O A K L A N D I S H

Today marks a big day......

Scott Beecher Ward ran his first road race.

( and looked mighty fine doing it. )

Now Scott is a supersonic Cross Fit man....but running has never been his forte....as Preston Tucker described : "he looks like a meandering cowboy with those slightly bowed legs when he's running...."

But today is the start of the Oakland Running Festival, and we were psyched to join in on the festivities.

We love Oakland.

The run took place in Jack London Square....

(those are some good number combinations.....)

(notice the beer coupons!...great running incentive for SBW!)

What a champ....

...and a champette........

More 5K runs in the future!

Friendship & Love

What could be better?

A 2010 Year in Pictures & Words

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October/ November

December

Adventures in Snow.....Part I...........

"Where is Mona?

She's long gone....

Where is Mary?

She's taken her along....

But they haven't put their mittens on

And there's fifteen feet 

of pure white snow......"

- from Nick Cave's Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY8Amv3_z34

We packed the snow coach, and were ready to head out in search of snow and quiet and the beauty of the woods.  Our direction was 3 hours North - Tahoe Land. Route 80. Look for Donner. That was our spot. A big storm had come in the night before, and the mountains of white were stunning.

A puppy was very excited to be traveling. Her paws had not touched snow in a while.

We arrived at Borreal, a SnoPark. 

Packed with snow & people.

We bundled our bodies & our day pack......

The snowshoes were ready to go.......

And we were off..........

A winter wonderland........

We encountered a mighty snow machine....look at the size of that drill........

Serious traction......if only puppy had that traction.......

Pure beauty........

So cold, icicles started forming on Scott's stash.....

We will be back for sure........stay tuned.......

AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

xxxxx

Sea Snaps (preview)

(amazing to me how these look like the Sheet Snap series)

beautiful

I smile o'er the wrinkled blue

Lo! the sea is fair,

Smooth as the flow of a maiden's hair;

And the welkin's light shines through

Into mid-sea caverns of beryl hue,

And the little waves laugh and the mermaids sing,

And the sea is a beautiful, sinuous thing! 

- excerpt from The Sea Spirit, by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Sheet Snaps (preview)

For 25 consecutive days the challenge is to document the history of a night's sleep every morning.
Here are three images from the series:

P O R T L A N D O R E G O N X X X X X

On a whim, we bought tickets to go hear and see Broken Social Scene ( with Sea & Cake opening!)  in Portland, Oregon.

http://www.brokensocialscene.ca/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqqLe9uiLl4&feature=related

http://www.myspace.com/seaandcake

This was months ago....
Suddenly the date of the concert was approaching and we had to plan for our get-away weekend.........
Sadly the place we wanted to stay was booked....see below. Really amazing.

http://www.mcmenamins.com/427-kennedy-school-home

But we booked a spot in great sounding hotel and decided no rental car. Renting bikes.

Portland. It is known as one of the most "green" cities of the world.

It is a vibrant city, near the confluence of two rivers: the Willamette & the Columbia.

It reminds us of Pittsburgh.

We got ready for our big first night out. We were going to rely on Urban Spoon on the IPhone to assist us in finding a place to eat........ (bad idea)

So we ended up dining at Pizza Schmizza.....

The next day was a beauty. Sun shining. