Category: Events

The Church and Creation Care

A friend of mine recently told me that a friend of hers was surprised to discover that the Church has an interest in creation care. I found this a bit surprising since I have had a faith-based interest in environmental stewardship for over 50 years. We need to experience the world around us with a sense that this is a sacred gift given to us. And what institution is better suited to promote the sacred nature of creation than the church? This is not a new idea. Saint Francis of Assisi is often referred to as the patron saint of ecology and of animals. His teachings go back to the 13th century.

For my own part, I have felt that my role in promoting environmental stewardship is to use my camera to create images that capture the beauty and grace of God’s creation, and through those images inspire others to want to save the planet.

This week something shifted, and I was invited to go stand on a street corner and hold up a sign. So the afternoon of October 19 found me at Ashby Avenue and Regent Street in Berkeley holding a sign.

I’m the guy with the black hat. The invitation to participate came through a church croup, Creation Care and Climate Justice, which is looking for ways to make our own church, First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley, more environmentally-friendly and to share the message with the congregation and the community at large.

The location for our rally was selected because it’s close to the Berkeley Presbyterian Mission Homes (BPMH) and we wanted to show solidarity with their mission.

Now is the time to act. We’re a few weeks away from the Global Climate Conference in Glasgow (COP26) and the global organization “GreenFaith” is asking faith communities to rally and insist on Climate Action. Keep your eyes open; both faith based and secular organizations will be spreading the word.

Immersed in Van Gogh

With museums opening up we decided to visit the Immersive Van Gogh exhibit in San Francisco. We bought tickets ahead of time for an off-peak visit for an 11 AM entry on June 22. This was our first venture out into a public space in over 15 months.

To experience the exhibit you enter a large room where animated images of Van Gogh’s work are projected on all four walls of the room as well as the floor. Music accompanies the visuals. It’s a spell-binding experience. In the middle of the room is an elevated viewing platform. We waited for the opportunity to climb the stairs and spent some time on the platform letting the images and music wash over us. Then we returned to the ground floor where we found a spot to sit with the cushions provided and experience more of the show. My still images do not do the show justice.

I’ve been around long enough to recall when a high tech slide show used two slide projectors and dissolve-synchronizer, so this seemed mind-boggling considering how many projectors were involved and the technology required to create and produce this show. The show was created by Massimiliano Siccardi and a team of creatives.

We were mesmerized by the moving visuals and the music, and we found ourselves using our iPhones to capture video clips. Here’s a two minute compilation of clips that will give you the feel for the show.

The show cycles about every 35 minutes and we found ourselves staying through two cycles. Our only regret was driving. Parking was a challenge. In hindsight, it would have been easier to take BART. After driving around looking for parking we ended up paying $25 for public parking a short distance away.

Giving Thanks

This is a day when we stop and give thanks.

We have a tradition here in America of getting together with family for a feast we call Thanksgiving. More people travel at this time of year than any other time to be with family. This year, with the coronavirus wreaking havoc on our lives, traveling is a challenge.

Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. It is a time to give thanks and to share the blessings of the harvest, although for some it also signifies the conquest of Native Americans by colonists.

For our family, Thanksgiving is about family and counting our many blessings. This year we decided to celebrate early with a get-together on November 21, a few days ahead of the official holiday. With the challenges we faced this year there was much discussion about how we might manage the risks of COVID-19. We decided that an outdoor event in Aunt Sue’s backyard would be appropriate, taking precautions to wear masks when we weren’t eating, and to designate one person to be the server. We used a counter top roaster to cook the turkey; when it came time to transport it, we simply put the whole roaster in the trunk of the car for the drive to San Jose.

Our daughter and her family joined us with a homemade apple pie. Our son and his family had been staying with us the previous week, so we considered them to be in our social bubble. When it came time to carve the turkey, Sue pulled out a set of carving knives with elk antler handles that go back three generations.

Our spread of food included turkey, stuffing, cranberry relish (a recipe from my mother), kale and feta cheese salad, pomegranate and persimmon salad (from Sue’s garden), squash, rolls, and homemade apple pie for desert. Yum!

And, of course, Aunt Sue had to indulge the dogs with a bit of turkey.

After we had sufficiently stuffed ourselves on the delicious food, it was time for a walk. On our walk we passed a frog that seemed to wishing us a Happy Thanksgiving.

I wish you well on this day. And amidst the many challenges you may face, I hope that you can take a moment to find something for which you, too, can give thanks.

