How Time Flies...

While I only have a few days in Tomales Bay, coming home on Friday still provided me the weekend for chilling out. On Saturday I went to my friend's son's 6th birthday party. Let me just say this, kids can have fun in all sorts of environment. The birthday boy was supposed to have a pool party but the weather decided not to cooperate (in San Jose? Come on!!!). Rain and nippy temperatures pulled the party into the Pool House. Did this stop all those 4, 5 and 6 year olds from having a good time? Heck no. The big blow up wading pool SP bought was blown up and, even without water, the kids managed to have tons of fun. Just see the birthday boy below!


Sadly, the weekend went way too fast and before I knew it I was back to work. Sunday night I was trying to come up with some creative excuse I could use to get out of work. The winning idea was to just not go to work on Monday and when someone called to look for me I would say, in a surprised voice, "What do you mean it's Monday?" Needless to say, I didn't actually use the excuse. I dragged myself into work, back into the fray.

And the week wasn't just work. The parents arrived from the East Coast Tuesday night and basically every night I was doing something to entertain them. Of course I enjoy hanging out with them, but after a full day of work spending the evening socializing over and over is exhausting. By Friday I was done. On Saturday, however, I was having a BBQ, so there was little hope for a relaxing weekend. In all fairness, the BBQ was tons of fun. Everyone showed up, there was plenty of food, we drank too much, and my friends managed to clean out my backyard by burning everything they could find in my Weber. Any effort of mine to keep the fire down pretty much fell on deaf ears. Luckily my house is still standing.

So that's my catch up. Today I'm off to see In the Valley of Elah. I'm looking forward to it and will report back afterwards. I also finished the scarf I was making my stepmother. It's really pretty. I'll post a picture of it later.

Back at Home

I am back at home after my short break and already sorry to be home. I could have stayed in Tomales Bay a few days longer and been quite pleased with myself.

I put aside I Married a Communist for a bit because I picked up a new book at the bookshop in Pt. Reyes Station, called Sharp Objects. I just finished this morning -- just couldn't put it down. I would not say it was a great book by any stretch of the imagination, but it was riveting. Plot is fairly straight forward. Young woman reporter is sent by her editor back to her home in the middle of nowhere to investigate the deaths of two young girls. Of course our protagonist has all sorts of emotional issues, which are slowly revealed as she investigates the murders. As far as a whodunit type novel, this one was fairly predictable and I wasn't surprised by the outcome. What made the novel riveting was the main character's emotional state and her relationship with the other characters. If you like dark novels with psychological elements that you don't often find in books then you'll like this one. It was a fast read and, as I mentioned, it held my attention.

On another topic, I'm about halfway through knitting the scarf I'm making for my stepmother. Got the patter off knitty.com. It's a reversible cable scarf and the pattern is super easy. I'll be done in no time and will post a pic once it's complete. I wanted to do the scarf in a nice blue yarn, but nothing I found reached out to me so I finally selected a light grey yarn from Debbie Bliss - the cashmerino line. My stepmom wanted something soft and warm, not itchy. The cashmerino meets the requirement perfectly. Plus, it is very easy to work with.

Now I'm off to a cute six year old's birthday party. Should be fun.

Peace and Solitude

Not much happening up in the Tomales Bay area today. To make up for my insomnia the night before I slept late this morning and then had a leisurely breakfast. Chatted on the computer for a bit. Took a ride up to Bodega Bay for a late, though sadly uninspired lunch. Drove inland to Bodega with the hopes of finding the little gift shop inside the school house from The Birds open, but luck was not on my side. Back at the cottage I just spent the last hour and half sitting on the deck, reading a new book (Sharp Objects, by Gillian Flynn), drinking coffee (why do I always drink so much coffee when I'm on vacation?) and gazing at the view.

But there was one moment of excitement in my afternoon. It involved a cow. I was driving back from Bodega Bay and decided to stop and take a picture of a field of cows I had noticed on the way north. I got out of the car and walked over to the fence, all the while with this one particular cow watching me intently. I admit, there was suspicion in her eyes. She began to moo, a series of long, deeply expressive moo's and when she was through, a whole bunch of cows moo'd in reply. I decided to give it a try... maybe I could say something nice to them. Now, I confess, I'm no great moo'er, but I gave it my all. I even thrust my head out and made my throat long so I could get a nice, deep edge to the end of the moo.

The response to my efforts was even greater mooing -- was it in distress? Then, the cow who had been watching me ever since I pulled over, started to walk towards the fence. I wish I could say I was a brave, outdoorsy chic who waited for the cow to reach the fence so I could pet her, but I confess, the fence didn't look very strong and, well, frankly, cows are really big. I got in my car.


