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2022 – Happy New Year

Serene Lakes at Soda Spring

Much to be thankful for in this New Year and much to be wary about.  Let’s start with the thankful. Snow in the Sierra! Below is an after (Jan 4) and before (Nov 28) satellite photo of snow around Lake Tahoe.

That is a lot of snow! For December, 2021 in California it is officially 210 inches give or take a few feet and plus or minus 80 inches if the plows came by.

Playing in the Snow

I grew up in snow. I love snow. I even enjoy shoveling snow. Thanks to some gracious friends we were able to get up to Donner Pass the last week of December 2021. Below are some photos.

Thus concludes the pleasant part of this post.

Treachery and the Great Downfall of American Democracy

Treachery and greed is the way these days. The slow, methodical deterioration of American democracy. The coup attempts. The regrouping of white nationalists. Henchmen running free, disobeying court summons at the highest level of government. Many people would assert that the whole system was rigged from the beginning – the racist concept of the electoral college, the overwhelming influence of the rich, corporations and big money, the federal reserve. The travails are many, but at least in an earlier time period the notion of decency was a virtue.  The truth mattered.

This trend towards fascism has been written about by many of the major mainstream progressive magazines. The Atlantic started having pieces about this six months ago and recently has devoted an entire issue to it.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/toc/2022/01/

The Crystal Ball

I see the 2022 and 2024 elections down the road like a car wreck in slow motion. It is night. A car is parked on a hill without the emergency brake on.  All is well until a storm blows in and a breeze picks up in the middle of the night. The sky turns dark. The carload  of Treachery and Greed slowly begins to move, inch by inch, making it’s way gradually faster and faster, down the hill.  We all look on in disbelief. At the bottom sit the Statue of Liberty, the Lincoln Monument, the Capital buildings of Wisconsin and Georgia all gazing innocently off into space. With a loud crash the out of control car knocks over every one.  I wake up.  It’s 2022 my friend. Be well and Happy New Year!

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Minneapolis to Madison by Bicycle

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Surfing Ocean Beach in the Winter

Recently some very large swell hit Northern California. December 4, 2020 was probably the biggest day of the year so far with waves peaking at probably around 25 feet. The following day, December 4, 2020 I ventured to the beach to take some photos and surf. These are photos from around 9 am to 11 am at Ocean Beach in San Francisco when the waves were about 7 feet at 14 seconds. Fortunately, even though there is a raging pandemic, surfing appears to be a safe activity. As the saying goes, once you leave the beach, you are in the wild.

Some sequences of rides

Ride 1
Surfing Ocean Beach in the Winter Surfing Ocean Beach in the Winter Surfing Ocean Beach in the Winter Surfing Ocean Beach in the Winter

Ride 2
Surfing Ocean Beach in the Winter
Surfing Ocean Beach in the Winter
Surfing Ocean Beach in the Winter

At the beach (the little black things on the waves are indeed humans)

 

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Haight Ashbury Music and Wise Surfboards Closing

Happy New Year! Out with the old, in with the new! It is 2020, a number with a perfect ring. Even. Clear and surely a year that will be remembered as long as we are on the planet –  which according to the latest reports may not be that long.

What will hopefully be remembered are two great San Francisco stores, Haight Ashbury Music Center  and Wise Surfboards – both are closing.  (Haight Ashbury Music will be open until January 20, 2020.)

Haight Ashbury Music Center and Wise Surfboards were essentially unsustainable, competing with eCommerce and the internet.  Retail can be a pretty cut-throat world and eventually even Walmart will feel the heat.

PART 1: Haight Ashbury Music

“Haight Ashbury Music Center got it’s start on Haight Street in 1972. Hundreds of famous — and thousands of not-so-famous! — great musicians have walked through our doors over the years. Along with thousands of student players just starting out. Unlike many of the big-box retailers, we’re a locally owned music store and have been under the same management for over 30 years.”– https://haightashburymusic.com/about/

The quote above kind of says it all. A neighborhood music store started at a time when a lot of famous musicians lived within a few blocks and surely Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin and Jerry Garcia walked through the front door.  Rock and Roll was everywhere. Haight Ashbury Music carried all kinds of instruments – even wind instruments. Many a time I have found myself in Haight Ashbury Music  buying a  harmonica in a weird key for some gig in a hour.  It was an excellent shop with a great vibe and will be missed. RIP.

PART 2: Wise Surfboards

Wise Surfboards has had many locations out in the Sunset neighborhood of San Francisco. For many years the store had a seemingly endless quantity of excellent surfboards, all with their beautiful clean decks pointed towards the sky. Long boards that everyone would drool over – all out of our price range. The place was hopping. Wise Surfboards is where surfers in San Francisco would buy their boards and wetsuits. The last time I went in the place it was dead with not a single customer. I made my way to the third floor and bought a surf hoodie for the cold Ocean Beach waters and knew the days were numbered.