Have Your Kayak and Eat It Too

Treve with cake to celebrate his 70th birthday.

On Saturday, March 14, we hosted a party to celebrate my 70th birthday. The cake was noteworthy. We commissioned the cake through our local Lavender Bakery & Café on Solano Avenue. They not only created a work of art but also delivered it to our door. Since kayaking is my go-to sport at the moment, I wanted to have a cake with a kayaking theme. Chocolate cake with layers of vanilla butter cream filling and fresh raspberries, not to mention the fondant frosting – a work of art.

We had about 30 people at our home, which was quite a turnout given the advice to practice social distancing due to the COVID-19 health risk. We were quite ambivalent about hosting the party; now, as of March 17, we have a “Stay at Home” order in place so we’re staying close to home. The guidelines say that getting outdoors is an “essential” activity, so we’ll be getting out in our kayak, bicycling and walking the dog at a distance from others, but no group activities.

Take care of yourselves wherever you are; reach out to friends and stay connected.

Birthday Weekend

So much has happened in the past few weeks that I’m going to have to back up to July 25. That’s the day we climbed in our truck-camper and headed to Markleeville for an extended weekend of camping and birthday celebration. The main event was our Granddaughter Annabelle’s first birthday.

Birthday Girl Annabelle is in the middle

We made it a five day weekend, leaving our place on July 25 and driving to Markleeville, a small town on the Eastern Sierra located at 5500 feet elevation. It’s about a 200 mile drive, taking us about four hours with a quick stop for a picnic lunch on the way. Our destination was the Markleevile Campground, a US Forest Service Campground with 10 sites. A lovely location with a stream running through it and a very attentive and helpful camp host.

Having settled into camp it was birthday time. July 25 is Joann’s birthday so we broke out the cake and celebrated.

Over the course of Friday and Saturday our campsites filled up. By Saturday evening we had 24 people, five dogs and one parrot. These folks are all seasoned campers and quite adept at entertaining and feeding a crowd.

  • Blowing bubbles
  • Joann’s birthday also
  • And more birthdays

We had pork shoulder cooked in a dutch oven on Friday evening. It’s a mystery to me what seasonings went into those ovens, but the resulting pulled pork was beyond compare and it made delicious tacos. Sunday morning was a Mushroom and Brie Breakfast Strada and Sunday evening was Chicken Cordon Bleu on Sunday evening.

  • Grandkids Annabelle and Micah
  • Fred checks on the pork shoulder
  • Treve’ showing off his Dutch Oven quiche

And of course no camping experience is complete without Smores. So the evening found us toasting marshmallows on a campfire and making a sandwich of the hot toasty marshmallows with chocolate and graham crackers.

In addition to family fun in camp, we did manage to get in some hiking, take in a blue grass concert at an event in town and visit Grover Hotsprings. To see more photos click here.

Global Cooling Event 2019

Global Cooling Event at Dance-A-Rama 2019.

It remains to be seen what effect our Global Cooling Event will have on global temperatures. If nothing else, we raised some awareness of global warming and had some fun in the process.

The event took place as part of Dance-A-Rama 2019, an annual open studio event with free dance performances. While I do not profess to be a dancer, I have been involved with Dance-A-Rama since 2003. I had been working with dancers on a dance photography project for several years and one of the dancers suggested that I do a performance piece.

At 2:45 this afternoon, I stepped out into the middle of the performance space and invited the audience to join me. After a few minutes assigning roles to the willing audience members, we had one person holding a large inflatable globe, three people with fans cooling the earth, two people holding a scroll with the words of Brother Eagle Sister Sky, an excerpt from a speech by Chief Seattle, and three people with cameras capturing images. At the sound of a chime, the earth begins orbiting the room. The fans, and photographers follow. A reader begins reading the words on the scroll. I continue to use the chime to direct the motion of the earth. When the reading ends I thank the participants and they return to their seats. I have yet to compile the video and still images into something presentable, but here are a few stills from the event.

Dance-A-Rama is sponsored by Terrain A Dance and Performance Collective. I would like to thank fellow Terrain members Mary Reid, Ruth Botchan and former Terrain member Ann Swigart for their help with today’s piece. I would also like to thank the members of the audience that were courageous enough to leave their chairs to join us on stage. Dance-A-Rama marks a 20 year anniversary with today’s event.

Block Party Spans Two Cities

We didn’t have to travel far for today’s adventures; just had to step out the front door.

