Central Market: full of empty

It may seem strange that this post is full of empty storefronts. But, to tell the truth, that is the point. And, these are for my boy, far away in Maine (not exactly lovely images of fog covered harbors or dusty light-filled carriage houses...hopefully inspirational nonetheless....)

Rebooted

Continuing the free spree, today I visited the SF Botanical Garden. This place... wow this place... what a treasure! It has become, hands down, my favorite place in the city. It even beats out REI and Chinatown (of course, those are much more fun with my boy is in town...but he makes everything better!) Visiting the garden today was refreshing. It was almost like the feeling after a hike... getting out of town...losing yourself in the trees and variety of life and feeling like, in some distant but real way, that I am a part of all that. The families of plants and their distant relatives spread all across the globe are phenomenal to see gathered here. And, tucked away in the Golden Gate Park, this little gem, quiet and unmonumental beside its new neighbors, the deYoung and the California Academy of Sciences, rebooted my system. (I apologize for my inability to edit the number of pics... it was just too much fun to run around with the camera!)

In New Zealand... here you see the New Zealand Christmas tree to your right

And here you see one of its hanging branches...looks like capillaries...

And then I looked down... sometimes the gathering of fallen flowers was much nicer than the living ones on the plants...

Or even those plants that refuse to limit their lives to borders... this is in "Africa"

Also, in Africa...

And here we are in Chile, checking out the crazy varieties of hanging flowers...

Even something that looks like an enormous squash blossom... this bloom was about 8" long, by the way!

The marsh between the Cloud Forest, Africa and East Asia was a pleasant surprise...

And, in East Asia there were blossoms everywhere... I kind of dig the "ruins" that have been placed throughout... seemingly kitschy... but surprisingly non-disruptive...

bananas!

loved the color of this bamboo... so soft and unexpected...

kind of like the Botanical Garden itself.

Battling sides and foggy rides

So, SF for Free? No, really. It's true. I found three things to do with my Saturday... and get this... they were ALL free! Take that, SF! First, I rode the lil' Milano over the bridge again this weekend, but I turned to go down to the bay before I got to Sausalito this time. Instead, I made a day of Fort tours: Fort Baker (on the Marin side) and then Fort Point (on the SF side). Both were stupid crowded, but I managed to find some overlooked spots that were way more fun. It's definitely tourist season here in San Francisco (despite the fact that it's cooler now than it is in October and November), and the battleground seems to still be the protection of the bay from intruders. In the presence of the concrete bunkers at Fort Baker, I couldn't help but think about the aggression I had just witnessed on the bridge: all those "happy," "real" cyclists vs. the gazillion rent-a-bikes. Yes, those quotations marks, though obnoxious, are necessary. You see, while I might find myself somewhere between those doofus tourists on the rent-a-bikes and those "real" dedicated cyclists (perhaps a little closer to the former than the latter), I, too, found myself getting a little frustrated with the swervy chicks and dudes on that windy narrow pathway. Still, because I'm not so far from swervy myself sometimes...I feel their awkwardness and uneasiness... and, really... I wonder if so many of these dedicated cyclists have to point out that the rent-a-bikers are not so stable and sort of in the way? As if the rent-a-bikers couldn't tell by the "get-up" and fancy bikes that their opposition is serious about riding... yeah, that's right, mocking, snarls and jeers... wow. You go, cool, laid-back NorCal. Nevertheless, I puffed my way back and forth, did my best to pay attention and had an awesome time (just turned the music up and put my head down)... me and my lil' Milano.

Fort Baker:

Fort Point:

under the bridge

Just look at that smile... so happy I use her for more than just commuting!

The Ferry Building on the Embarcadero....

I probably would have never gone here if it hadn't of been for the exhibition of a recent competition we entered...

it's actually pretty slick on the inside...

The motherland (sort of...)

Part of growing up in a Navy family is knowing that the reasons your family is the way they are has little to do with where you are living and much more about where your parents started out. Those damn potatoes at every single dinner, chowder and cabbage in the winter, more potatoes and white bread, keeping the house ass-cold in the winter, being grumpy but loving, LL Bean catalouges always showing up full of funny looking people resembling Bob Newheart in his Vermont based sitcom. The cultural palimpsest characterizing communities large and small all over the country seldom make sense to kids.

Most of you reading will know my back story but for the new family I'll give you the quick breakdown:
Mom and Dad are from Thomaston and Rockland Maine where the family continues to reside in the form of aunts, uncles, cousins, grand parents, and the resting members of our past.