Part of the fabric of the San Francisco surf scene will be forever altered. Wise Surfboards hosted many community events. The great big wave surfer Fred Van Dyke once did a book signing. Surfboard shapers would give talks about surfboard design. Sometimes Wise would even screen new surf movies. In the morning you could call a number and they would give you the surf report. You got to know the voices and it was odd when you finally met the person face to face. Sort of like seeing a radio host for the first time. One day a young employee was on surf report duty and had the brilliant idea to tell the world that the surf was terrible when it a was actually very good.  He had the day off and was heading out to go surf and he did not want a crowd in the line-up.  Bob Wise, was a bit perturbed as I remember, True story.

http://www.wisesurfboards.com/

So If you are in San Francisco heading to the ocean, plan ahead. Bring your wax and an extra leash. Pretty soon there may not be a single surf shop out by the beach.

 

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The 2019 World Series and a Geography Lesson Ignored

It is October 30th, 2019 and the Washington Nationals have won the World Series in seven games over the Houston Astros. The winning coach, Dave Martinez is the first manager of Puerto Rican decent to win a World Series. Washington has not won a World Series since they were the Washington Senators in 1930. This years’  Washington Nationals won all their games in the Astros’ ballpark. In any major sport, the visiting team always winning away games in a series playoff is a first. Baseball, though there are but four bases and one simple objective – to run around them and get home, always has a way of  discovering the unusual and the unlikely.

One thing that was not unusual and unlikely, but clearly in view, were all the Latinos on both teams. The list of countries are many –  Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Dominican Republic and even Brazil.

Houston Astros 40 Man Roster
5 Cubans
3 Dominicans
2 Mexicans
1 Puerto Ricans

Washington Nationals 40 Man Roster
1 Cuban
5 Dominicans
2 Venezuelans
1 Brazilian

That the Fox news coverage just ignored the geographic and cultural origins of these professional baseball players that come from the West Indies was strange but perhaps predictable for a network that  is often xenophobic and has an uncanny ability to ignore the obvious. It was a great learning moment lost. North Americans’ knowledge about geography has for many years been very poor.

Let’s review a map of the Caribbean

That about a quarter of all the players in the 2019 MLB World Series came from the Caribbean. One can just imagine these players as kids being outside all day, playing with whatever gear was available. Perhaps at times rags or socks for the ball. A broomstick for the bat.

Besides players that were born in the Caribbean, many players were of Latino decent. Anthony Rendon is a third generation Mexican-American from the visiting teams hometown of Houston, Texas. I think that Rendon should have been named the  MVP of the series. His incredible Zen-like detachment was amazing to behold. It did not matter whether he hit a home run or struck out, he maintained the same steady detached demeanor – in the midst of the unknown, tranquility was not to be disturbed. Marcus Aurelius, the great Stoic philosopher would have enjoyed his approach.  George Springer on the Astros, while raised in Connecticut, has Latino roots. His father’s family is from Panama and is mother is Puerto Rican. There were probably more examples, but that is what I found.

The baseball season is over, the autumn chill is in the air and winter is around the corner.

There were three men down
And the season lost
And the tarpaulin was rolled
Upon the winter frost – Night Game – Paul Simon

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The San Francisco Quarterly Report – March 2019

Weather

Since the last report there has been extreme weather. Late in 2018 a fire season began that was massive. Whole neighborhoods in Santa Rosa burned to the ground. The city of Paradise in the Sierra foothills burned to the ground. There were massive fires in southern California and all up and down the coast. In San Francisco the smoke was so thick you had to wear a mask to breath outside. From San Francisco, Oakland was not visible.

Then on Thanksgiving Day the rains came and it was a gift from the heavens. Since then the rain and storm dump on the Sierra. Snow-pack is at 150% of normal. For people who like to hike up to the tops of mountains and ski down – that activity will be available until the end of June. We are just now beginning to dry out.

Politics

Governor Jerry Brown has retired and been replaced with the former mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom. Jerry Brown has been a great public servant, and we will miss his generally good judgement, candid sense of humor, honesty and fiscal skills – why Republicans get the moniker of being fiscal conservatives when they always drive federal and state governments in to debt is strange.  Jerry leaves Governor with money in the bank. We know that with Gavin, at least we now have a Governor with way better hair but certainly less brains. Let us pray that Gavin uses good judgement. We know he has no sense of humor.

Sporting News

I do not pay attention of professional sports so this is about the local sports. The skiing is fantastic, there is plenty of snow. Biking is off the charts when you can hit a clear day after a rain, 50 degree weather. Great light.  Light winds. The surfing is off the charts with many head-high and overhead days with off-shore winds and long period swells.

Surf in Norther California – 2019

San Francisco Construction Boom

A few photos of San Francisco and the changing skyline. Building all over town is extensive. The new Warriors stadium is looking like it is on schedule. Warehouses are being torn down. Condos are being built in record time.

