Ramble 33: Where the sidewalks end...

Sunday: a "day of rest" so, in Ramble 33, Marge rests from recent "kvetch-style" Rambles and, instead, celebrates little known Alameda parks.

During an early spring Ramble along our island's eastern shoreline Marge and Sergei' discovered two little known mini parks. Close inspection of the pix show that, yes, these parks along the eastern shoreline are small, almost hidden and most lovely. .

This one, off East Shore Drive, threads between two houses.
Here, Sergei takes the pic looking west / north west toward the park's entrance.

Perhaps "park" is too firm a definition for this spot is more like where a sidewalk ends .
But, look!
How beautiful and peaceful.
Sergei aims his camera toward Oakland.

 
Looking west toward Harbor Bay with Mt. Trashmore on the horizon.
Mt. Trashmore, the highest point in Alameda, was once a municipal garbage dump. (Read more about Mt. Trashmore.) Now covered with grass it makes a lovely walk along the shoreline after passing over the Harbor Bay bridge and heading south rather than west (which wends along the Harbor Bay shoreline.)

Marge loves seaweed (as she describes in Ramble 26: The Twelve Faces of Seaweed).
This seaweed is not really "sea" weed but more like "shore" weed.
Marge is sure there is someone 'out there' who could name and describe this sea-/shore-weed.
Meanwhile, Marge believes that, with a little modification, this photo could offer a template for a great texture that could be used for...well, screened onto a pot or vase or something similar.


Another (more park-y) park in the same area.

This is an actual park, though small. It has a name but, sorry, right now Marge does not have that name; she will find it and edit this post when she does.

How does Marge know this is an actual park?
Well, it has city signs: one states, "dogs must be kept on leash"...another presents park hours..yet another warns about loitering after hours....
Shown to the right, Marge looks down Central Avenue! Yes, this is where Central Ave, after running all the way along the ...center... of our island, ends. The cross street is East Shore Drive.

Then, turn around, and...voila!
A tree-lined walkway...with a bench that invites a weary traveler...

along the way to the bench this lovely tree...
and










...on arriving at the bench...

 
there is a memorial...

Brandon Sorensen, 13 years old and a student at Lincoln Middle School, was riding his bicycle on May 16, 2011.
A car hit him on Everett Street at Santa Clara Avenue. He died on his way to the hospital.







Looking west

...a closer view of the home situated along the shoreline looking, again, toward Mt. Trashmore.

While it is sad to leave this lovely, quiet spot Marge and Sergei's exit, however, offers another surprise: 

a toucan sculpture in the yard on the corner and...

 

the yard across the street from the park entrance displays colorful strelitzia.

All in all, a wonderful stroll into two of Alameda's hidden gem parks.

Ramble 32: Neptune, rise up from your watery realm...

As already pointed out in earlier Rambles, Marge is a busybody...a-fingers-in-many-pies kinda gal....and an admirer of the natural environment. As such, Marge (and Sergei) pays close attention to the legal dispute between our City and East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD). For, if EBRPD loses, so do you... and Marge... and Sergei... and all of us who admire, feel at home in, and want to preserve what's left of our disappearing natural environment.
Essentially, on the West End's Crab Cove section of Crown Beach, the city rezoned to residential a segment of the federal administration land that fronts the easement known as McKay Avenue, off Central Ave near Webster Ave.( See a  map of the spot and more photographs and  documents.)
McKay is a minimally maintained, cul-de-sac easement - not a City maintained street - and the only access point for vehicles to EBRPD's Crab Cove and the Visitor Center. This popular center caters to children and families and educates about marine and land environments and critters, the park lawn is a popular spot for kid, teen, and adult soccer enthusiasts, the BBQ areas are full in the summer, the beach is wonderful for young 'uns, and the shoreline walkways well used. All this activity means EBRPD's parking lot  (about 40 to  50 slots for $$s during summer weekends, free during winter) and McKay easement itself is already full to overflowing with vehicles.
EBRPD wanted - still wants - to purchase the land to expand the park to all members of the Bay Area who hike, swim, BBQ, play, and like to hang out and relax in our public parks.

