"Santa" Nate & Nicole

 

I had to blow this up so you can read what it says. Fran and I were walking back to catch a streetcar and we passsed this on the left--The sign caught my eye and I just started cracking up laughing--Fran is usually a lot quicker than I am, so I was surprised that I spotted it first.

I know that Black and White signs must cost a fortune to print out and stick inside a piece of plastic, but I believe I would spring for it if I were them. I don't know if you can tell from the photo, but a well-wisher tried to pencil in an "l" after the "F" to indicate that they are actually selling "Fleeces" and not "Feces" (okay, I'm embellishing a little to help the slow-witted).

The other funny thing is that, when I stopped to take a picture, it caused a bewilderment among other tourists, who stopped and stared inside the store at whatever event was occurring.

Yep--them is some tall trees...

Yet more trees...

I lay down on the forest floor to shoot this one. It was actually quite dark and I used Gamma correction to improve the intensity so you could see the bark--the other shot was cool, though, too because you could see the leaves in a nice contrast, but I liked the true colors coming out.

Break Dancing

I thought this was pretty cool--I shot about 10 pictures--it was dimly lit, the guy was dancing very fast, and I had a small window to shoot through--Fran and I went and saw the matinee of King Kong (butt-numbingly long, but nice).

Break-dancing was a big thing in the '80's...at least for a while. Of course, I grew up in a neighborhood where we were all pretendas and not contendas, so I never got to see anyone who could really do it--these guys were good...

Proof of our Nature Walk

FRAN HAS NEVER BEEN IN THE FOREST! EVER! EVER! EVER!

That fact, alone, was crazy to me.

I had gone to the Muir Woods with a group the week before, so when Fran came to San Francisco to join me I asked her if she would like to see them as well. Of course, she wanted to see the seven-storied Macy's, the Prada Store, Hermes, Coach, etc. before we went to see the tallest trees on earth, but I finally got her there.

She was duly impressed. I further thought I should take advantage of the time to ask her to go on one of the very nicely built hiking trails with me--you can see how beautiful and wide and nicely leveled these trails are. I really wish we had had more time to spend there, but I hired a guide service and we only had two hours in the woods. Otherwise, I would have loved to have gone on some of the more difficult trails, although it was a little spooky because there were posted alerts for coyote and mountain lion attacks (!) and it would be just my luck to get bitten by one of those silly things while dodging snakes...

If you ever go here, the gift shop is absolutely fantastic--Fran brought home a redwood seedling, so in another 2000 years they will be indigenous to Texas...Also, we were chilly from our walk and it had started to rain (it was in the '40's (F)), so the hot chocolate really hit the spot--Isn't it funny that the right hot drink at the exact right moment can really make the event seem perfect?

Yes--it was THAT foggy...Ever heard of "Fog City Diner"?

Self-Portrait

I thought I was being so clever--if you look in the center, you can see me with the camera and Fran to my right--we're behind a white fence. The building behind us is the 7-story Macy's adjacent to Union Square. There were lots of artists with easels set up selling paintings in the open air.