Below are the new buildings around 3rd Street. The Warriors new stadium is almost done. UCSF has an entire campus. Kaiser and a lot of medical, pharmaceutical and biotech companies abound. Not a single corner store anywhere in sight but massive concrete parking garages for all the wealthy professionals driving in from Marin and Walnut Creek.

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Mavericks Surf Spot Breaking

There is a large period swell hitting the West Coast of California this week. The Mavericks  Surf Contest may take place on Thursday (1/18/2018) but that does not mean people aren’t surfing all week. The photo above is from Monday morning. If you want to see the waves get a Surfline subscription or head on down to Half Moon Bay with some binoculars.  Afterwards, I recommend the Princeton Harbor Public House and Grill.

http://www.surfline.com/surf-report/mavericks-northern-california_4152/

 

 

 

 

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The San Francisco Surf Report – November & December 2017

The end of 2017 has seen some very clean but small surf. Usually by December most days are double overhead. This year we have a high pressure system over the Pacific Ocean, what they are now calling the Ridiculously Resilient Ridge.  This is the weather pattern that we had for many years starting in around 2013 and the years of drought. There is not too much snow up in the Sierra and it looks to be pretty much a dry year.

Drought years are almost always good surf years. The surf becomes tamer, chest to head high, and without all the storms there are more days to surf. Below are some shots from one of my favorite places along Ocean Beach in San Francisco. The crowds on good days get a bit too much but there is a lot of joy out there in the water. There is also  a mystery spot gallery down the coast.

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November 5, 2017

November 18 and 19, 2017

December 2, 2017 – Mystery Spot

December 7, 2017

December 10, 2017

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News from San Francisco – Quarterly Report

The Weather

While the rest of the country is experiencing some pretty strange weather with the Hurricanes in the south and the cold in the north, here in San Francisco we have had two weeks of heat. While the heat records were broken in early September, the heat has not really subsided. Presently it is pretty muggy out there and as I write this I hear thunder and see lighting, both pretty infrequent in San Francisco on the coast.

Two weekends ago, starting September 1, the temperature rose to over 105 degrees and set all-time heat records for San Francisco and fortunately the waves at the coast were only about 3 feet high. The beach was packed and little kids were jumping and playing in the waves. Probably a weekend they will never forget. You could surf without a wetsuit and many went out simply for a swim in the ocean just to cool down. Try that in January my friends.

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Construction and More Construction

While the tearing down of warehouses and the building of modern luxury condos continues at an alarming rate, everyone is simply trying to figure out how long it will take to finish the top of the Salesforce tower. This tower looms large and is visible from all over the city, but the top, last tip is taking forever to complete. What are they debating? Circumcised or uncircumcised? All glass or steel plates? Flags or no flags? Whatever happens no-doubt Mark Benioff will be up there peering down upon the hospital named after him and the rest of the city and thinking up new ways to leverage all the customer data he has in the vaults.

The Old-time San Francisco Does Exist

Contrary to many old salts, the old bohemian edge does still exist, you just have to know where to look. Most of the techies are oblivious to some of the amazing music talent in this town. You simply have to know where to go. Apologies to those looking for advice on the matter, as I like the places just as crowded as they already are – filled with old friends.

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Skiing on June 15th in the Sierra Nevada Mountains

I have always wanted to ski late in the year during a big snow year. 2017 was that year. It is a truly amazing experience to hike up and ski off the top of a mountain in 70 degree weather. The sun bright and hot. The snow hard but not yet slushy in the morning.

We made our way up to the top of this undisclosed mountain along the Pacific Crest Trail. A mile in we ran into a group of six hikers with packs. As usual custom along hiking trails we stopped and drank some water and chatted a bit. These were six people hiking the PCT all the way from Mexico to Canada. They had all started out doing the hike solo but formed a group over time. One person from Oregon. Another from Albuquerque. Another from Israel and another from New York. I asked them if they could let me know one of their most essential tools in their pack. Something they value most of all and could not do without. They first said what all people who backpack say. “Just too much shit. You do not need much in the end.”  Then they stood and pondered and then one of the older hikers said, “You pack your fears. If you are afraid of being thirsty, you carry too much water. If you fear hunger, you pack too much food. If you are afraid of being cold, you pack too many clothes.” Some heavy trail knowledge – just in the nick of time.

“You pack your fears. If you are afraid of being thirsty, you carry too much water. If you fear hunger, you pack too much food. If you are afraid of being cold, you pack too many clothes.”

Hiker on the Pacific Crest Trail

We kept heading up the mountain. At times using skins and skis. At other times hiking straight up. We made it to the top and ate lunch. The top of the mountain is a unusual place. Life was exploding with bugs, birds, rodents, birds and butterflies. 9100 feet. At one point  a tiger swallowtail butterfly cruises by and you have to wonder what she is doing at the top of the world.

Here are some photos from that magical day.

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