Last California Day

Waxing moon, late afternoon, with palm tree.

We are wondering -- if we paint our house in Anchorage with these California colors, will we always feel that we are in the land of blue skies and flowers?

Freeways, going from Berkeley to the Stanford Mall. This is about the last we'll see of them for a while.

Industrial lines and shapes -- cell tower, loading cranes, bridges. We won't be seeing much of them in Alaska either.

Egret in the marsh adjacent to the industry.

Walker on a trail near the marshes.

Dumbarton Bridge, from the East Bay over to the Palo Alto area.

Our destination for the morning was the Stanford Mall, for last minute shopping. At 11:30 on Sunday morning, it was rather quiet. When we left around 2:00 p.m., lines were forming outside the more popular restaurants, and the  walkways bustled with people in spring clothes, Sunday dresses, and casual summer wear.

A woman relaxing in one of many comfortable chairs scattered around the open areas of the mall.

Mall fountain using "reclaimed and recycled water."

Man with cute dogs by another set of fountains.

I confess to taking way too many pictures of flowers because dozens of well-kept plantings all around the mall made them easily available. There were so many beautiful fresh blossoms on tree, shrubs, in planters. Nothing much in the way of weeds though -- Stanford Mall is well manicured.

Pansy and Cyclamens (Shooting Stars).

Azalea or rhododendron.

Not sure what the flowers with several tones are -- a form of Ranunculus?

A multi-flowered iris.

Pink poppies, white poppies, and ??

A vine with very large trumpet flowers.

A black-headed, rusty-backed small bird. Cathy White knows what all of these birds are, and will let me know soon.

Fiddleheads from Northern California at Sigona's market.

Mushrooms at Sigona's.

Afternoon crowd in front of Macy's.

Loaves of bread at La Baguette, the French bakery in the Mall. By mid-afternoon, the line extended well outside into the mall.

Delicacies at La Baguette.


We moved on, to El Camino Real near Jim's cousin's home, the road that delivers you unto the retailers of Menlo Park.

Feldman's book store has thousands of used books and a small, covered courtyard with a fountain and places to sit and read. We bought books there, and more at Kepler's downtown.

Buddhist goddess on horse, reading a small journal, in the window at Feldman's.

A rhododendron with two different colors of blooms.

Jim with the English phone booth by the train station.

A stained glass window at the train station.

A red-leaved tree n the late afternoon sun.

Jim's cousin Nancy and her husband Don Barnby -- another cousin on Jim's side of the family wanted to see them. They have most generously hosted us for several days of this trip, and just this evening cooked a wonderful meal for us. It's a pleasure to see them.

Dogwood with curled-together flowers.

Tulip in the throes of its last flourishes, with pansies.

Potted palms at the Stanford Mall. Waiting for the day when we can plant them alongside the birch trees in Anchorage.