Dad got drafted for the IndoChina/Viet Nam "conflict" and married mom to keep her close...
They moved to DC and from what dad says- he was in the Pentagon when the "dirty hippies" stormed it- history will tell...anyway

They ended up in southern Virginia and along came me!!! Portsmouth Naval Hospital wast the sight of my birth and thus the site of my first screaming tantrum...the first of sooooo many...

We moved to Norfolk Virginia until I was around 13, then Virginia Beach til I was 16...
It was at this point that my father was 39 and decided to retire (just a short reality check- I just turned 38!)

We moved to Maine and in hindsight- home.
This summer I am in the same county that my family has been in for generations, we have traced the English side to coming over in 1612...and to Maine some years later.
I have found (serendipity is an odd beast) a Finnish Congregational church that my great grandfather Edde Johnson helped build, the same places I wandered, and a new sense of history.
More of that as it comes.
Here are some images I made while my classes do their work...
enjoy...
read...
email...
call...
thanks to Gretta for everything- sorry to the rest of you- I'm holding on tight to the wonderful lady!The Underside of Port Clyde, Maine...a remote harbor town at the end of a peninsula. Interestingly- the tide rises so high that this view is only there at low tide.

The Olson House in Cushing, Maine. Everyone wants to recreate the view in Christina's World by Andrew Wyeth, this is the wagon used in many of his paintings. The house was great but over photographed to a crazy level...

Again- the less often view of a familiar spot. This is a worn door in the barn that has the markings of a rope blown in the wind...that marking in the center of the door just called out to me...wonderful details abound!

Harrison Point harbor at the head of Cushing, Maine. The remnance of an old steam ship's containers...
It was a wild 10 min. dance out to this on wet sea weed and rotting wooden planks (again- only at low tide) Who knows what the tops are going to look like til you climb up to see!

Ropes. Worn, colorful, Maine. Love it!

The harbors are filled with crazy things at low tide...note the green of the steel in the front- algea and slime...who else but native eyes can love this crap? Well- this transplant Maine-iac, thats who.

from the Maine way

I thought I'd share some of the visual notes sent from e via his geek-phone while he is tucked way up in that corner of this enormous country... cutting through the fog and rain everyday getting some awesome experience... and poor boy... having to eat lobster! How very Maine...

Picking up where we left off... river to honeymoon

So, it's an obnoxiously long post... be forewarned...

as I was saying... where we left off..down by the river, playing and totally calm on the big day

well, that is unless you are Pepper the Wonder Dog

in true Tritch-family fashion... we make it perfect up the very last minute... always gotta have something to do, and here's mom and me finishing up the last touches

and with these ruffians... there's no way we're going without a rehearsal...

E was all business with list in hand... and well, you saw the proof in the last post... awesome!

FOCUS!

and then constantly run back and forth, back and forth, get those pictures...

ahhhhh... then kick back and relax for a while...

kick your shoes off...

can't get enough of these cuff links... Justin found these... and in honor of E... they're pink... beautiful

yay! Ellen made it!

no, he's not nervous or anything....

it's almost like PA... green, some elevation change... well, at least it's not Cali...bruh

I don't know what they are smiling at... who smiles at weddings?

I love this chapel... did I say that I love this chapel? I love this chapel... especially at dusk...it's shining moment

and my family made it! my cousin and two of my aunts... yeah, there's a few more... yay!

And more Tritch-family... they were awesome...helping with so much... it was perfect because they help make it that way...

and did I say... Yay! Ellen made it!

chillin with the ladies... now these two, what would I have done? you girls ROCK!!!

it's not like he has a vision or anything... gotta love a man who knows what he wants...

Don't mistake that smile for anything but relief! ha! oh, maybe he was a little happy that I'm so happy... and that he's made such good buds with E...

And..... We did it!
what a handsome bunch

and another... the joining of two great all-American families... that's right...I said it...

this is fun! And, I do see why Kev and ShayShay like E so much... I do too!

and my grandma made it, too... thanks to my Uncle Bill and Debbie... three generations kickin it...

so major props go out to my boy... yes, he MADE our wedding cake... in all its glory and smoothness, density and tastiness! And big hugs to my brother... he whipped out E's surprise groom's cake and high five to Leah for helping me to think of a theme... yeah... who has the last word now? i think that's YOUR glass, e, that's spilled... I wouldn't spill beer... how horrifically wasteful... no good German girl would do that!

yes, no kidding... he made them ALL... and just days before our wedding in the Tritch kitchen... even the little bunt cakes that everyone got to enjoy individually!
VERY nice work...

oh just one more look...why not?

yeah... you can't stop the forces of BBQ, margaritas, and pacifiers... mmmmm

or double fisting it if you can't decide between the the champagne of beers and a margarita...
nice Leah...