The timing of all the interlocking moments Marge describes here is unclear (city officials say one thing, EBRPD says something else, residents with differing agendas say yet something else, etc., etc.) but what is clear is that EBRPD's bid to purchase the land at public auction was, somehow, shoved aside in favor of a development company, dba Tim Lewis Communities, that proposes building residences.
The City is in favor of building residences (aka "development", "in-fill", and "complying with the Housing Element") since it allows the City to implement the state-mandated Housing Element.
Here's an excerpt from the state's website:
"State law recognizes the vital role local governments play in the supply and affordability of housing. Each governing body (City Council or Board of Supervisors) of a local government in California is required to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for the physical development of the city, city and county, or county. The housing element is one of the seven mandated elements of the local general plan. Housing element law, enacted in 1969, mandates that local governments adequately plan to meet the existing and projected housing needs of all economic segments of the community." Read more ... 

Now, as a side-Ramble, let Marge state that there is a faction in town who believes anything to do with the Housing Element is a ...crock.
Marge is not part of this faction.
She understands the need for something like a Housing Element in the San Francisco Bay Area; she is for affordable housing, she lives in affordable housing. And she sees the Housing Element  as more than an opportunity for planners, council-people, pro-developers, etc to build housing that does not enhance our community just because cities and planners must conform to it.
In other words, Marge is not for "Housing Element über Alles."
For, Marge asks, isn't the theory in practice for urban design and planning to support communities and their residents rather than developers?
Here's Marge's hint to planners, council-people, etc: when in discussion with State officials remind them that Alameda is an island, that islands are bounded by water; islands have limited real estate; islands have limits  to the traffic they can accommodate, and islands have limits to the population density they can manage.
Moreover, given the reality of sea level rise, islands will soon have even more water and even less real estate than ever; promote and elevate these realities when discussing Alameda's Housing Element!

Back to the main thread of this Ramble. The convergence of 1) pressure from the state and 2) limited time to implement the Housing Element puts Alameda in the throes of what Marge terms the "Development Thrust"...the "Develop until you Can't Develop Anymore" trend...the "Developers = Gods; Residents = Little People" mindset...the "Whaddya Mean 'Progress' Requires Some Degree of Liveability?" astonishment...the "Traffic? What traffic? Alameda doesn't have a traffic problem" denial.
Knowing this, Marge pays close attention to the development goings-on around town. (Sergei pays attention too although his efforts run to offers of support: "Keep it up, Marge. One day "they" will recognize what "development" has cost all of us.")
Goings-on around Crown Beach/Crab Cove revolve around the area that City Fathers and Mothers named, first, Neptune Pointe (yes, the "e" is supposed to be there...doesn't it add a certain je ne said quoi?) and recently renamed The Neptune Beach Project .
Based on the rezoning EBRPD sued the City claiming the procedure was out of CEQA compliance and that it requires an Environmental Impact Report.
Recently, the Planning Board held a special meeting to hear public comments about the Project before generating an EIR (to be paid for by the developer).

Facts shared with the public are in short supply although there is a continuously evolving  body of unpublicized legal and development facts ...along with oodles of fiction, fantasy, and wishful thinking.  
Since pictures are said to be worth a thousand words, Marge shares here facts in pictures...plus her grassroots knowledge based on many Rambles in the disputed area as well as her attendance at Planning Board meetings.

A bit of history... from Wikipedia:
"Between 1917 and the start of World War II, the area around the [Crab Cove] visitor center was part of Neptune Beach, an amusement park and resort community that featured bathing spas and waterfront houses.
During World War II, the site was used as a training base for Merchant Marine commanders. The park was subsequently known as "Alameda Memorial Beach" until it was renamed for a local politician [Robert Crown] who was struck and killed by a vehicle while running (jaywalking). The current visitor center building was used as the base infirmary." (Read more.)
 Aerial and schematic views

This aerial view - presented in a City Planning doc - shows the layout of the currently disputed 3.89 acres.
The "U" shaped residence on the left is Crown Harbor. McKay easement runs to the right of the red line on the right. (EBRPD Visitor Center roof quite visible with Crab Cove to the right of that.)
The waters of Crab Cove Marine Preserve are right foreground.