The cow, let's call her Belle, arrived at the fence and moo'd at me. I moo'd back. We had some pleasant words. I assured her I didn't eat beef (these did not seem to be milking cows, but what do I know about cows?) and that I had very few leather products. She didn't seem impressed. I assured her I would do my best to avoid buying cow hide in the future. I thought that would appease her, but she seemed determined that I proselytize the need to give up beef. So, you heard it first from me... right from the cows mouth, Belle says, "Don't eat beef."

I was sorry to leave her there. She really was a lovely cow.

Wind in my Hair

It was one windy day out in Pt. Reyes. I took the long drive from Marshall to Drake's Beach out in the Pt. Reyes National Seashore. I hadn't realized how vast the park was, but from Inverness, on the west side of Tomales Bay, it is still something like 13 miles to Drake's Beach, which is one of the beaches on Drake's Bay, named after Sir Francis Drake, who sailed up the west coast searching for a Northwest passage. The bay was actually originally named San Francisco Bay, but when the SF Bay was "discovered" by a group of explorers heading north up the coast the bay further north was renamed Drake's Bay.

While the weather was beautiful, the wind was a huge deterrent. I took a walk on the beach, but didn't stay long. Instead, I took my time driving back, stopping occasionally to take pictures or just to gaze at the wide openness of the area.


It was very bright out there... in the picture above you can barely make out the Pacific out in the distance because of the amount of light. But it was surely beautiful.

After being a nature tourist, I drove back to Pt. Reyes Station and wandered around a bit before heading back to the cottage for a quiet evening.

A Night out on Tomales Bay

Last night I went to Nick's Cove in Tomales Bay for dinner. Pat Kuleto refurbished the restaurant and several of the cottages there to allow for fine dining and elegant, but rustic, accommodations. The restaurant is located right on the bay and I had dinner in the covered porch area. I arrived early for dinner and the sun was still high in the sky, so I spent the next few hours eating and watching the sun slowly set. I wanted to take my time eating because there was a band performing that night (two guys with guitars and playing some lovely deep river blues) and they weren't starting until 7 pm and I didn't want to spend an hour twiddling my thumbs waiting for them -- I didn't have a book or any thing to write in and, being that I was alone, no one to talk to. So my focus was completely on my food and making the meal last as long as possible.

The food was comparable to what you would get at Kuleto's in SF. I wouldn't say it was excellent food, but it was good and the setting perfect, so I couldn't complain too much. I started off with a glass of chardonnay (Handerly) and the broiled Monterey sardines. The sardines were fantastic. They were served on pieces of french bread with some sort of mayonnaise aioli type spread and some olive tapenade in little bursts around the plate. The tapenade was lovely, but too potent to eat on the sardines, so I just ate it on its own or with some of the table bread. My only negative comment on the sardines was that there was too much aioli on the bread. I had to scrape off quite a bit. But the broiled sardines were terrific and I would order this dish again in a heartbeat.

My main course was salmon served over string beans and cannolini beans along with a butter sauce. The salmon was okay. Nothing spectacular, but certainly fine. It was a little on the bland side, but I suppose the goal was not to overpower the fish with too many other flavors. The problem was the salmon itself wasn't particularly flavorful. Maybe because it was the end of the season? In any event, it was still good, just not spectacular.

For dessert I went with a yellow peach crisp with a little scoop of vanilla ice cream. Again, this was okay, but not anything to write home about. I would have like it to be a bit warmer than it was. The ice cream was barely melting on top of the dessert. I did reaffirm that I'm not a huge peach dessert fan, but I can't complain too much about the crisp part. That was tasty. I gulped my espresso up in 3 sips, but resisted a second, and then had an after dinner drink as well. At the waitress's suggestion, I tried what was essentially a french pear brandy, but it was a bit too intense for me so I sent it back and went with a 10 year tawny. I had meant to go for the 20 year tawny, but for some reason 10 came out. It was a good port, though. A nice, rich burnished red with a great finish. Can't remember the brand, but if I hadn't been driving back to the cottage I can assure you I would have had another.

The only other thing worth mentioning was the service. My waitress was nice, but not in your face, and the young ladies bussing tables were attentive and kept my water glass full. All the folks who assisted me where polite and helpful, which is always a pleasure when dining out.

I returned to Ravensview with a full stomach and a tiny buzz and settled down to the evening with my knitting and some music. It was still early when I went to bed. All in all a relaxing first afternoon/evening in Tomales Bay, though insomnia did plague me my first night. Tonight shall be better. Now I am off to Drake's Bay.