Albany/El Cerrito Carmel Ave Block Party
Albany/El Cerrito Carmel Ave Block Party
Albany/El Cerrito Carmel Ave Block Party
Albany/El Cerrito Carmel Ave Block Party
Albay/El Cerrito Carmel Ave Block Party

A beautiful day for a neighborhood block party. Our party spanned one block. But that one block spans two cities, Albany and El Cerrito, and two counties, Alameda and Contra Costa. Needless to say we had a fire truck from Albany on the South end of the street and a fire truck from El Cerrito on the North end. Great food, live accordion music, a jumping gym for the kids and great company. It’s great to get to know the neighbors. More photos of the event here.

Albany/El Cerrito Carmel Ave Block Party
Albany/El Cerrito Carmel Ave Block Party
Albany/El Cerrito Carmel Ave Block Party

 

It’s All About Family

Following two family reunions, back to back, one a small event with seven people, the second a huge event with 95 people, I found myself reflecting on family.

Our road trip started out three weeks ago with a visit to our son and daughter-in-law in Big Pine, California. They will soon be adding another member to the family. Then on to Salt Lake City where we participated in a shower to honor our daughter and her husband, expecting their first baby. Two grandchildren to be joining the family in the next two months. Then on to Rancho Jacoma near Santa Fe where we joined my brothers for a reunion with spouses and a great aunt. We spent five days, eating together, hiking, and reminiscing about family. We stayed in the Butterfly House, with four bedrooms, enough to accommodate our group. My brother Arlen proved his culinary skills, creating gourmet meals for dinner. Our first evening together he cooked salmon which was exquisite. What was missing from our gathering was the younger generation, nieces and nephews. We’ll just have to hope we can get them all together at a future event.

Family at Butterfly House. Rancho Jacona

Then on to Phoenix where we joined the Sundt Family reunion. With 95 people the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass resort was an appropriate venue. Dinner was catered at the nearby Rawhide facility. Duke Sundt, the family story teller took to the stage to tell stories and to serenade us.

The next day following breakfast, my wife Joann presented a tribute to her mother who was part of the Sundt clan and who had passed away recently. Joann also took on the job of maintaining the scrap book for her tribe. No small task. The scrap book is huge, and this is only one of the scrap books representing one of the 12 tribes of Sundts.

Duke Sundt entertaining. The Sundt Family Reunion 2018
The Sundt Family Reunion 2018
Joann paying tribute to her mother. The Sundt Family Reunion 2018
Joann with the Bertie Tribe Scrapbook. The Sundt Family Reunion 2018

My experience of the Sundts is big hats, big belt buckles and big hearts. I always feel like I belong when we gather.

Paddle On

tjp_1826_2834

Here’s a photo I captured yesterday at Horseshoe Bay as the morning fog was starting to dissipate. The three kayakers in the foreground were part of the Paddle Golden Gate Symposium, and event sponsored by California Canoe and Kayak. I participated in a workshop on “Forward Stroke Refinement.” When paddling with others recently, I’ve marveled at paddlers that can go great distances without their arms falling off, and I’m motivated to learn how to do that. Who would know how much technique can go into making a kayak go forward smoothly and efficiently?  On the very basic level, you just put your paddle in the water, use it as an anchor and drive the boat forward with your feet, using your hamstrings and obliques to power the boat. Sounds simple right?

Our class had 11 participants, with folks from Boston, Port Townsend, Seattle, and Los Angeles, and three world class coaches, Sean Morley, Chris Hipgrave and Marcel Bieg. I took a quick tally of the class rosters and figured there were well over 100 boats on the water with paddlers participating in 13 different workshops. Quite an amazing event. I’m off today, catching up on some work projects, and back tomorrow for “Traditional Skills & Rolling.” I may get wet tomorrow. Stay tuned!

 

Tour de Albany

Red Kite Omnium Event #12 – The 32nd Annual Berkeley Bicycle Club Criterium.
Red Kite Omnium Event #12 – The 32nd Annual Berkeley Bicycle Club Criterium.
Red Kite Omnium Event #12 – The 32nd Annual Berkeley Bicycle Club Criterium.

Sometimes you don’t need to go far to see interesting events. Today we had a bicycle race in town, and not just in town, but happening right outside our front door. This was the 32nd Annual Berkeley Bicycle Club Criterium — Red Kite Omnium Event #12.  Since I’m normally photographing architecture which is static, for the most part, I thought it would be a challenge to see what I could do with the action. You can view additional photos here.

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