Also compliments of City Planning, below, the schematic of the proposed complex... Marge added the red boundaries for clarity....

The schematic shows the extent of the proposed development adjacent to the "Gate",  the area where EBPRD stores its equipment and uses a fabulous historical ship-shape building, and McKay Ave. Marge will share more about this historical building in a future post. For now, though, this building, while high, is singular and, rather than loom over a human being, it intrigues.
See below for a drawing of the homes proposed. Too bad the architects didn't take a lesson from whomever designed this historical building....

Marge agrees that EBRPD's fenced off area is unsightly (not show, to the left of this historical building...about which more in a future Ramble). The unsightly bits, though, mostly are hidden behind a wooden fence that at least blends into the park at ground level; it is not now, nor will it ever be, stuffed with residents!
As another aside, at the recent special Planning Board meeting, President David Burton addressed population density for the proposed community (what Marge describes as "stuffed with residents": “This plan seems like we’re just warehousing people. It doesn’t address the proximity to the park. We’re just packing them in here, in a three to four bedroom house, with almost zero outdoor space for these folks. I would like to see something more gracious.”
Bravo, Burton!

McKay Ave, being an easement, is the fly in the developer ointment.
EBRPD has refused Lewis Communities access via McKay. If access has any chance of being granted lots more City diplomacy will be required. Based on recriminations observed in the current and past law suits between the city and EBRPD, diplomacy is in short supply.

"Gate"
Marge circles "Gate" on this schematic to express her anxiety about a walkway that, during daylight hours, allows public access through the Crown Harbor complex. The walkway winds along Sunny Cove and exits on Central Ave. (See Rambles 27and 23 and 13 and 12 to see how lovely is the area around which this walkway wends.)
Look again at the schematic...then look at the pix below.
Doesn't it look as if the proposed buildings will come right into the park and impede access to this gate?
Devil in the details:

View looking towards what would be the front of the proposed site with public access gate barely visible behind the fence to the left.






Imagine standing where Sergei was standing when he shot this pic...
...then imagine turning around...
...this is what you'll see

Here's a wider angled view of the Gate to/from the Crown Harbor path through the gate heading towards Crab Cove.
That's EBRPD "ship" building's roof just visible in the mid-left background.
The schematic implies that the proposed buildings will extend beyond the area now occupied by that lovely tree and alongside the wooden fence shown in the mid-ground...where you see the walkway angle to the right.

(Below) Here's a view of the sort of housing planned. Yes, three storeys high (one assumes these adhere to West End building height limits), 2-car garages under  the 3 bedroom places. (Thanks to Planning Board doc for this drawing. See more such docs.)
Don't know about you but, looking at the density proposed in the above schematic and then at these homes - Marge is suspicious that the two illustrations don't really match up - she already feels that sense of foreboding as buildings this high loom over the area and detract from the sense of openness that makes the public walkway and this park such a pleasure.
Is there space here for human beings to stretch their arms without touching a neighbor? What about space to swing a cat?

(Above) Kings Road wends through Crown Harbor residences.
Tim Lewis Communities had hoped Crown Harbor community would allow Lewis Communities residents access via this road.
That hope seems to have come to naught so...back to the drawing board.
The avenue of trees (Alameda in Spanish means avenue of trees) is home to many families of birds. Marge discovered this very early one spring/summer morning when she walked this area and was entranced by bird song.Very sad to know that this lively bird community will be disrupted, likely forever, by construction, etc.
By the way, Crown Harbor homes are two storey duplex-style, lots of lawn and space for human beings to at least stretch their arms and swing the occasional cat.






The public access walkway heading toward the gate. Kings Road amid the trees to the left. Crab Cove just beyond the spit; the row of buildings on very distant horizon is Harbor Bay.

Sigh.

