November 5, 2007

It's a Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood

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August 25, 2006

Weekend At Lake Tahoe

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February 23, 2006

Año Nuevo State Reserve: Light Station History

Between Pigeon Point and Año Nuevo Pacific Coast, California

On January 3, 1603, when the Quroste group of the Ohlone Indians lived on the point, the Spanish explorers on the ship of Don Sebastian Viscaino sailed by. Onboard, Father Antonio de la Ascension named the point Punta de Año Nuevo (New Year's Point) for the day on which they sighted it. It's likely for the best that they did not land there, or anywhere near it.

The Europeans did not actually come in contact with the Ohlone until the late 1700's, when Spaniard Gaspar de Portola, led an overland expedition to the San Francisco Bay. A series of religious outposts were established to spread the Christian doctrine among the local natives, as well as to give the Spanish a foothold in the California territories. The missions introduced European livestock and crops into the region, but along with religion, they also brought diseases that the native peoples had never been exposed to, and had no immunity of. Measles, plague, smallpox, typhus, and venereal diseases decimated the native population, killing 90% of the people.

Shipwreck Relic Año Nuevo State Reserve

The closest mission to Punta de Año Nuevo was Mission Santa Cruz, founded in 1791. Hundreds of Ohlones, including the Quroste clan, gathered to the mission to be baptized. Most became sick and those who survived saw their culture erode until they lost their native way of life entirely. There is no one left alive today that can speak the Ohlones language fluently. Año Nuevo was used as pastureland by the missionaries.

After generations used it for pastureland, then it became a private ranch, and then after that, a dairy before it was finally bought by the State of California in 1971. Today, the farm buildings have been renovated to be the Año Nuevo Visitor Center, natural history museum and ranger buildings. Slowly, the native plants are returning, erasing all traces of the agricultural legacy of the region. Sand mine operation during the 1950's during the construction of State Highway 1 caused significant damage to the sand dunes and caused erosion problems that still haunt us today - just look at Devil's Slide, less than a mile to the south of the point, which falls apart at every major earthquake and causes millions of dollars in taxpayer monies.

The San Francisco mission and military fort started out small, but Spanish, Mexican and British settlement was driven by fur trade (including seals) and pioneering. The California Gold Rush in 1849 clinched it. The railroad, banking, mining, and shipping industries became major economic forces in the city. Despite being famously foggy, the Port of San Francisco became the largest and busiest seaport on the western coast of North America.

Pigeon Point Lighthouse Pacific Coast, California

Shipping traffic along the California coastline increased along with the population. The rocky, foggy shoreline became famous with seafarers for shipwrecks. The couple mile stretch of rocky coast between the point of Año Nuevo north to Pigeon Point saw several ships lost over a relatively short period of time and U.S. Coast Survey recommended building a lighthouse. But there were other priorities and the Santa Cruz lighthouse was built first. Finally, in 1872, a fog whistle was installed on the Año Nuevo and later was upgraded to a five-story light tower atop the water tank.

The first light was an oil lens lantern, tended by someone at the island's light station in 1890. In 1906, a two story house was built adjacent to the station and later, in 1915, a Fresnel lens was installed. The keeper’s home had 8 rooms for the head keeper and 7 rooms for the assistant keeper. The salty sea air constantly battered the wooden buildings, and maintenance was a major endeavor. Fences kept the sea lions and other pinnipeds at bay. Eleven years later, on October 22, 1926, an earthquake struck and the lens was broken. The lantern lens was again displayed until a replacement lens arrived. At its peak, the island had a light, along with the elaborate keeper’s dwelling, a tramway, dock, and a boathouse.

Año Nuevo Island Light Station Año Nuevo State Reserve

In 1948, the station was decommissioned. The Coast Guard determined that the expense of maintaining the island, its keepers, and its buildings, was too great. An automatic buoy with a light, sound, and radar reflector replaced the fog signal and light. By 1955, the federal government sold the island to the State of California, who classified the island as a scientific preserve to protect the seal breeding colonies who quickly took over the island.

Northern Elephant Seal Rookery Año Nuevo State Reserve

Today, the only people allowed out onto the island are researchers. Four kinds of pinnipeds live and birth their young on the island and the mainland. The house is derelict, with California sea lions venturing up onto the second floor, even hanging out in the abandoned bath tub. Birds nest in the rotting rafters. Needless to say, the place stinks. The light tower was dismantled in 1976 for safety's sake, and you can only see its foundation now.

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February 13, 2006

Who Let The Dogs Out: San Francisco Celebrates Chinese New Year

The Chinese calendar has been in use for centuries and is much older than our own Gregorian-derived system. According to the Chinese calendar, the year is 4703, with a cycling twelve zodiak animals. This year, the Eleventh in the cycle, is the Year of the Dog (狗), specifically the Fire Dog (element corresponding with the planet Mars).

Where's the cat?

Legend says that the Chinese zodiak was formed when the rat was told to invite the animals to the palace for the emperor to bestow zodiak signs on. The rat invited the ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. The cat was a good friend of the rat, but the rat forgot to invite him. When the cat realized he had been left out, he vowed revenge and has been the rat's natural enemy ever since. Funny enough, there's even a great anime series based on this, called Fruits Basket, which is one of my personal favorites. Kyo rocks!

Who Let The Dogs Out?

So this past weekend was the annual San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade. We'd never been before so we decided to head into the city, have some dim sum in Chinatown, and then hang out for the parade.

I don't like taking pictures of people. It makes me uncomfortable because it so often makes other people uncomfortable. But still, its near impossible not to take pictures of people in Chinatown. One of my favorite pictures from the MSNBC best photos of the year was of a little Chinese baby strapped to his mother's back. I caught sight of a similar shot along crowded Grant Avenue. In front of the elaborately decorated Citibank, a Huqin musician played traditional folk music, his head bowed.

Chinatown is a place of shopping extremes - from the overpriced antiques to the dollar silk slippers to the unregulated traditional Chinese medical ingredients. There's a fantastic wok store with all sorts of great, cheap kitchen gadgets. There are several very old bakeries selling almond cookies and red bean desserts. Dim sum and family-style Chinese restaurants abound.

One of my favorite places to stop is the TenRen tea store, where you can sample their teas and buy in bulk, often for cheaper than many other places - their jasmine oolong is especially good, not to mention their Genmaicha, a sencha green tea blended with roasted brown rice.

Once night falls, the parade begins as it has since 1860's. The weather was very warm and pleasant this year, and so the turnout was immense. Oftentimes we couldn't even see the people marching by, the crowds were so big. For three hours, gigantic asian-themed floats drifted by, coiling dragons roared and chinese fireworks crackled. Marching bands boomed by, stilt-walkers lumbered on and other groups performed dancing and ribbon-waving routines. And don't forget Miss Chinatown USA, she even has her own float (with throne and all). The parade ends with Gum Loong, the sacred Golden Dragon. He symbolizes strength and goodness, ensuring peace, prosperity and good luck for the coming year.

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

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March 16, 2005

New Orleans - French Quarter

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New Orleans - Bourbon Street Nightlife

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New Orleans - Jazz in Jackson Square

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New Orleans - Great Food

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New Orleans - The French Market

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New Orleans - Cafe du Monde

God, I love beignets!

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New Orleans - People

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New Orleans - Along the Mississippi River

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New Orleans - Window Shopping

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December 8, 2004

Dicken's Christmas Fair

I shot this picture of a Christmas dance at the Dickens Christmas Fair this year. I tried to do some of the dancing myself, but without practice I get dizzy very fast.

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March 20, 2004

Castle Rock State Park

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