A Day in the Country

 Video - Through the Lens: Snow Goose Migration

What began as a quiet trip north to the Sacramento Wildlife Refuge turned into a full day of birds, fun and adventure with Mr. B, which included one of his world famous "Short Cuts"!  Above is the first bird we spotted on the auto tour - a White Tailed Kite.

And a lovely Snowy Egret sitting atop a dead tree.

I had Mr. B open up his car's sunroof so I could see more.

 

A few Greater White Fronted Geese flew by (they are much darker than the Snow Geese)....

....and to our left we could see some Snow Geese and ducks had landed but if you look really hard near the horizon you will see thousands of birds flying in to the refuge.

    The geese migrate from the upper northern reaches of Canada, Alaska & Greenland to overwinter in a calmer climate.

 

 

As we drove further along the auto route we began to see and hear more and more geese.

 

 

 They were so excited and so noisy. 

 

 

You could make out the Greater White Fronted Geese from the Snow Geese as they flew low overhead.

  Good thing Mr. B remembered to close the sunroof!!!

 

 As they settled on the water more and more flew in.

Suddenly we were in the middle of it with birds next to us, in front & back of us and overhead.

 

And then we rounded a corner.....

 

....and in the relative calm I noticed a Northern Flicker on a tree branch watching the excitement below as well....

 

 ...as three hawks soaring overhead.....

...and calm ducks enjoying the beautiful day.

 

As we drove away Mr. B suggest taking an "alternate" route home.  That only meant one thing - his epic "short cut"!  (cue in everyone in the car doing a big groan!)  While I love Mr. B, his short cuts are almost always long cuts.  The joy is in his face as he shows whoever is in his car the delights of getting off the main road and experiencing the country.

 

At first I said "no" but then looking at his long face I changed to "OK" and his grin was so big it made it all worthwhile! 

Here we go......he swung West from Williams on Hwy. 20.  Then South on to 16 through some tiny towns I have never heard of in my lifetime of living in California.

The first exciting thing we saw was a Cowboy Camp where I guess they teach you how to become a cowboy?  And then several "Watch out for Elks" signs.

 

 

 We followed Cache Creek through Rumsey, Guinda and on to Tancred and Brooks.

Onto Cadenasso, Capay, Esparto and Madison.

We didn't see any Elk but we did see....

....an elk sculpture.....

 

 

 ...a bear climbing a pole and a.........

....a bull on top of a BBQ joint.

And some pretty country that I never knew existed!

 

Thanks Mr. B for the "short cut"....at least this time!!!

Now back to civilization......

 

 

"Civilization is a limitless multiplication of 

unnecessary necessities."

--Mark Twain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Mr. B close the sunroof quick!!!"

-- Jeanette

PS - when a million birds are flying overhead, protect yourself at all cost!

Art in the City

Song - Are You in the Mood by Django Reinhardt covered by Zak Martel

Yesterday, Mr. B and I drove into the City to see the James Tissot exhibit "Fashion & Faith" at the Legion of Honor.  It was a beautiful clear day and we could see the ocean, the bay, the Golden Gate Bridge and downtown from the knoll in front of the museum. 

Above is an early self portrait of the artist and is painted rather loosely and impressionistic. Tissot was a French painter and lived in France and London from 1836 - 1902.

 

This is a painting of his muse - Kathleen Newton who lived with him from 1875 until her untimely death from TB in 1892. And while his "style" is not to my taste, I found the show delightful. It was interesting to see how he rendered people in work and play. 

The young girl playing croquet was one of my favorites but unfortunately I had left my "real" camera at home so all of these shots were from my cell phone so they are not very good quality.

Tissot rendered fabric with great care as he was well acquainted with drapes and folds coming from a father who was a successful drapery merchant and a mother who designed hats.
As a painter, I would go crazy rendering all of the pinstripes on this woman's gown!!!  But it was beautiful to look at.

