the game of Spain's hopes

just finished in Europe, and now Spain is through to the finals in the European Cup of the UEFA. After so many decades, Spain - always the favorite in any soccer tournament - finally advances to the finals!

Playing against a hard competitor, Russia didn't make it easy even as they wore red jerseys, thus forcing the spaniards to wear yellow, which was/is considered bad luck for the spaniards. I think Spain's luck is finally changing!

I noticed how easy it was for Spain to always steal the ball from russian possession... that's what happens when you have the best players in the European region, and possibly the world!

Now, Spain plays against Germany in the UEFA finals on Sunday.... I'll be busy and on the streets shooting of an SF event but I'll be listening. Now to find a spanish sports station on the FM/AM.....

oh these smoky days.....

Over the last few days, California has been burning up literally. Last weekend brought thunderstorms, which carried the danger of lightning and there were strikes in dry areas, starting fires to frustrate already busy tired firemen who just fought a huge Santa Clara forest fire previously. News sources reported over 1,000 lightning strikes which started over 800 separate fires over central and southern California. So serious is the situation that the governor of California has requested assistance from neighboring states. Now news is predicting possibly even more lightning for this upcoming weekend.

In the Bay Area, the situation for the past few days has been hazy and smoky. The smoke blowing into the Bay Area is coming from a fire north, near Ukiah and winds have been directing smoke from that fire south toward the bay area.

Advisories have been broadcast over the past few days, warning older individuals to stay indoors, and for those who exercise outdoors to take a break and hold off for a few days. The air quality for the northern and eastern regions bay areas have been rated the worst in years, and residents state they can feel and see the difference.

For sunset lovers, this situation has been giving us brilliant red-orange sunsets and the sunrises haven't too shabby also! Tonight I recorded the sun low to the rooftops more than an hour before sunset, and already the sun painted the sky orange through the smoke and haze.

Along the coast residents and tourists alike have been busily snapping the strange sight of an orange sun long before sunset. The area is already known for its golden sunsets that draw many out of their dwellings to capture the golden gate and more, but these days the setting sun is even more orange than normal.

pelicans were flying during tonight's
sunset to my pleasure

28 June UPDATE: As of today, there are more than 1,300 fires, some big but many small. Northern California has the majority of the fires. Starting possibly Monday, wind currently blowing north off the ocean will clear the Bay Area skies which has been draped in smoky haze for over a week.

it's just an inch in distance on the map....

...and not really that far. I love to walk, and I do walk fast. I love to hike too, and it's so different from walking. I can do either and enjoy both and specially when the scenery along the route taken is fantastic as it was this day! It started off a bright day with the greatest fluffy clouds I've seen in some time. The day previous was very hot but today promised a weak breeze (delivered as promised) and not such high temperatures.

I met up with a small group of about eight hikers, and starting from Baker Beach, we took to the road leading upward toward the Golden Gate Bridge toll plaza......

.....continuing under the bridge and down toward Fort Mason. The views were of course amazing and though I've seen the sights often, there were a few spots I hadn't seen before, and it was pure joy. I last did something like this as a pre-teen lad with only a bicycle, and I didn't have a camera yet alone the interest of photography yet. Now I live here as an adult with a car, and though the areas I am driving through are "familiar", it just isn't the same.

From Fort Mason we went up a short hill and down to Aquatic Park at the base of steep Hyde Street, then to a Fishermen's Wharf italian restaurant for a quick lunch, then continued out of the wharf area toward the Ferry Building, where the hike ended and we boarded a MUNI bus to get us within walking distance of the parking lot at Baker's Beach where our cars and a mess of stop-N-go traffic awaited us.

It was just a wee-bit over 8 miles that was completed in just a bit over two hours; the group was overall slower than the rapid pace I like, but still, I'm patient and can hike/walk slow or fast; I just get bored though. The route was filled with many sightings of pelicans which I attempted capturing at each opportunity as it presented itself. All of the beaches we neared or transited through were crowded with families and children as the day was hot and bright.

It was great to get out of the hot apartment though I had a friend visiting from out of state, so I was busy all week playing a combination of host tour guide and tourist myself, as many of the places I had taken my friend to, were those places I hadn't been to since I was a wee lad! It was so interesting to see the differences, plus then I walked everywhere; now I had to figure out how to get there by car! My friend and I had gone to the headlands also, and also was lucky enough to witness some gorgeous red flaming sunsets (below), plus the unusual and rare creation of a cloud funnel in the warm airs above Marin County. My friend also helped me to take advantage of stop-N-go traffic on the Bay Bridge to get some pictures of Coit Tower and the waterfront of my hometown from the bridge's upper deck... something I've been driving to do for many years/decades but difficult when you are the driver and camera-man.