Marge wonders, where is Neptune, the god of fresh and sea water, when needed? Would that he'd rise from his watery realm and have a heart-to-heart chat with our City Fathers and Mothers about the necessity of protecting the dwindling natural world. (Neptune, in case you're wondering, is a Roman god; the Greeks version is Poseidon - read more about this.)
In another decade natural environments in Alameda and the Bay Area will be worth far more than City Fathers and Mothers can imagine right now. Moreover, they (City Dads & Moms) would be recognized as urban visionaries, saviors of precious "vistas", superior beings who saw fit to preserve what ought to be preserved, along the lines of David Brower, John Muir...and beloved of Neptune and The People.

Learn more about Neptune Beach Project see this map of the spot and more photographs and  documents pertaining to it..

Ramble 31: Growing, growing....

Marge's last Ramble or two (Target is the Target and  Wouldn't it be nice? (to get on with your neighbors) ) kind of veered into her ...let's say "community preservation" interests and, for uninitiated readers, may be a little...strong and/or offensive.
This Ramble reverts to a more ...relaxed view that focuses on Marge and Sergei's other interest: tracking the Gosling Collective. (See Ramble 24 and Ramble 27 for earlier trackings).
Here's the next entry in the saga of Gosling Growings and Goings-on.

What Marge most loves about the Gosling Guardians is their attitude of calm watchfulness. It results in goslings that are calm and relaxed too. Looks as if this attitude pays off as there are still 28 young 'uns...which means the birds of prey have not feasted on members of this collective. (Notice the long legs on some of the older (teenage?) goslings...)

Sunset stroll on the lawn near Crab Cove...

heading back toward the pond...

then into the water....

... and they're off!

Ramble 30: Wouldn't it be nice...?

Marge and Sergei are history buffs (each in her/his own way). And they're bikers... and hikers...and explorers who have ideas about how communities could be, if only....
The city of Alameda is a great spot for biking, hiking, exploring, idea-mongering history buffs to pontificate about what was...and what could be.
So, let the pontificating begin...

What was...
Below is the "Bird's Eye View of Oakland and Vicinity" map, published by the Oakland Tribune, that shows Alameda before it was Alameda, even before Alameda was the island that it is today. FYI: around the turn of the - last- century, engineers and visionaries cut through the peninsula that attached to the Oakland Hills (the area on the left of the map) to enlarge the estuary.

The land west (lower right) of soon-to-be Alameda on this Bird's Eye map hosted the trans-continental railroad terminus...about two decades-plus before further infill to engineer what became Navy Air Station, Alameda..
The Y-shaped water course shown on the map was in-filled to engineer current day Lake Merritt. What's left of the wider inlet to the estuary is now a narrow channel near current day Laney College and 5th Street. (If you drive or ride a bike you can reach this spot by driving along the Embarcadero; you'll know you're crossing this spot when you go over 5th Street bridge.)
The portion of land now known as Alameda Point (showing shipping and harbor on the map) was in-filled with dredge material (some of which contained "marsh crust" - a PAH-contaminated material from early coal energy industry).
Until 1995 this infill area was the active Naval Air Station, Alameda. This base was shut down in '95 and the area is now a series of contamination clean-up sites, some of which are on the National Priorities List for Superfund sites (aka CERCLA).
Across the estuary, north west of the Oakland harbor, was a military supply depot. That was shut down in the early 1990s and some of that area is now Middle Harbor Shoreline Park.

Look at Sergei's pictures ...then...
....imagine if Alameda's City Fathers and Mothers (aka the City Council) extended their interest in our city beyond a compulsion for traditional ways of managing our budget and finances;
... imagine if "we, the people" managed to convince the council to create a huge, beautiful park on the former base! (Council members will say they are creating a park...Marge means, instead of an afterthought park, rather use the whole of the "unused" - aka the "Federal portion" - and most contaminated - parts of the base and turn the whole thing into a park! Run by East Bay Regional Park District (oh, yes, almost forgot, the City and officials have set in motion what con only be ongoing grudges and bad feelings from earlier discussions on such a park. Why do our city officials appear to be widely talented in ways to rile other entities and subsequently end up in law suits? Here's another law suit...also with EBRPD. And, here's a Small Faces song for city officials to hum as they gear up for another expression of that talent: Wouldn't it be nice?
Instead of open space and beautiful park with sustainable directions, Alameda Point is destined to become the usual configuration business park with residences and all the usual "getting and spending" and laying "waste our powers" . (For a foray into different media, read below to read how William Wordsworth put this...then listen to John Lennon's still apt, "Imagine".)

