Weekly Photo Challenge: Reflecting…peace

I see that by missing last week, I missed my chance to somehow employ a favorite quote:  “Danger, Will Robinson.  Danger.”  Drat.  Ah, well, we had a good time in Philadelphia despite the less than stellar weather and thankfully no danger there or on the road, other than the danger of a mental blowout when the traffic in Indiana was constantly slowed by construction or other issues.  🙂

This week, the challenge theme is “Reflecting.”  This is one of my favorite shots because it’s both a shot of reflections and a place where I was peacefully reflecting while in San Francisco some years ago.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Zigzag

If you stay at the Hotel Diva in San Francisco and there happens to be a fire, you’ll have to “zigzag” to hurry down the fire escapes.  But be careful not to be distracted by the shades!

A day of packing, two of travel/driving, and then vacation will keep me occupied for the next several weeks.  Excuse my absence from most internet activities and feel free to drop by to share the wonders of Wyoming with me on the blog.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Work of Art

There are altogether too many possibilities for this week’s photo challenge theme, “Work of Art.”  I choose two, this first in San Francisco’s Chinatown last September.

I must add that as I’m traveling much of the time until next week, I won’t be able to get to many other blogs this week, but I’ll do my best.  Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.

This is our homemade entree for Easter dinner:  ravioli stuffed with artichoke filling, served with an heirloom Italian walnut sauce.  It’s actually a work of Janet, not of art.  🙂

Weekly Photo Challenge: Horizon

Wow!  Can’t believe I forgot to check my email for the photo challenge.  That’s what happens when I get distracted by the fun of Skyping with my best friend.  🙂  The theme this week is “Horizon” and here’s my entry, two very different horizons I enjoyed recently.

Phoneography Challenge: Street Photography

This week’s Phoneography Challenge is the photographer’s choice and my choice this week is street photography. I spent the better part of three days walking the streets of San Francisco, stopping often to take pictures while managing not to run into anyone or have anyone run into me because I stopped too abruptly, not an easy task in a city with so many people! But if I’d stopped to capture all the interesting things I saw, I’d never have gotten anywhere. Even so, I covered a lot of ground and there was so much to see.

One of the things I like about street photography is the unexpected picture, something that catches the eye because of its incongruity. In that vein, here are two disparate pictures that I like. I have no idea why the vase and arrangement in the first photo were sitting there, at the base of a light post on a busy street corner just a few blocks from our hotel. I didn’t see anyone around and they weren’t there when I returned. The second is simply one of those must-take photos. I hope you enjoy them both. They were taken with my iPad and are unedited.

Sunday sayings: And the beat goes on

Walk along Grant Street in San Francisco’s China town and you’ll come to an alley that will take you on a trip from one culture to another (in more than one way) and from one time period to another.  At the other end of the alley is City Lights Books, established in 1953 and an icon of the Beat Generation.  As you walk along the alley, you will see paving stones with literary quotes and on the wall, beautiful, sometimes humorous, murals.  Take a trip down memory lane to a time when “beat” mean “beatnik”, not “Just beat it.”

Weekly Photo Challenge: Saturated

A visit to San Francisco’s Chinatown this week provided many opportunities to see gorgeous, saturated colors. This is one of my favorites. To view other colors, click here: http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/09/27/photo-challenge-saturated/.

This photo was taken with an iPad and hasn’t been altered or edited.

Spotted in San Francisco

It’s been a very full four days and since we have to get ready to fly back to Chicago this afternoon, I don’t have much time to write.  It’s been a wonderful trip!  Yesterday I ended up spending a good part of the afternoon watching the America’s Cup with a group of New Zealanders (not a good day for them) and last night was an amazing party thrown by Oracle on Treasure Island.  But let me share a variety of shots I took while wandering through the city.  i promise more writing when we’re back home and I have more time.  So get on your walking shoes because here we go.

Breakfast–Café au lait and a chocolate croissant

Wordless Wednesday

Phoneography Challenge: Street photography; San Francisco reflections

When Oracle speaks, San Francisco listens…and even shuts downs of parts of streets.  But while my husband is wallowing in geek-dom, I’m enjoying myself on the streets of San Francisco…and in the teashops and bakeries and cheese shops and…   I started the morning with a leisurely breakfast of chocolate croissant and tea, then after a stop at our hotel, walked the mile down to the Ferry Building (with lots of photo stops) where I spent a long time wandering around looking at the goodies in the shops and sitting by the bay.  I took a few pictures during the day as well.  But on the way to the Bay, I was mesmerized by two windows in particular, both for what was inside and for the reflections.   Here are my unedited submissions for this week’s Phoneography Challenge.  As Sally likes to say, let me know which you like and why.  And if you’d like to see a bit of what we saw yesterday, on arrival and at Muir Woods among the majestic redwoods, check the previous post.  One thing’s for sure, I don’t have to worry about getting fat during this trip as I’m walking copious amounts every day!  So I’ll indulge.  🙂