Today we suspended shade cloth over the avocado trees. The trees will now survive 100°F+ temperatures coming later this week. Heatwaves are on the way to California!

A shade cloth covering a small area of trees. A wheelbarrow is partially visible to the right, and ropes are stretched across to keep the cloth from resting on the small trees. The ground is covered with wood chips and gravel.

Two short avocado trees with a shade cloth suspended overhead and attached by rope to a fence. There is a gravel path along the far fence and close to the camera with wood chips inbetween. A drip hose snakes between the two trees. The sun is already shaded out with the cloth’s shadow projected along the fence.

#Yarden #Gardening #AvocadoTrees #HomeOrchard #California #CaWx

#SilentSunday #Sunset #Fujifilm #SOoC a boat view, but with no boat visible, of a sunset over the Pacific ocean with a 98% clear sky and gentle waves, creating a serene and peaceful atmosphere. To the right, an island can be seen on the horizon. It is either Maui, Moloka’i, or Lana’i

Yarden pool season has begun. Rubber ducks (and more elsewhere) serve as life rafts for insects. Most of this water was carried over from last year. Under a canopy, an above-ground pool with clear blue water, a metal ladder, and a towel hanging on the edge. There's a garden in the background with a shed, grapes, elderberry, various trees, and a horrible sunshade nextdoor. Little sun bleached rubber ducks float by.

Black and white photo of a cityscape featuring Coit Tower atop a hill with residential buildings in the foreground. People are walking and standing around a street with a stop sign. A SF Police Department motorcycle witha copy leaning against it and a parked pickup truck are visible. Palm trees and other greenery standout starkly against the bright hard surfaces.

#StreetPhotography #SanFrancisco #BlackAndWhite #Fujifilm #SOoC

October 2023 at Chico Municipal Airport: BAE 146-200s, Reg. C-GRNT and N908AS. Owned by AirSpray. I assume these are to be converted to wildfire tankers

#PlaneSpotting #CGRNT #N908AS #B462 #KCIC #AvGeek #Aviation #Fujifilm #SOoC

Two BAE-146 airplanes parked on an airport tarmac. The plane on the left is white with black and orange accents, while the plane on the right is white with partially scraped off blue accents. Three orange-red CalFire aircraft with numbers painted on their tails are partially visible.

A parked four engine BAE-146 on an airport tarmac with engine covers on. The aircraft with poorly scraped off blue accents has a high-wing design and a distinctive T-tail. Its door is taped off with red tape. The background has a blurred hazy flat landscape with trees.

Two parked BAE-146 on a tarmac, noses facing the photographer obliquely, with protective orange covers over their engines.

A profile view of a parked BAE-146 on an airport tarmac with four engines, distinctive red engine covers, and a T-tail design. The fuselage is white with black and gold accents. A second BAE-146 is behind the first one and is barely visible.

Iberia A330-2 & ITA A330-9

An Iberia A330 twin engine aircraft is landing over a runway with a blue ITA A330-9 plane positioned in the foreground, lined up and ready for takeoff. The background is a hazy sky. The foreground has calm San Francisco bay waters.

#WidebodyWednesday #PlaneSpotting #Aviation #AvGeek #SFO #ECMLB #A332 #EIHPA #A339

Alternate angle of today’s surprise Fence lizard.

#FenceLizard #Fujifilm #SOoC A brown striped Fence lizard stares straight at the camera with sharp black eyes. It’s on a cement pad with a bit of moisture in front of it. There’s an out of focus hose crossing the photo frame to the left.

A surprise today when a large Fence lizard took advantage of water under a spigot backflow preventer #FenceLizard #Fujifilm #SOoCA Fence lizard with a distinct striped pattern on its back is resting on a cement surface next to a green outdoor rated extension cord and some dripping water.

Preparing for takeoff May 1, 2025: Lufthansa Boeing 747-8 flying SFO-FRA and United Boeing 777-2 flying SFO-AMS

A Lufthansa Boeing 747 and a United Airlines aircraft taxiing obliquely, tails together, across a fetch of San Francisco Bay water. The Lufthansa tail is blue with an orange circle and a stylized flying stick. The United tail has a dark blue to light blue gradient with a globe of meridians and parallels in its lower right corner.

