Gopher-proof

Santa Cruz, California

Until the gophers figure out how to use wire cutters, they won't be able to get into my raised beds. A couple of winters ago, they ate about half my garlic crop.

More Buenos Aires buses

Buenos Aires, Argentina

The school buses in Buenos Aires are pretty fancy -- like city buses with comfortable seats. And they're orange, not yellow.

Buenos Aires

Many of the Buenos Aires buses have this weird thing attached to the wheels. It turns out it's a device that keeps the tires inflated to the optimum pressure automatically.

East and West pickups

Somerville, Massachusetts

Santa Cruz, California

Another pickup from Art of Steel

Santa Cruz, California

Garden: January 2018

Santa Cruz, California

Carrots, scallions, romanesco just harvested.

Walker Evans, time, and angle parking

As I noted here several years ago, Walker Evans liked angle parking. Here's Greensboro, Alabama:

Greensboro, county seat of Hale County, Alabama. 1935 or 1936. Walker Evans for the Farm Security Administration.

Google street view lets us check out what these places look like now. They still have angle parking -- Yay! But it looks like C.A. Johnson and Son is gone (the corner lot is now empty -- here's a link to the street view image). The rooflines of the third and fourth buildings on the left confirm that this is the same block. Walker Evans had a better angle though -- he must have shot from second floor or the roof of one of the buildings on the right side of this block. And the cars were way cooler.

Greensboro, Alabama. Google Street View, January 2017.

Laguna Torre review

El Chaltén, Patagonia

Three years ago today, I hiked to Laguna Torre in El Chaltén, Patagonia with Annie and Libby (thanks to Google Photos for the reminder). It was a cold summer day with a light snow flurry while we were on the trail. When we got to the lake, it was cold and windy but beautiful in a bleak way. Previous hikers had built some primitive rock walls to shelter themselves from the wind. They came in handy for us.

Laguna Torre, Patagonia

It wasn't until we left El Chaltén on a clear day that I realized the view we had missed at Laguna Torre that day:

Cerro Torre from Laguna Torre. Photo: Stefan Straub (from Wikimedia Commons)

Art of Steel 2

Santa Cruz, California

A cloudy day in Santa Cruz. See Art of Steel for this pickup as a work-in-progress.

Winter Garden: September, October

Santa Cruz, California

Santa Cruz, California

Harvest

Santa Cruz, California

Garden in September

Santa Cruz, California

 I added a raised bed in the front yard for some winter vegetables, because it will get far more sun than the back. Ready for planting:

Santa Cruz, California

Eclipse 2017

One of my colleagues made a great pinhole viewer from a long and narrow Amazon box. Here's an image of today's eclipse:

Solar eclipse. Mountain View, California

My cereal-box viewer worked too. The image was brighter, but much smaller.

Pinhole eclipse viewer. Santa Cruz, California

I dug through my Mom's slides last night, and found these ones from our eclipse expedition to the total eclipse in Virginia Beach in 1970. We made some really big pinhole viewers for the trip:

Virginia Beach, Virginia (photos by Angela Bacher)

Glamping in Moab

Moab, Utah

After a cold night at high altitude in a two-person tent at Cedar Breaks, Ben and I spent the evening at Under Canvas in Moab. Our tent had a comfy king-size bed, a carpet, and night tables with solar-powered phone chargers (you can see the solar panel at the end of the ridgepole)! We also discovered the joys of 3.2% beer. We took our chairs out to the slickrock ledge behind our tent, split a six-pack and watched the Perseid meteor shower.

Photographer at Dead Horse Point

Moab, Utah

Photographer and filmmaker Ben Bacher at Dead Horse Point in the Utah canyonlands.

Garden in August

Santa Cruz, California

The tomatoes are going nuts now.

Moore cows

Moore Creek Preserve, Santa Cruz, California

Garden in July

Santa Cruz, California

Moore Creek Fog

Looking toward the Pacific Ocean from Moore Creek Preserve before the fog burns off. See other Moore Creek posts for comparison.

Santa Cruz, California

Moore Creek Canyon

Moore Creek Canyon, Santa Cruz, California

(Click the photo for the full-sized view.)

Art of Steel

Santa Cruz, California

For a little balance, here's a Ford (and my dad was a Ford man too):

Mountain View, California