I originally went out to take a picture of Happy Lane. Yup. In the City of San Rafael, Sun Valley Elementary School is on Happy Lane. I cracked up when I heard about it.
I then continued on 5th street, which crosses Happy Lane, and the street dead ended at Mt. Tam Cemetery. So I drove in. I drove around and up a hill. Got out and looked around at the graves and the Crayon Hills over looking the cemetery. I had gone out for a drive to mull over my problems and somehow ended up here. I realized that whatever I am going through, it can't be that bad. I know a Babylon 5 reference. To quote B5 again, "I am alive. Everything else is negotiable."
I drove out of the cemetery turned right and ran into Sir Francis Drake Blvd. I know this street goes all the way to the coast so I turned right on to it passing the town of San Anselmo, Ross and Fairfax and then noticed a place called
I was curious and decided to go in. A really nice area.
There were a few people painting the incredible scenery. I found a trail.
Started walking up this trail to see where is ends up. About a 1/2 hour later I stopped to take a break. I had been walking up hill this whole time with the wrong kind of shoes. I was getting hungry and thought I should go back, but there was this part of me that really wanted to see where this trail went even though it might be awhile before I found the end of the trail and it probably would get dark before I got back . In those moments I rediscovered something about myself. When there is something I want to do or see the end result of, I want to keep going even though it might be a bad idea. Having this drive is good when I have a project to do but not good when I do something that might get me in trouble regardless of my good intentions. I have to know when is a good time to have this drive and when it is not.
Just when I started to head down I happened to look up and I could see San Francisco in the distance. I was too busy looking at my feet walking up the trail to notice it before. (Ya I know symbolism and metaphor.)
A progressive close up on the city.
So down and home I went. I was surprisingly calm all the way home even with a lot of cars on the road. What an enlightening day.
Had the 2nd of the 2 day interview yesterday. I think is also went well. Did my presentation and also got to work with the University Choir. It is a really good choir and it was a joy to rehearse them. Then back down to Fargo to fly home. So the flight home was to be from Fargo to Chicago to San Francisco. Well the problem was that Chicago was experiencing a major thunderstorm so my flight into there was delayed. It ended up being so delayed that I would have missed my connecting flight in Chicago and that was the only flight that would take me to San Francisco that evening. So the airline got me a deal at a Best Western so off I went. Got some sleep. Got up way to early in order to catch the Fargo-Denver-San Francisco flight. It is a much shorter flight. I could not get this flight yesterday because the last Fargo to Denver flight is around 3p. I was so tired I slept on both flights all the way home.
Main Street
The City of Mayville
Oh, Mayville has only 8 restaurants and only about 2,000 people live there. It is a tiny town which their motto is "The way America is supposed to be."
Had the 1st of the 2 day interview. I think it went well. Met with the President of the university, VP of Academic Affairs and someone in the Business Office. The University only has about 800 students but the school is really high tech.
While going to school or working there, every student and faculty is given the latest laptop to use. The students and people there are really nice. Not just nice but really polite. The main red brick building was build in 1889. It looks really cool.
I was taken on a tour of the school and a tour around town. There is only one street light in the whole town and it is on main street. Then to the dinner-interview with the search committee members. We had a great conversation and I think it went well.
This weekend adventure took me to this really tiny town of Mayville, North Dakota. Well, the only way to get to Mayville is to fly into Fargo. So I flew from San Francisco to Denver then to Denver to Fargo. While flying on the Boeing 777 into Denver 20 minutes before landing, we experienced major turbulence. Now I never have problems physically while flying. I always sleep on airplanes (makes the long flight go faster). This time, major turbulence with very little food in tummy, and the plane being unusually warm, I did not feel good and just wanted the plane to land. Landed in Denver and just had enough time to get a blueberry muffin before having to get on the plane to Fargo. Had to eat it on the plane. The flight to Fargo is in a much smaller plane than the Boeing 777. We also hit major turbulence but with something in my tummy I was ok. Landed in a small airport the size of Long Beach Airport and then drove up to Mayville. The speed limit is 75. That was so cool. Checked into the hotel and crashed.
DD and I drove to the Vista Point before the Golden Gate Bridge. We then walked from the Marin side across the Golden Gate Bridge to San Francisco. It took an hour to walk across. What a great view of The City and Alcatraz Island. Hanging out for a bit before walking back across the bridge. It was quite windy. Also saw a large variety of boats go under the bridge. After walking across back to Marin we walked up this hill to see a "bird's eye" view of the Golden Gate Bridge. What an great day and an amazing view. Click on the pictures below to see what I saw.