#TailTuesday #PlaneSpotting #AvGeek #Aviation #D-ABYH #N788UA #B748 #B772 #Fujifilm #SOoC

Family photo of Mount St. Helens (foreground) and Mount Rainier (background). Probably on a flight from KSMF to KSEA, somewhere just north of Portland  #MountStHelens #Aviation #AvGeek

A photo from an airline passenger seat where Mount St. Helens is in the foreground, mostly in shadow, with some ridges poking out by surrounding stratus clouds. Mount Rainier is in the background but only partially covered by clouds. There's some snow on Mount Rainier and the saddle between Point Success and Mt. Rainier peak is easy to see.

Tips for Porting out of T-Mobile (mid-May 2025)

T-Mobile raised prices on their "uncarrier” plans that, in plain language, originally claimed prices would never increase. So as T-Mobile is now like any other carrier, I transferred our lines to US Mobile.

Rather than tediously explain my decision, I’ll offer some tips to port your lines to US Mobile, and probably any other carrier. The instructions below may seem daunting, but it really is easy provided you can convince T-Mobile’s account website to give you a port out PIN.

Continue reading →

Bruce Lee Memorial in Chinatown, San Francisco A black and white photo: a group of people stand in front of a mural depicting Bruce Lee’s face and a dragon showing its tongue on a brick wall behind a Chinatown bakery. The mural is partially obscured by the crowd listening to a tour guide. A sign for Commercial Street is visible behind the crowd. The photo is soft.

#BruceLee #StreetArt #ChinaTown #SanFrancisco #StreetPhotography #BlackAndWhite #Fujifilm #SOoC

The Northern Mockingbird pair are mostly absent from their nest. I guess the ambient temperature is warm enough that they don’t feel the need to lay on the eggs?

Three Northern Mockingbird eggs with a rust red speckle on a green shell rests in a cozy nest. The nest is in a grapevine. It is shaded by grape leaves, and sunlight is trying stream through.

#NestWatch #Nest #NorthernMockingbird #Birds #Fujifilm #SOoC

First year our milkweed has bloomed!

#Milkweed #BloomScrolling #Yarden #Fujifilm #SOoCA close-up of pale pink and white Milkweed flowers with green leaves in the background. The flowers have a star-like shape and clustered arrangement.

These compound eyes! Close-up of a western black horsefly with detailed compound eyes and a hairy body, resting on a surface.

#WesternBlackHorsefly #Insect #InsectPhotography #Fujifilm #SOoC

This Western Black Horsefly rested in our front yard this morning #WesternBlackHorsefly #Insect #InsectPhotography #Fujifilm #SOoCA large western black horsefly is sunning on a light-colored surface. It has a dark brown fuzzy body with lighter color outlining its head.

This morning in California after the rain #CaWx #California A serene landscape featuring a field of tall, golden grass under a clear blue sky. The sun is rising on the horizon, casting a warm glow across the scene. Distant towering clouds can be seen at the horizon. Tree branches frame the image from the top.

There are at least two Northern Mockingbird eggs in the nest! The momma bird went off for a snack & I carefully took a brief look. #NestWatch

#NorthernMockingbird #Birds #Nest #Fujifilm #SOoC A Northern Mockingbird's nest with a few rust red speckled eggs inside, surrounded by green grape leaves and branches. The sun shines brightly through the wide leaves.

#PrairieCreekRedwoodsSP #California #SilentSunday Sunlight filters through towering conifer trees in a lush, green coastal rain forest.

June 2022: Narrow-gauge steam train from Kurort Oybin to Teufelsmühle (south of Zittau) A vintage black steam locomotive on narrow gage railway tracks at a station in Kurort Oybin. A person in uniform walks along the platform. Surrounding landscape includes lush green trees and hills under a cloudy sky.

A group of people rides on an open-air vintage steam train through a lush, green forest. The train is producing smoke, and passengers are seated on wooden benches. Sunlight filters through the trees, creating a serene and picturesque scene.

A vintage black steam locomotive with a visible headlight and exhaust pipes, photographed from a low angle against a backdrop of trees and blue sky. The station is Olbersdorf.

#NationalTrainDay #NarrowGaugeTrain #Fujifilm #SOoC