California Dreamin'

It felt like fall today. The dark clouds rolled in over the Bay Area, starting west of the Dublin Grade, and stuck around all day. It wasn't really warm out, but it wasn't chilly, either. It made me miss summer, and summer isn't even over yet. I don't know why, but as I told

pr1ss, just a few minutes ago, something about the summer makes me feel immortal. I'm not sure why. Fall is a wonderful season in its own right, but I never get tired of it being summer.

Last month or so, my friend Rob T. took a really excellent dramatic nighttime shot of the most beautiful city in the world. I know several people on my friends list would agree with the preceding sentence. I love this place, the Bay Area in particular, but California in general. It has seeped into my soul and has been my home since the day I was born, even though I didn't come here until 1996. Rob is the documentation and tech writer where I work and is a most excellent photographer. San Francisco was just about ready to be enveloped in its famous fog. Rob found the perfect quote to add to the picture. The picture makes me feel like hopping onto BART and shooting over there to go walking around and exploring. I don't spend enough time doing that lately. Maybe I need to get out more.

Tags: pictures, ponderings and curiosity

18 comments — :

( 18 comments — Leave a comment )

cluebyfour

2005-09-08 05:47 am (UTC)

Wow. That would make an excellent poster.

I love the City, too. I'm a California native, and spent a few years in the Bay Area before my family moved to Colorado to stay. I have deep roots in Denver now, but if we had the financial means we would seriously consider a move to San Francisco. But I'm glad I've had the chance to visit a couple of times in the past several years.

Poster

montecristo

2005-09-09 05:09 am (UTC)

Yes, that is the same thing that I told Rob: it would make an excellent poster. It was a fantastic shot. In another ten minutes the skyline was entirely swallowed up by the incoming fog.

Great picture!

pr1ss

2005-09-08 06:30 am (UTC)

I can only get the top half to load atm.
You're now famous. I linked to you on my Kinja page.
http://kinja.com/user/Priss

Re: Great picture!

2005-09-09 05:08 am (UTC)

Thanks. Now you've done it though, your mention on your site is consuming some of my valuable fifteen minutes of fame! ; )

emmabovary

2005-09-08 07:25 am (UTC)

That's a jewel of a photo. Give Rob our thanks.

I will certainly tell him.

2005-09-09 05:11 am (UTC)

It is my personal opinion that Rob's photographic talents go under-appreciated. He's a very modest person in some respects, which is unusual to my thinking, because he is so opinionated. Heh. I knew you'd be one of the people who like the picture. ; )

Re: I will certainly tell him.

2005-09-09 07:06 am (UTC)

I have put it as the background for my work computer, I liked it so much.

2005-09-10 07:39 pm (UTC)

That was Rob's original idea for it when he made the picture. I turned it into a JPEG to save on size. The original was a bitmap.

eithnepdb

2005-09-08 10:58 am (UTC)

Thank you for that - seems these days the only photos I see are of destruction - it's nice to be reminded of all the beauty that still is out there.

GMTA!

2005-09-09 05:17 am (UTC)

I had the same thought when posting this picture, it's contrast with so much destruction and misfortune. It does seem that there is a danger in caring for the victims of disaster and distruction in that the scope of the task can overwhelm one's sense of possibility. It is important to metaphorically "recharge one's batteries" with what can and ought to be, and that is a source of strength in the effort to offset the consequences of entropy and misfortune.

Wow!

vavaverity

2005-09-08 11:44 am (UTC)

That could be a postcard! Totally breathtaking. I've never been to California... it's on my list.

Re: Wow!

2005-09-09 05:19 am (UTC)

There is a uniqueness about this state which is hard to define, but I have heard others comment about experiencing it.

morganaus

2005-09-08 01:06 pm (UTC)

It's gorgeous. I really need to visit.

Agreed!

2005-09-09 05:24 am (UTC)

There won't be a metric ton of snow in front of my door when you come to visit, either! Maybe that will mean that we can finally actually meet in person. That would be nice. I'm on a roll here, meeting LJ friends. At this rate it seems such a grotesque oversight not to have yet managed to acquaint myself with the in-person company of one of my longest and most fondly cherished LJ pals.

Re: Agreed!

2005-09-14 02:57 pm (UTC)

This made me smile more than you know and it's doubly appreciated since I've been a bit down these past few weeks. Thank you.

nsingman

2005-09-08 05:12 pm (UTC)

It's a lovely shot, and we will visit one day - probably next summer, in fact. You've inspired me to make sure I get to see it's skyline after dark, too. However, as a native of New York City, I'll respectfully dissent from the notion that any skyline could be lovelier than ours. :-)

The Bay is a beautiful sight.

2005-09-09 05:27 am (UTC)

There are so many dramatic and picturesque views of the Bay Area out here it is an embarrassment of aesthetic riches. No matter what time you choose to do your sight-seeing you will have a wide aray of dramatic vistas to explore. I never get tired of, or even complacent with, the view here.

cynjja_galt

2005-09-09 07:35 pm (UTC)

gorgeous photo. and really enjoyed reading your info page.

"Yes i am a pirate, two hundred years too late
The cannons don't thunder, there's nothin' to plunder
I'm an over-forty victim of fate
Arriving too late, arriving too late.."

A little Jimmy Buffet for you.

Log in

montecristo

The World Line of the Horizon Star

Some would say I was a lost man in a lost world

California Dreamin'

Poster

Great picture!

Re: Great picture!

I will certainly tell him.

Re: I will certainly tell him.

Re: I will certainly tell him.

GMTA!

Wow!

Re: Wow!

Agreed!

Re: Agreed!

The Bay is a beautiful sight.