The Golden Gate Bridge seen from Tiberon.
The Golden Gate Bridge from the Marin side.
The Bridge.
The Golden Gate Bridge from the San Francisco side.
What an incredible sight.
Today DD and I went to the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. We took a look at Ocean Beach watching the surfer's freezing their butts off.
Then to the North Dutch Windmill built in 1902. Really nice with a flower garden next to it called Queen Wilhelmina Garden. There were a variety of flowers and colors.
Then took a quick look at the bison at Buffalo Paddok
before making a quick stop at Lloyd Lake where two columns once graced the porch of a Nob Hill home, and were all that remained after the 1906 earthquake.
Then to Stow Lake where Strawberry Hill, and artificial island, is at the center of the lake. On Strawberry Hill is Huntington Falls. A nice size waterfall. We walked up to the top of the falls walking across 3 bridges that cross in front of the falls.
Walked over the Hill and over the Roman bridge we then walked around the Lake. Then to the Japanese Tea Garden. What a nice and peaceful place.
Took a quick look at the Conservatory of Flowers before heading to The Presidio to take a look a the Golden Gate Bridge. We then went to Fisherman's Wharf for dinner. We ate at Fisherman's Grotto and had a great tasting bowl of New England Clam Chowder. I also had Halibut Linguini and DD had a Crab and Lobster Salad. Great tasting fish. Then drove around the city through Market Street and then home.
DD (my dad) came up from the LA area to visit little old me on Tuesday. We stayed up until 3a talking (that is way past his bed time). Today I took him to Mt. Tam. It was a cloudy day so we could not see "the city" up there but I did show him the outdoor theater. I then took him to Muir Woods. He really liked Muir woods. He said it was cool. We then came home and took a nap (too much hiking I guess). After the nap we went to a great Chinese restaurant called Yet Wah in San Rafael for dinner. Really good food. My fortune was "Be tactful; overlook not your own opportunity." Interesting huh?
A friend of mine that I know from the jazz a cappella choir I sing in invited me to an Easter picnic out on Mt. Tam. It is a family gathering which started over 20 years ago. Even though I was not part of their family, they made me feel right at home. A real nice group of people (which was about 30 to 40 of them). I ate chicken (yum) and some other stuff I had know idea what it was but I tried it anyway. It was good though.
We walked from our picnic site to the edge of Mt Tam. I could see the fog racing in. Unlike the fog I am used to in Southern Cal which comes in slowly, stays awhile then burns off, the fog here comes in really fast from the ocean. You can see it race in over the city of San Francisco and Southern Marin.
Within minutes, the mountain is surrounded by "cotton."
We walked back and the kids hunted for Easter eggs. I was being taught by one of the family members how to play with the Chinese Yo Yo. I picked it up pretty quickly and was even able to throw it up and catch it.
I arrived at the picnic sometime after 1p and left at about 5p. Instead of going back down the mountain the way I usually come up, I kept going north to see where this road went. During my drive I encountered a really pretty lake.
I then encountered and drove over the dam that creates the lake.
I got out of my car and just stood there enjoying the silence and the smells. Then kept going down, making a few more stops to check out the scenery. I even saw a couple of deer right off the side of the road eating.
The road led into the town of Fairfax and headed home.
What a great way to enjoy Easter. Enjoying friendly people, good conversation and enjoying the scenery of God's creation.
Happy Jesus Rising Day.
Hey the date today is triple 4 (4/4/04). How cool is that?
Last night I took my 1st big social adventure and went dancing at the Allegro Ballroom in Emeryville, in East Bay. It was a lot of fun. It was true ballroom dancing with a variety of dances like Waltz, Tango, Nightclub Two Step, Hustle, Salsa, Rumba, Merengue, Cha Cha, East Coast Swing, West Coast Swing, Foxtrot, Jive and Quickstep. Besides the Jive and Quickstep, I danced all the others. The people there were very friendly. I was never turned down and I even got asked to dance a few times. There were some really good dancers there and I even took some time to sit and watch other dancers in order to learn some new steps.
Added four new pictures in the Animal Picture Gallery page of My Professional Web Site.
I also revised the Works List page. Now each piece has a link to its own page which includes program notes, instrumentation and performance history.