Sutro Tower

click either picture for a wider view

Fog Sunset

Thick afternoon fog transforms sunset into a dusty orange descent.

more haunting view

Alcatraz - A Foggy View

Most of the commercial shots you see of Alcatraz are from the San Francisco side of the Bay where you view the infamous prison island out in the middle of the Bay. From my perspective Alcatraz looks to be close to the Golden Gate Bridge, in fact, there are a couple of miles of open water between the island and the bridge.

History books often talk about the 'torture' of seeing and even hearing the sights and sounds of San Francisco from the prison.

Imagine further, the prison completely buried in the fog.

closer views

Golden Gate in Fog

The Golden Gate Bridge is nearly ten miles from my window. The zoom lens brings it closer and the fog takes it mysteriously away.

Bigger, clearer, closer views - click here

A Louring Sky

louring - to be overcast, dark, menacing

[larger more ominous views]

louring - to look angry, sullen or threatening

louring - a menacing scowl or appearance

Finally Fog!

And with the fog - some rain our drought plagued hills and dales, figs and grapes need.

[foggier view]

We'll get enough moisture to water local bushes and shrubs but not nearly what we need to fill the reservoirs.

The key to our year-round water supply is snowpack in the Sierras. Right now we are hovering around 15% of normal. Estimates are we would need snowfall every day through April to get back to full. In the meantime, rainy days are my favorite days - particularly this day.

High Sky

larger view

Many years ago my neighbor was a astronomy buff. He would be out in his backyard whenever some significant event was happening in the heavens. And since his knowledge was far beyond mine, the significant events were often very cool and I got to see many of them through his telescope. Early one evening he was out watching a colorful sunset. Over the back fence he told me about the phenomenon he called "High Sky." Quite simply you have clouds and a setting sun that is blocked from a direct view by more low clouds on the horizon. This allows the sun to indirectly illuminate the other parts of the cloud cover and gives up long, colorful displays. We had one of those recently.

You can see all of these photos larger by clicking the link above and scrolling with the left arrow.