 Afterwards we headed upstairs to the Legion's regular exhibit and I found some of my old favorites like "The Bath" above by Jean-Leon Gerome

And "The Absinthe Drinkers" by  Jean-Francois Raffaelli

 "Shelter on Montmartre" by Vincent van Gogh

 "Sewing Party at Loctudy" by Edouard Vuillard

 And after all of that eye candy we went around the corner for some dim sum that was excellent!

After the busyness of the holidays, it was nice to spend some quiet time together on a beautiful day!

"Part of the secret of a success in life is eating what you like 

and let the food fight it out inside."

--Mark Twain

Twenty-eighteen

Song - Don't Panic by The Hot Club of San Francisco

Best wishes for a great new year!

"Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual. Yesterday, everybody smoked his last cigar, took his last drink, and swore his last oath."

--Mark Twain

Making it to Murphys

Song - Casadh an Tsugain/Frankie's Song from the movie Brooklyn by Iarla O Lionaird

Saturday Mr. B and I drove to Ironstone Vineyards in Murphys, CA to drop off some paintings that were accepted into an upcoming show. It was a beautiful day for a road trip!

The California central valley was as green as Ireland.

We drove by hundreds of old barns, many collapsing and returning to the earth.

Wildflowers were abundantly sprinkled on the hillsides in purple, blue, orange, yellow and red.

And snow could be seen on the distant Sierra's.

We arrived after a few of Mr. B's "short cuts" (ie - dirt roads, roadrunners, wrong turns, need gas now warnings, cliffs, etc.)

Ironstone is hosting the 2016 Spring Daffodil Show for Northern California and they had barrels of beautiful bulbs blooming everywhere!

We will be heading back up there next weekend for the reception and opening of the Spring Obsession Art Show! Beautiful country this time of year.........

"The secret of getting ahead is getting started." --Mark Twain

The Sierra's

Song - Sierra by Boz Scaggs

Maybe it just

 wasn't

 meant to be a "traditional" vacation.

Playing Indians with my brothers & cousins

Every year since I was about five years old, I have always spent part of my summer in beautiful Lake Tahoe.

There is something so familiar and relaxing in those magnificent mountains, bright blue sky and clear lake.

But this year something was.....well.....amiss.

For starters, Mr. B developed an abscessed tooth and sinus infection and had to return to the Bay Area for a root canal and antibiotics.

But near the end of our vacation he was in fine form and even swimming his annual laps in the chilly waters of Lake Tahoe!

While Mr. B was gone there was a spectacular lightening storm with nonstop rolling thunder, a little rain & even some hail

Friends who were going to visit had to change their plans at the last minute but others came to visit and play.

Andy & Ashley

Some others were uninvited guests and tried to sneak off with our dinner!

Oh yeah, and there was the tragic Rim Fire near Yosemite that sent all of it's smoke our way.

 

Some days the smoke stayed over in the Carson Valley.

So for over two weeks we had little visibility not to mention ash falling on everything.

But the smoke did make for beautiful sunsets! 

And an eerie light most days.

You know the kind of light that happens when there is a eclipse?  

Well sort of like that only orange.

So not too many days were spent on the beach or taking hikes but I did manage to do a lot of painting, reading and even got in some Canasta hands!

Mr. B and I also happily celebrated our 34th Anniversary on the outdoor deck at Sunnyside!

One evening we went to the Ranger Station's Amphitheater to see McAvoy Layne do his incredible interpretation of Mark Twain. 

And there were more Bald Eagles than I have ever seen flying over the water, searching for fish in Lake Tahoe and then returning to their nesting grounds high in the trees near the beach.

All in all, we made the best of the situation and are glad to be breathing fresh air again!

 "At last the lake burst upon us--a noble sheet of blue water lifted six thousand three hundred feet above the level of the sea, and walled in by a rim of snow-clad mountain peaks that towered aloft three thousand feet higher still! As it lay there with the shadows of the mountains brilliantly photographed upon its still surface, I thought it must surely be the fairest picture the whole world affords." -- Mark Twain