Views from Middle Harbor Shoreline Park

View from the lookout tower at Middle Harbor Park into the Alameda/Oakland Estuary toward San Francisco...

(Left) Downtown San Francisco skyline, photo taken from the tip of Alameda Point.  Since this area is closed to the public for on-going contamination clean up, this pic was shot during the annual bus tour put on by the Navy Base Clean up team.
Note: the bus tour was open to the public. As of this year, 2013, it is only open to members of the Restoration Advisory Board.

(Below) Expanded view of the skyline from the same spot, the northern most tip of Alameda Point.

(Below) Oakland docks, among the busiest docks on the west coast, sits on the estuary pretty much as in the Tribune map - only a lot bigger now than it was then.

 This is a good picture to keep in mind when you read the poem, below, or listen to Wouldn't it be nice...or better yet,  listen to Imagine.


"THE WORLD IS TOO MUCH WITH US; LATE AND SOON"

          THE world is too much with us; late and soon,
          Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:
          Little we see in Nature that is ours;
          We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
          The Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
          The winds that will be howling at all hours,
          And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;
          For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
          It moves us not.--Great God! I'd rather be
          A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;                        
          So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
          Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
          Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
          Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.
                      William Wordsworth, 1806.

Ramble 29: Target is the Target...

Let's face it, Marge is a busybody. In general, though, she's a busybody who tries to not overwhelm readers with her more...pungent...Points-of-View. She agrees that there is a time to shut up ...and that there's also a time to put up. Today is a time to put up. In this case, it's a time to put up...more pictures. Besides, this is not Marge's first foray into this topic: Target.
Truth in advertising: Marge is not a fan of the up-and-coming Target at Alameda Landing. And, no, hers is not simply a case of NIMBY - at least, not a simple case of NIMBY - for Marge sometimes shops at Target - usually the Emeryville store.
Marge wonders, however, why the City of Alameda - a town of 72,000-or-so souls, not all of whom are regular shoppers - needs its very own 200,000-plus square feet offering Target goodies? For, hundreds of thousands of square footage of the self-same Target goodies are available within a six mile radius of any Alameda exit: El Cerrito, Albany/Berkeley, Emeryville, Hayward, and San Francisco; San Leandro's Target, once located off Davis Street, is now a Walmart. 
Here's how Marge thinks about it: since Americans LOVE to drive and, since Alamedans are Americans, why don't Alamedans drive to any of the surrounding Targets? (Here's a map with directions.)
(What's that you ask? Shouldn't Marge - the proponent of public transportation, promote not driving? Consider this: a round trip, one-person-per-vehicle trip of 12 miles costs about $2 to $3 - even in a clunker like Marge's at, say, $4 per round trip - no toll to Targets on the east side of the bay - is a lot cheaper than selling one's land to a venture like Target that takes over the land, the mentality, and the mindset of residents.)
If Alamedans had come together we could have agreed that the acreage now devoted to Target at Alameda Point could have been dedicated to something more sustainable and life-affirming than Target shopping. Because, it is not only that most of don't really need more "stuff", nor do any of us need more of the by-product that goes into creating, using, and disposing of that "stuff."
For example, think of all the fuel and human creativity that goes into creating "stuff": plastic and synthetic materials used huge amounts of fuels - and give off huge amounts of poisonous vapors, etc; transporting stuff from China to the Target distribution centers and then to Alameda (and surrounding cities with Target stores), human creativity is wasted marketing and promo'ing to persuade shoppers that they "need" that stuff, then packaging and wrapping that "stuff" so shoppers can carry it home, then the oodles of various kinds of energy to dispose of the wrapping...and the stuff itself when we tire of it and toss it out...and go purchase more "stuff." (Check out Annie Leonard's excellent and easy to watch and understand presentations of "stuff" for a deeper look into this.)
Aaaahhh. Mind boggling.
Below is the latest set of photo of Target's "evolution". Or, before looking at this set, see the earlier Ramble with accompanying batch of pix: Target's coming to town. (This slideshow is a running pictorial commentary on Target from October 2011.)

