Back in the old days, a PSA flight between Sacramento & LA and cost about $24, as I recall. You could walk onto the plane just before the doors closed, and actually, that was the best thing to do. Life was simpler. Who could have known. But at least now, airports are beautiful.
Did you know that there’s a troll on the old Bay Bridge?
It was created by the original steel workers as a good luck charm. It’s just under the upper railing facing north, about midway.
Link to photo slideshow: construction site
For my second op-ed contribution to California Forum in the Sacramento Bee, I satisfied a long time curiosity about Alcatraz. About 10 years ago, I went to a lecture by the famous landscape architect, Lawrence Halprin who had designed many fabulously impressive urban fountains and projects. He was working on landscape & garden plans for Alcatraz and the whole project sounded so interesting. Finally, I was able to visit, though sadly, the late Mr. Halprin’s contribution was closed to protect breeding birds.
On a Wednesday morning, I met Shelagh Fritz, the head gardener, at the staff boat near Pier 39. Fritz researches the history of the gardens through photographs and testimony that includes the crucial participation by inmate gardeners. She interprets the relationship between the human contributions and the natural environment, the birds, animals, plants, habitat and the distinct microclimates of this spectacular but very brutal place. Sponsored by a partnership between the Garden Conservancy, the National Parks Conservancy and the National Park Service, this remarkable young woman guides a team of passionate volunteers devoted to cultural and natural history.
With over 22,000 hours of labor, volunteers have removed layer upon layer of debris as new discoveries are made. An old rose, a fragrant Iris, a garden caught in time, revealing magical treasures. With restoration, preservation and sustainability as the goal, Dick Minor represents the degree of knowledge and passion of the volunteers. A former microbiologist and researcher at UCSF, he has created a sophisticated composting waste management system. Instead of hauling all waste off the island, Dick’s award winning potion of horse manure and by-products from the Anchor Steam brewing process generates material that returns to the soil of Alcatraz. Gulls like him because he provides them with particularly succulent worms. I found another volunteer hovering over a fat banana slug handing from a strand. Corny Foster, a former management consultant, knows a lot about gardens and birds. Both Foster and Minor demonstrate a sense of stewardship and the pride of participating in living history.
To learn more about this vital place in California’s history, visit the links below.
To learn more about the 100 Spanish families who settled in the Winters area in the early 1900′s, read “An American Paella,” by Gloria Lopez.
A selection of prior California sketches and projects:
My work has always taken me to very interesting places, researching on the road and in books.
Travel sketches, California and beyond
California Projects (and beyond)
Political cartoons, published and not published, Sacramento Bee: my relationship with the Bee started in
2000, with the publication of my first image commentary, “Valley Vistas.”
A selection of prior California blog entries:
Curiosity has never failed to lead me to unexpected places. Meandering has been a major passion since my first solo trip, hitchhiking & sketching my way from spot to spot. It’s my way of connecting to the world around me, a gestural response, a way of slowing down and that’s a worthy ambition.
San Jose to Sacramento by train
Stonelake Preserve and Delta island
Southeast Asian Market on Broadway
Trip to Sonoma with a gourmet food rep
A walk along Broadway, from the river east
Please post suggestions of places you’d like me to investigate.
Here are several places that I’d like to visit: the gardens at Alcatraz, the oil refineries in Richmond, the Bay Bridge construction project, the railyards in Roseville, and the Oakland port. Your suggestions and comments are appreciated.
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