Gretchen and I made a trip to San Rafael again last Sunday to see the chalk art that a variety of artists had produced on the streets of that city. Chalk art is short-lived, but it is amazing what good work chalk artists can do, only to have the elements destroy it within days. San Rafael has been sponsoring a chalk art festival every year for the last several years. There are several others around the nation. If you get the chance, I'm sure you would enjoy the visit.Here are a couple samples from the show in San Rafael:
OUT TO THE COAST AGAINYesterday Dickie and I drove out to Bodega Bay to see what kinds of sights we could find to photograph.The first thing we saw was a flock of wild turkeys. Here was the leader of the flock. Doesn't he look fierce? I'm not sure if he was doing a mating dance or trying to pick a fight. Whatever, when he dragged his feathers on the asphalt, it made a menacing sound:
The next thing we came upon was a young deer casually grazing in a field not far from the roadside. I got this picture with my Olympus 10x zoom:
Just before we reached the ocean, we came upon this doe and her fawns. They scampered away, but I managed to get this shot:
The ocean was its awesome self, a little angry that day, but beautiful. This is the familiar view from Highway #1 north of Bodega Bay:
At the wharf behind the Tides Restaurant we found this sea lion and some of his friends sporting in the water and waiting patiently, or perhaps not so patiently, for a meal from one of the fishing boats:
Back at home I found this rose in our own front yard. It looked a bit lonesome, so I took its picture:
In the park a block away I came across dozens of butterflies flitting about the flowers. Here's one that allowed me to get up close and personal:
That's it for today.
The cartoonist, Charles Schultz, lived and worked in Santa Rosa for much of his adult life. Today the Santa Rosa Airport is named after him, there is also a fine museum dedicated to his memory, and, on the same grounds, an ice skating arena which was one of his gifts to the city.Recently, in Schultz's honor, some 55 Charlie Brown statues were commissioned and have been placed at various locations around town. Dickie and I have visited 18 of them at this point and hope to see them all eventually. Here are a couple samples:
On an evening this past week several of us Schmidt's got together to celebrate Mary Szecsey's birthday at a restaurant on the Old Courthouse Square in downtown Santa Rosa. That's how we happened to take the picture below since this is one of several statues now located in or near the Old Courthouse Square:
For those who are interested and able to look around, there are maps of the locations available at the Visitors Center in Railroad Square and at the Doghouse in the Courthouse Square. Plans are to bring all 55 of the statues to the Courthouse Square during the last two weeks of September for public viewing.