Get used to seeing this logo. It is also the first thing anyone - including first time visitors to our town - sees emerging from the Webster Tube.
To Marge this is THE symbol of what's happening in town as City Fathers and Mothers turn over our once-sleepy town to vast, anonymous corporate interests who funnel our money out of our town...except for the relatively minor amounts of sales tax of which the City only gets a very small percentage anyway.

 The picture above and the next 3 below look north toward the estuary and Oakland's Jack London Square in the background.

 This one looks towards the west, estuary behind Marge; Marina Village to her left.

 Taken from the parking lot of Mariner Square gym looking north toward the estuary. Here, Target is behind the gym and this view shows what will become the edge of the residential area...or parking lot serving Target.

This picture, looking northwest toward Coast Guard Housing, is the location of the future residential area of Alameda Point. Interestingly, it is also the site of the former Navy Fleet and Industrial Supply Center - "FISCA" - a brownfield although no one mentions that, least of all the City Fathers and Mothers.

Ramble 28: Gladly the Cross-eyed Cat

This guy lives next door to Marge and Sergei. They call him/her, Gladly the Cross-eyed Cat.
Recognize the mondegreen? That is, "the mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase as a result of near-homophony, in a way that gives it a new meaning"?
Here is it:
"Gladly, the cross-eyed bear." From the traditional hymn,   "Gladly The Cross I'd Bear."

Here are other mondegreens:
    "There's a bathroom on the right."
       "There's a bad moon on the rise."
       Bad Moon Rising, Creedence Clearwater
    
    "Excuse me while I kiss this guy."
       "Excuse me while I kiss the sky."
       Purple Haze, Jimi Hendrix
"Woman, take me in your office"
"Woman, take me in your arms..."
Rock your Baby, George McCrae

    "Dead ants are my friends; they're blowin' in the wind."
       "The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind."
       Blowin' In The Wind, Bob Dylan
    
    "Midnight after you're wasted."
       "Midnight at the oasis."
       Midnight at the Oasis, Maria Muldaur
    
    "The girl with colitis goes by."
       "The girl with kaleidoscope eyes."
       Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, The Beatles
    
    "Sleep in heavenly peas."
       "Sleep in heavenly peace."
       Silent Night, Christmas carol
    
    "I blow bubbles when you are not here."
       "My world crumbles when you are not here."
       I Try, Macy Gray
    
    "I got no towel, I hung it up again."
       "I get knocked down, but I get up again."
       Tubthumping, Chumbawumba
    
    "She's got a chicken to ride."
       "She's got a ticket to ride."
       Ticket to Ride, The Beatles
    
    "You and me and Leslie."
       "You and me endlessly..."
       Groovin', The Rascals
    
    "Sont des mots qui vont tres bien ensemble; tres bien ensemble."
       "Sunday monkey won't play piano song, play piano song."
       Michelle, The Beatles
    
    "I'll be your xylophone waiting for you."
       "I'll be beside the phone waiting for you."
       Build Me Up Buttercup, The Foundations
    
    "Are you going to starve an old friend?"
       "Are you going to Scarborough Fair?"
       Scarborough Fair, Simon and Garfunkel
    
    "Baking carrot biscuits."
       "Taking care of business."
       Takin' Care Of Business, Bachman-Turner Overdrive
    
    "Donuts make my brown eyes blue."
       "Don't it make my brown eyes blue."
       Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue, Crystal Gale
    
    "Got a lot of lucky peanuts."
       "Got a lot of love between us."
       Let's Hang On. Frankie Vallee and the Four Seasons
    
    "What a nice surprise when you're out of ice."
       "What a nice surprise bring your alibis."
       Hotel California, Eagles
    
    "Hope the city voted for you."
       "Hopelessly devoted to you."
       Hopelessly Devoted to You, Grease
    
