Dear Fall...

• I am stoked for Fall. I work at a University and all the new students have just moved in - there is so much excitement in the air! It's quite contagious and a little exhausting, but I enjoy it.

• It is also the very beginning of the fungi season! I recently joined the Fungus Federation of Santa Cruz and have so far attended one meeting. I have found my people. I'm going to be taking identifying classes, attending forays, eating delicious mushroom meals, and exploring the Santa Cruz mountains. When it rains, it spores! Get ready for massive amounts of fungus pictures.

• I am also planning a Fall camping trip in Big Sur during November. It might rain, and it might be cold, but the ocean will be beautiful and I will be able to explore the forests for mushrooms.

• Soup time will be here very soon - I friggn' love making soup! It's a surprise every time as I throw ingredients into a pot and hope for the delicious best.

• And, one of my favorite things about Fall - the pumpkin patch!

What are you looking forward to this Fall?

Happy Friday!!

My Margarita Recipe

Cup:
Rub lime around cup lip and dip in sea salt
Place 2 ice cubes and 1 slice of limes in cup

Shaker:
1 oz fresh lime juice
1 oz tequila. I used Cazadores.
1/2 oz agave
1/2 oz triple sec
Handful of ice
Shake for 30 seconds

Poor in glass and enjoy!

Flickr Favorites #39

This weeks Flickr inspiration is from Ivan aka dirtyfromtherain

1.

2.


3.


4.

Many of Ivan's images look like the opening scene of a movie, the setting to a dream, or a realistic water color painting. I like when a photographer can make a place, setting, or inanimate object project a sense of feeling or emotion - what do you see when you look at these 4 images?

Want to be a part of flickr favorites? Email me at letitberaw(at)gmail(dot)com with a link to your flickr stream. 

Santa Cruz through Instagram

I don't use my phone's camera often, but when I do, it becomes a short term obsession. It's also a good stand in when I want instant gratification while I'm waiting to finish a roll or to get film developed. Anyways, this is what's been happening in Santa Cruz:

This is the Light House on West Cliff. I walk to it a few times a week to watch the surfers.

Looking down into my fish tank. I've remade two vases into fish tanks - one for guppies and one for my Batman, my betta fish. 

Enjoying Labor Day weekend! I drank beer on the porch with friends and played madlibs. 

It's the simple things. 

This is my "backyard"

Architecture in Santa Cruz often does not make sense. 

I'm sure there was a stairway to this at some point, but now it's a 30 foot drop.

Another of my favorite places to walk is the marsh. 

It's currently under construction, which doesn't make sense to me.

I've noticed the sunsets are happening a little bit earlier each day.

I am in denial that the days are getting shorter.

Flickr Favorites #38

This weeks Flickr inspiration is from Laina Briedis!

1.

untitled

2.

untitled

3.

untitled

4.

untitled

Laina, (aka eros turannos on Flickr) does a lot of work I'm particularly interested in involving person's bodies in nature. There is a blending quality that I admire where a person's limbs or body become part of a scene in nature, so the image isn't about a particular place or person, but the merging of the two. Also, she takes very beautiful story telling images of women wandering around in forests that I can't help but love.

If you would like to share some of your photography on my blog, please email me at letitberaw(at)gmail(dot)com with a link to your webpage/flickr! You can pick 4 images to share or let me pick 4 favorites. 

Golden Gate Park pt4

My favorite stop on the Golden Gate Park walk was the Golden Gate Angling and Casting Club facilities. The club has classes you can sign up to practice casting in small man-made bodies of water (set with grids to help determine how far and how accurate your cast is). They also offer classes to make fly fish hooks, a beautiful work of art mimicking insects. And, Angler's lodge is a log cabin in the park open to the public where you can store your fishing equipment, take a rest, or enjoy framed fly fish hooks. It was a very friendly place to be and watching people practice casting was very enjoyable to me.

View of Angler's lodge


Casting class


Experienced caster practicing in the water

(see pt1, pt2, and pt3)

Fall is trying to give me a message

Yes Fall, I know you're on your way. Please, stop reminding me. I'll appreciate you more later.

Golden Gate Park pt3

(view pt1 or pt2)

Moving along West to East in Golden Gate Park, our next stop was the Archery Range. It's on  the Northern side of the Park, and has a wonderful view of both the Park and the City overlapping. That overlap is particularily interesting to me, because sometimes in the middle of the Park it's easy to get a little lost and feel like you're somewhere else than San Francisco.

This last image is actually outside of the Park, and is the location of where the San Francisco Boardwalk once stood in the 40s. Here is what this are used to look like (and I wish it was still around!):

source