruise to Iceland, with Hurtigruten Expeditions. We went with them to the Fjords in Norway in 2017, and enjoyed the experience of traveling on a smaller ship. As the scare of Covid subsided in 2022, we booked this year’s trip to go from Lisbon to Hamburg (Iceland was not available in the spring). A month before our trip, we were informed that it was canceled for technical reasons. So our next choice was Alaska.

My first encounter was from the airplane. The view of high mountain peaks covered with snow was magical. We decided to explore Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city, for a few days before beginning our journey into nature.

Anchorage was born as a tent city in 1914, with the purpose of building a railroad and a port, when Congress passed the Alaska Railroad Act. To explore the area we took an Anchorage Tourist Trolley, which drove us around for an hour, and we learned some tidbits about the local life.

The Earthquake of 1964 destroyed most of Anchorage’s neighborhoods. It was quickly rebuilt and now has a population of about 300,000 friendly people. The “red” woman is working for the Red Trolley Company. I encountered three beautiful women at the best breakfast restaurant “Snow City Café”. They were laughing after I told them one of the jokes from my book “42 Encounters with Laughter”. I promise you will laugh too.

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Fridays with Manny

  

Lessons From History

It takes me about twelve minutes to drive to my office. However, since I take Max to his dog walker three times a week, my journey extends to about forty-five minutes. I look forward to this extra time, since it allows me to continue my ongoing education. Almost forty years ago, I developed a habit of listening to audio tapes while driving. Originally, they were motivational programs, however, after I discovered “The Great Courses”, my listening became educational. 

Over the years, I learned a great deal about many subjects. The latest was a course taught by Professor J. Rufus Fears titled, “Books That Have Made History: Books That Can Change Your Life”. The course provides a synopsis of thirty-two books written by many great authors like, Plato’s “Republic” and George Orwell’s “1984”.

There were many lessons conveyed by each book. One of the authors was Sir Winston Churchill, who won a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953. I can relate to his famous proclamation, “Never, Never, Never Give Up”. Some people like to read historical books, while others prefer to dress up in historical clothing, like these women I encountered in Golden Gate Park, who are members of the “Greater Bay Area Costume Guild”.

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Fridays With Manny

  

What Is Your Favorite Color?

As a photographer, I’m always looking for the ways to improve my craft. This is why I bought the book, “The Color Bible. The Definitive Guide for Artists and Designers” written by Laura Perryman.  

In the book, there is a quote from Johan Wolfgang Von Goethe: “Colors and Light… stand in most intimate relation to each other”.

Color theory, or our understanding about color, began with Aristotle. Through the years, many researchers developed the color wheel, which is divided into 12 colors that correlate with each other. And each of us has an individual relationship and reaction to a specific color. I was not surprised about the description of my color in the book – “calm, divine, meditative. Deeply connected with the natural world, blue is easy on the eye and mind… darker shades are perceived as reliable and trustworthy.”

“My blue” tone is the same as the color of the blue birds you can see here. Do you know your color? You can learn about it in the book or online. 

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Fridays with Manny

  

Unite All, Save The Earth

During the Bay to Breakers, which I wrote about last week, I encountered a man who was carrying a large structure on his shoulders, with very special messages. When I asked him about why he was carrying such a heavy load, he told me that he is on crusade to save the Earth.

When I checked the websites climatehealer.org and worldguardians.org, on the latter one, I read that “Our vision is to protect the Planet from catastrophic CLIMATE CHANGE!” If you care about our environment, I encourage you to read some of the information on both sites and view the short clip from Stanford University’s Department of Environmental Science. You do not have to become a vegan; however, cutting down on eating meat might help your health, according to the Mayo Clinic. I stopped eating meat forty-six years ago.

Fridays with Manny

  

To Run, Or Not To Run?

For me, the question was answered several years ago. After the wear and tear in both of my knees, my running days are over. Nevertheless, in 2017, I participated in the Bay to Breakers race, for the first time. My intention was just to photograph the participants. In spite of the pain in my knee, I decided to follow the crowd for a few blocks. Four hours later, I somehow ended up at the end of a roughly 7.5-mile track, together with many other walkers. It was an amazing experience and I captured hundreds of images. 

This year, on Sunday, May 15th, the footrace event returned to San Francisco for the 108th time, after a break due to the Covid 19 pandemic. 14,000 runners and thousands of walkers; many of whom were dressed up, and some who left their clothes at home. 

In the article about the event, which appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on May 16th, I found out that during the last two years, the event was held virtually. Since I could not take virtual photos, I had to wait. These three images are from the 2019 Bay to Breakers.

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