    "I'm a pool hall ace."
       "My poor heart aches."
       Every Step You Take, The Police
    
    "Just brush my teeth before you leave me, baby."
       "Just touch my cheek before you leave me, baby."
       Angel of the Morning, Juice Newton
     

Related Pages

Ramble 27: Pictures Worth More than a Thousand Words

Thanks to Sergei and his trusted camera for most of the pix shared here, an assortment of scenes from an early Sunday  afternoon ramble.
Updates on feathered friends... 
Perhaps the string of young 'uns pictured here - 28 of them watched over by 4 adults on a sunny Sunday afternoon at the pond near Crown Beach - are the same pictured in an earlier posting?
At any rate, Sergei captured them in the pond....

then up the banks of the pond ...and heading toward greener pastures...

... then snacking to their hearts content.
Here the brood samples grasses near Crown Beach public facilities.
View through the trees across Crab Cove and toward Ballena Bay yacht harbor in the distance.







Terns are back!

The terns are back...both the Least Tern and the larger version - are they called "Greater"? - can be see all over the coves and along the shorelines.
(Later Sergei corrected Marge: "Marge, they're Caspian Terns. True, "Lesser" and "Greater" are terms often used to distinguish our feathered friends but, in the case of terns, the term is Caspian!) Anyone spotting terns - Lesser or Caspian - at this time of year will see displays of feathered  athleticism and hear calls of high-pitched purity - all in service of increasing the tern population.
Speaking - well, writing - of tern populations, seems Veterans Affairs is giving the nod to the tern breeding site continuing - at least for now while the publicity continues - on the former naval base.(Read background.)

Mallard displays evidence of feathered largesse...or something more blatant?
This mallard female has 6 or 7 chicks that look like chips off the old block...then there are the 3 blonde chicks that look like the milkman.
Is this an example of duck largesse - is she fostering a sister duck's offspring?
Or is this an example of blowback from a duck tryst in the reeds?
Speaking of mallards, Marge and Sergei have witnessed several  incidents of what can only be called, to put it nicely, "sexual harassment"  of female mallards by male mallards.
On more than one occasion we've witnessed gangs of male mallards targeting one female and bullying her until she succumbs. We've seen it happen in water (3 males attacked one female) and aloft (3 males hijacked one female, in flight, harassed, yelled, and ganged up on her - all while she squawked in alarm. Perhaps duck for "no" has not yet reached the male mallard ear?
Or identity politics - and politicians - have not yet arrived in the mallard population?)
Perhaps these "blondinees" duckings are evidence of other duck species noting that female mallards are...well, sitting ducks... for easy-enough implantation and propagation of their species?

The Pond - site for myriad activities?

If the pond is the site for social transgressions of the feathered  variety... it is also the site of transgressions of the not-feathered variety.
Not too far from the duck nursery, on the banks of the pond, someone (or someones...Marge hopes that, if transgressions occur, they do so in atmospheres of friendship and bonhomie and, in this case, more than one party-ier participated - else it feels kind of...sad, lonesome, depressing, anti-social...) had a Lime-Rita party.
As you see, the party-ier or party-ers lined up the dozen empties very neatly.
Marge and Sergei passed by after noon and only one can had fallen over by then; Marge hopes that's a metaphor for the kind of party it was...

"Jack LaLanne's Boat"

Red hot pokers  create a lovely foreground for a view of what Marge calls "Jack LaLanne's Boat," (center right of pic) and Poopy Point (left, background).

Early in his career Jack Lalanne worked feats of athleticism and daring-do at Alameda's public baths.
A local historian mentioned that LaLanne once "lived on a boat in Sunny Cove". (Sunny Cove - picture here - was the site of Neptune Beach Baths.)
Marge likes to think this was Jack's boat, fallen on hard times since Jack's departure (both from Alameda and the planet). Read on article in local paper about LaLanne...then listen - as long as you can stand it - to his All-American  views on the American flag.
 



(Left)
Marge at Poopy Point...
and...





(below)...
long shadow evidence of a happy pair...
Marge and Sergei at the end of a long and lovely day bidding you a fond farewell - until our next ramble and report...