Distractions, reflections

Our family has a pattern — not yet a tradition — of skiing at Blue Mountain on December 24.  On the day before Christmas, the slopes are relatively quiet … and the people working the lodge and lifts aren’t yet stressed out by the holiday crowds that will arrive in the following days.  We haven’t been consistent on this event, because it’s only worth going if snow conditions are good, and pre-Christmas weather is variable.  In 2008, conditions were favorable,and we were on the road as the sun rose.  Since we ski irregularly, we rent equipment at the lodge for the day.  We’re not very practiced in getting dressed in the gear.

As oldsters, Diana and I prefer the tradition of Alpine skiing.  Adam and Noah have been on snowboards in prior years.  Ryan decided to stick with skis, and followed his parents for the first few runs.

Taking the ski lift up is more straightforward for skiiers than snowboarders, who have to release the binding for one foot.  After riding the lift to the top of the hill, Adam and Noah demonstrated the procedure of reattaching snowboard bindings while seated.

Unlike prior trips sunny enough for sunglasses, this day was overcast and cold both in the morning and afternoon.  From a north facing ridge, the clouds were low on the views of Georgian Bay and Collingwood. Read the rest of this entry →

Continuing the tour of my relatives in the Bay Area, our group struck out on the Friday afternoon over the bridge to Berkeley, connecting with my niece Nicole as the local tour guide.  A late and leisurely ramen lunch didn’t leave us much time to see the campus.  Without a specific destination, we just wandered.  In comparison to the sprawling campus at Stanford, the Berkeley site seems more compact.  The lush eucalyptus grove indicates a climate cooler and wetter than the south bay.

Although Berkeley has a long history of scholarship into Asia, the Chinese and Japanese collections were  consolidated into the C. V. Starr East Asian Library as a new building only in 2008.

Since Nancy was an east asian studies major some years ago, and then a library studies graduate student, this building was a natural for a peek.

The atrium down the middle of the building provides a feeling of greater openness inside the modern structure. Read the rest of this entry →

Since we were in the Bay Area, I arranged for a meeting with a colleague in his office in downtown San Francisco.  We packed out of the hotel to drive into the city, and traffic was lighter than expected.  Thus, we had an hour to see some local sights.  The San Francisco Ferry Building was right down the street.

I’m not sure what I expected to see in a ferry building.  With people passing through on the way to catch a ferry to the other side of the bay, I guess it’s more than a bus terminal, but less than an airport.  Coming through the front door, the hall extended both left and right.  I turned right.

A ferry rider arriving a few minutes early could stop by the artisan bakery for a selection of specialty breads.

Meat has become fashionable again.  A salumeria — cured meat delicatessen — is in keeping with the times.

The refrigerator cases with complete pieces of meat remind us about animal origins. Read the rest of this entry →

More than a few of my extended family now lives in California.  After my conference group finished off our mid-afternoon meetings, we drove north to Stanford University for a short tour by my nephew Kevin.  He told us to meet him at the top of the Oval, so we wouldn’t get lost.  We started with a stroll through Memorial Court, noticing the quickly arriving dusk.

The Math Corner of the Main Quadrangle is place where you might expect to find mathematicians and math students.

The main quadrangle is a hub for the campus, designed in the early 1900s.

Geovanni, Stephen and Nancy added to the layout of Rodin’s Burghers of Calais.

This late in the afternoon, Memorial Church was closing. Read the rest of this entry →

The first day of the conference we were attending in Santa Clara was a tutorial, and very educational.  The second day bridged today’s technology with advances.  The third morning was about industries in which we didn’t have an interest, so we opted to take advantage of our location to visit the Pacific Ocean at Santa Cruz, and tour the Santa Cruz mountains with the possibility to visit some wineries.  It was a little over an hour on a scenic drive to arrive at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

On a weekday in December, the rides were silent, and we were practically the ones ones in the park.

The Giant Dipper is one of the oldest wooden roller coasters in the United States.

There’s irony that the famous boardwalk is now concrete rather wooden boards.

Despite the fact that we hadn’t yet walked on the sand, and the park was empty, Stephen wanted to be first in line for the foot wash station.

The Sky Ride runs along the beach side of the walk. Read the rest of this entry →

Taking advantage of a conference in Santa Clara, we arrived at the San Francisco International Airport after noon, picked up a rental car, and drove … the opposite direction, north, into the city.  I lived in San Fran for a few weeks in 1982, and have visited frequently, so I know the local sights relatively well. Our first stop was Pier 39.  The carousel is a hub at the pier.

We had saved our lunch hunger for the Pier Market, ordering the local specialty: seafood.  In addition to a view of the open kitchen serving meals, the hostess had given us choice seats overlooking the bay.

After lunch, we walked out onto the pier for sightseeing, as do thousands of tourists every day.

The sea lions entertained us.  Most just lie on the docks and sleep.  When one wakes up and honks, a few others join in.  With a slight shift in position, one sea lion falls into the water, and then swims around to squeeze into another spot.

There’s plenty of other tourists around with cameras, so we just asked one to snap this group photo with Geovanni, Kia, Nancy, Stephen and myself. Read the rest of this entry →