no turning back

[lytton ave]

here we go into 

the future (as if we didn't 

do that every day). farewell, 

2008.

tunes and wheels

[university ave at kipling st]

december pastiche at 

the apple store downtown

late december autumn

[hamilton ave between bryant & ramona]

believe it or not, this is not another 

photo from the archives: this is city hall 

on the 29th of december. 

not exactly a winter wonderland, is it?

guess how many millions

[near downtown]

forgive me: i'm experiencing something 

of a new-photo drought; here's one from 

the archives, taken in early october:

a fairly typical palo alto house

(i love the shapes and delicate colors on this one)

twins

[palo alto caltrain station]

they're no match for 

the catbus, sure, but

they do have a certain 

feline quality, i think

left

[palo alto caltrain station]

fair california, i have

not abandoned you. i'm

coming home soon.

jaunty

[palo alto caltrain station]

three days before christmas

on the way to the airport

on the way to the other coast

to spend the days with family

among hibernating trees and under cooler skies

happy holidays & happy skywatching!

silent night

"And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not." [John 1:5]

Y es hermosa la luna solitaria, 
la blanca luna en la estrellada noche 
negra cual la abundosa cabellera 
negra del nazareno. Blanca luna 
como el cuerpo del Hombre en cruz, espejo 
del sol de vida, del que nunca muere. 
Los rayos, Maestro, de tu suave lumbre 
nos guían en la noche de este mundo 
ungiéndonos con la esperanza recia 
de un día eterno. Noche cariñosa, 
¡oh noche, madre de los blandos sueños, 
madre de la esperanza, dulce Noche, 
noche oscura del alma, eres nodriza 
de la esperanza en Cristo salvador! 

[Miguel de Unamuno, El Cristo de Velázquez]

Wherever you may be in the world, I send you warm wishes for a very merry Christmas.

protected by borges

[university ave]

i'm not quite sure what a security system 

by borges might entail: 

several circular walls, perhaps, 

or a series of forking paths 

that must be navigated before the entrance? 

red and green

[middlefield rd, redwood city]

california flora, 

nonchalantly dressed up for christmas

(okay, okay, so this is redwood city, 

not palo alto. give me a break, please? 

it's pretty close. and 

i've been at the airport all day.)

nocturne

[hamilton ave at ramona st]

staying up way past delirium

cleaning the floors

wandering outdoors

overdosing on podcasts

packing my bags...

o christmas tree

[inside the university art annex, hamilton ave at ramona st]

alternatives (or additions) to the

traditional living breathing greenery

on display at this artsy gift shop

glub glub

[bike/pedestrian underpass, california ave]

under the train tracks,

under the sea...

magic trick

[alvarado row, stanford]

what's this? the sky—

it's vanished! where did it go?

i'll bet we can find it at skywatch...

going nowhere

[webster st at coleridge ave]

stop
look around
go
no not that way
turn around
go
stop
go
on
and on

meow

[university ave]

sometimes you just can't not
stop to take a picture

it was cold today

[stanford ave in august]

here's a reminder of warmth

lights, please

[university ave at ramona st]

a cold, rainy, gloomy,
curl-up-and-do-nothing
kind of day was today
(not when i took this photo,
but it fits the mood)

be alert

[webster st]

illuminated

[memorial church, stanford]

façade with a halo of sunlight

twilight cloaked in conifers

[webster st at hamilton ave]

look east

[view from hoover tower, stanford]

in the foreground, stanford football stadium; beyond,
a thin strip of the san francisco bay. cross
the dumbarton bridge into the east bay hills, and
on into the horizon...

fading season

[main quad, stanford]

getting chilly around here,
dropped below forty degrees fahrenheit
last night (that's cold for around here).
most trees are bare by now (except
the evergreens, of course); this one still had most
of its leaves just a couple of weeks ago.

summer color on a winter day

[middlefield rd]

spotted on an aimless and
disillusioned wandering
in late november

ice cubes

[gates bldg reflected on hewlett bldg, stanford]

normally at this time of year, i would
use "ice cubes" to refer to the weather
somehow. but it's not quite that cold here.
just an aesthetic reminiscence in this
building (do you sense a theme in the names
on this part of campus?)

larger than a garden gnome

[melville ave near alma st]

i don't know anything about this
sculpture, and i am especially
in the dark as to why it includes what
appears to be a humanoid figure without
a head. but the fact that someone has this
giant piece of metal in their front yard made it
photoworthy enough for me.

sticks and stones

[main quad, stanford]

scarlet foliage glowing

on an autumn morning

sail away

[webster st at coleridge ave]

the weather's nice,
the surface calm and smooth:
good day for a skywatching voyage!