It really came together to be such a lovely reception... lights, candles, cakes, food, and awesome peeps!

all in a little screened-in pavilion... who would have guessed... worked out like a dream!

and when the thunderstorm scared everyone else off to their cabins... the faithful to the party stuck it out... I mean why not? We hadn't slept a full night yet... why start the night of the wedding?

yeah... that's right.. take that shot... tequila always sounds like a good idea in the dark...

pep not feelin it the next day so much... no wait... that's Justin... naw... he looks great...

And the honeymoon begins:

first stop: my old stompin grounds of Fayetteville in western Arkansas... out in the Ozark National Forest... breaking sticks and kickin trash... no not people... but we did run into some ol' friends from way back when...and apparently my old bud at Jammin Java named a salad after me... so if you're in Fayetteville ever... go to the square and have some of "Gretta's Greens"....

and soaking up the green... mmmmm green....

and playing some fierce UNO... yeah we had to break out the headlamps b/c apparently according to the man of visuals (that's E) shadows are blue... that's why it's so hard to tell the difference between the green and blue cards... yeah, ladies... he's already taken... smart boy

who's happy? life is great...

and for the boys in PA... yeah, it's still funny every time I see it too...

ok... now where? wait...isn't that what that handy dandy garmin thing is for? no matter...

we made it to Limon CO and camped at the KOA there...

where we valiently fought the wind and the mosquitoes while we tried to set up an awesome entertainment section with Netflix and our new speakers...

all the while enjoying a lovely sunset...

alas, the mosquitos won and we moved our little party indoors to play some pool and watch the Office... don't make fun.. this is life... and we love it!

yeah, so this is the highest either of us had been... 10,100 feet... whoa...

we wanted to drive through the real Rockies... and that we did... wow

check out those slopes... melting away... what to do in the summer time?

Oh, I know... charge a zillion dollars for a coffee! ha ha! well, and a view I suppose...

no, really, it was much more majestic in person...

kind of like this ginormous tire...I guess you can haul anything out here on the flats

constantly compelled to snap shots outside the window...even if you can't really see what I was seeing...

but, there's no mistaking that the Salt Flats are indeed flat...

but don't let that flat fool you into thinking they are also dry...

not so much... but we did leave our mark of two hours of labor digging out of the salty, paste-like mud, finding random pieces of wood, and getting our rental truck out of a good 8 inches deep of mud...

dirty boy... how those fancy shoes and pants treatin ya? I will give us this: we were super patient with each other even in the face of a berm that hid us from the highway... oh yeah, and desperation and frustration... GO TEAM!

awwww... here you go mom... we DID make the picture of our hands and rings... don't mind the mud... just breaking them in nicely!

are you kidding? No, we didn't end up camping on the flats...we made it to the next motel and showered, drank some leftover margaritas and slept...mmmmmm

But we did end up camping the next night on the lake between Reno and Carson City... crazy nice campground overlooking the lake and being looked-over by the Sierras...snow-capped still I might add

it's like a freakin' REI mag shot or something...

ah yes, the UNO war continues... with campfire and confusion between the blue and the green cards

Mr. Handsome... showing off his good looks with a sunset

the most expensive campfire of our honeymoon... who knew they would have firewood at the campsite? well, it was a hell of a campfire nonetheless

so, we hiked the next morning...finding a trail just across the road... that's our campsite just in the foreground

yep, on the sunny side of the slope

brrr.... on the shady side...desert plants are so tough... I heard them making fun of me being soft as i walked by... not so nice those desert plants

and a little farther away from the campground... yeah, we didn't really know where this trail was leading us... come to find out we just circled around one mountain... that's cool though...

cuz we saw little critters like this... still dormant until the sun reached this side of the mountain

and these two seemed to be having a good time... doing what they do... sniff and photograph

how can so many different things be in the same view: desert, lake, and snow? crazy

yeah, so it wound around and around and we just followed

only to follow up with an awesome breakfast at the Denny's in Carson City and then a little drive through the downtown

just hangin on... yeah the mountains winding got to all of us...

but there were these awesome streams just zooming down the mountain slopes... e pulled over just in time to catch pep and me napping...glad we didn't miss this

they look so innocent... but I know we were trespassing...

then, finally home... or this place we have come to call home... with our own home cooked meals, and cheap beer... oh yeah, and the new dishes from Bud and Ingrid... awesome!