Nevermore, quoth the Raven

I'm spending a few days at a lovely cottage on Tomales Bay, called Ravensview Cottage. I have been here all of two hours and feel I have been here forever. It is quiet except for the sound of birds -- including some rather vocal crows -- and the sound of the wind rushing through the trees. From the front deck I can see Tomales Bay shimmering nearby. I'll take pictures while I'm here and perhaps I'll be able to post one of them here, provided the new photo card reader thingie I bought works.

The drive from SF was a relaxing one as there was no real traffic (I left mid-day). The directions had me take Lucas Valley Ranch Road west, which proved to be a lovely winding ride. Most of the roads that head west from the 101 shift between being open to the hills to being covered with a canopy of trees. On a sunny day as today, those moments driving through the trees were sublime with bits of sun peaking here and there, with bursts of bright green intermixed with the dark browns of the trees and branches. I drove slower than usual, not wanting anything to cause me any unnecessary stress or anxiety. I didn't even allow myself to get aggravated with drivers going ridiculously slow.

The cottage is in the little town of Marshall. There isn't much here, but as the bay dominates the area, I can only that thank you that there are only a few buildings making up the town. I'm within walking distance of the town store and within driving distance of some of Northern California's most beautiful outdoors areas, Pt. Reyes National Seashore. While I am no big outdoors man, I do like the beaches and the ocean and expect to spend some time exploring some of the beaches around here. My first goal will be Drake's Beach and then, perhaps, Kehoe Beach. As long as I have water and wind I will be a happy person.

Once at the cottage, I spent time on the deck reading the rest of Oracle Night. All I have to say is wow. Paul Auster once again blows me away. The pace of the book, the growing tension. I sat there on the deck and at moments had to put the book down. While I was drawn into the book from the very beginning, the second half really takes the story to another level when the depth of the characters and the events that interweave their lives and experiences start to become more revealed. The story flows beautifully, but as I noted in my previous blog there is this notebook that has a sort of mystical quality about it that is pulling at my mind right now. I will need to think about it more before I can articulate its significance, but it is a weird twist to the book, as is the shopkeeper where the narrator finds the notebook.

I will leave it there for now. Perhaps tomorrow I shall have some insights worth sharing. In the meantime, I must decide which book to move on to next.

Oracle Night

I'm back in SF after an uneventful 5 1/2 hour drive from LA, stopping briefly at my brother's to pick up his new digital camera so I can play around with it over my much needed, however brief, vacation.

Speaking of vacation, one of the books I am reading right now, purchased just for my holiday, is Paul Auster's Oracle Night. If you have never read any of Auster's work, the time has come to pick one up. He is, in my opinion, one of the best American authors of the 20th and 21st centuries. Two of my favorites are Levithan and The Music of Chance (which was also made into a most excellent and disturbing film, with Mandy Patinkin and James Spader).

I am about half way through Oracle Night, and am totally hooked. If I don't finish it tonight, I'm sure I'll finish it tomorrow. The story revolves around an author recovering from an illness who purchases a notebook that seems to have some sort of magical quality to it, though just what is yet unclear. Paul Auster's writing has the kind of affect of pulling you quickly into the story and giving you the sense of walking beside the characters as they progress through the story. But they can also be dark as Auster doesn't shy away from touching on parts of the human psyche that can, at times, make the reader uncomfortable. While Auster isn't unique in this way for me, there are times when I feel like a peeping Tom, as though I am witnessing something I should not, as I read. It is easy to lose yourself in the lives and experiences of those you are reading about, whether they are real or fictional, and perhaps this is why I love reading as much as I do.

Driving I-5

I headed south to LA this weekend to visit friends of mine, including an old highschool friend I had not seen in many years. As I cruised down I-5, a seemingly never ending highway filled with 18-wheelers and surrounded by a dismal and uninspiring landscape, I was reminded of two of my pet peeves: slower drivers not staying to the right and failure to use turn signals.

I'm sure I'm not the only one to be irritated by these two notorious angst-causing driving behaviors. I try not to be bothered, but despite my efforts I am still aggravated. Don't people know to stay to the right unless they are actually passing traffic at that moment? Germans don't seem to have a problem understanding this concept and they drive much faster then we do (and I confess I am a fast driver). They might be going 180 kilometers per hour (about 110 miles/hr) but they stay to the right unless they are passing traffice. A shameless friend of mine once said to me in response to my ranting on this topic, "I'm going faster then the traffic in the right lanes, why should I have to move over just because there is no one there? Eventually I'm going to pass someone."

Uh, hello, knock knock anyone there? How about because I'm going faster then you?

Okay, and what about turn signals? Am I mind-reader that you don't need to use your turn signal?

I can't write anymore on this. I'm getting irritated just thinking about it and I need to stay calm as I will be heading north on I-5 in just an hour or so. I must meditate and achieve my inner peace so my 5 hour drive back to SF won't be filled with rage.