meet me on the roof

[rooftop of green library viewed from hoover tower, stanford]

last week of classes: need a
break from studying? tiptoe
away from your carrel hidden
in the corner, slip between the
shelves past vonnegut, vollmer,
vizenor, vidal, then glide down
the aisle between udall through
updike and hemingway through
hinton, steinbeck through
stowe and faulkner through
fitzgerald, and sail up the spiral
staircase into the gazebo crown, out
through liquid french windows and a-
light on the sundeck. i'll be
there.

trio

[melville ave near alma st]

sometimes i wish i lived in
a bigger city, busier, more noise
and bustle going on around
me, but then again
ensembles like this can be
nice company, too

look a-round (it's a glorious place, this)

[stanford campus and santa cruz mountains as seen from hoover tower]

whoops, i blew it and forgot
to register in time for
december theme day. (can you believe
it's december already??) so here's
another unofficial theme-day post.

this month's theme is circles/spheres.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

good news

[bryant st at embarcadero]

i haven't, as i had
feared, completely forgotten how
to ride a bike. (and
lucky for me, this town's pretty
bike-friendly, too.)

round the corner

[webster st (obviously) at coleridge ave]

pause briefly to reflect
on the road you have traveled, feel
the solid ground beneath you, check
for opposing traffic, slowly round
the corner onto a
new road, in a
new direction, and
move on.

bored with clear skies yet?

[main quad looking toward hoover tower, stanford]

if you have been here
before, you will have noticed that
bright
blue
spotless
skies
form the normal backdrop. well,
look closely today and
you'll find a spot. a spot
with wings.

visit skywatch and you'll find
a variety of views to
cure the boring-blank-sky blues
(not that i'm complaining!)

for this i am thankful

[somewhere above stanford ave, i believe]

'i think i'll always feel at
home under the trees,' i told him, and
he smiled. it's true, though i only
recently discovered it. i grew
up surrounded by greenery, beneath
a canopy alive with whispering leaves and
chattering birds, wistful avian songs my
soundtrack, glittering fireflies illuminating black
foliage in syncopated rhythm while i try to keep
track, keep
up with the universal symphony, keep
an eye on the conductor.

the trees they are part
of me, their roots are
my roots and so how joyous to live
once more in their embrace.

not-so-friendly rivalry

[white plaza, stanford]

another scene from big game week: red
(or shall we say cardinal) dye
colors several campus fountains, and
here a poor cal teddy bear finds
himself in a fatal run-in with "the claw"

not a secret rivalry

[old union, stanford]

finally took the campus tour last

friday, day before the big game. banners

all over campus emblazoned with the

general sentiment of stanford football

fans. (i don't even know who won.)

symbols of a bygone era?

[by green library, stanford]

i stop to wonder why
someone has graced the pavement with
an endearing chalk rendition of
pika-
chu!
then
i think it doesn't really
matter, i smile, take a
picture, and walk on

fantastical creatures underfoot

[by green library, stanford]

about a month ago i found
myself in curious company
in an alley behind
the library (pikachu
was nearby. anybody
recognize this guy?)

polychromatic

[webster st near hamilton ave]

if you want to park your
car in downtown palo alto, you
could find yourself navigating a
rainbow of purple, lime,
blue, coral (those are the colors i've
spotted so far. who knows but
that right around the corner i might
find goldenrod or aquamarine
or tangerine!)

morning moon

[university ave & mitchell ln]

clear skies in
november (can it really be
almost winter?) and
a distant lunar
fingerprint on the canvas

keep watching the skies!

stay a while

[cowper inn bed & breakfast, cowper st at forest ave]

over a century old, elegant
craftsman style, exuding
cabin-in-the-woods and yet just
around the corner from
our bustling little downtown
(anyone want to come visit?)

flora mixta

[webster st]

cactus. surrounded by
pine needles. welcome to
california.

not your typical road sign

[somewhere along stanford ave in august]

preserving greenery
protecting new growth
promoting absurdity

is this place real?

[main quad, stanford]

i mentioned to a colleague that it is sort of
funny that i ended up at a university again
just when i thought that i would take a
break from that world, not set foot on
a college campus for at least a few
years. his reply: "sure, but stanford is
more like a country club than a university!" i mean,
just look at it.

this is your captain speaking

[center for turbulence research, stanford university]

we're coming up on
some bumpy air; please return
to your seats and keep your
seatbelts fastened

what color was your day?

[park blvd, i think]

the weather today was
gorgeous, sunny and eighty
degrees in november. golden saturday
morning overflowing with
brightness, afternoon turning sour
lemon. golden. yellow.

floating

[alma st over university ave]

travel a world of celestial
vistas: flights now departing
from the skywatch portal

despite the warnings...

[palm drive, stanford]

...i've decided to get a bike.

one too many instances of

dissonance between mine and

the shuttle's schedules, and

the time has come. i hope

that what they say about never

forgetting how to ride a bike is

true (it's been at least a decade

and a half).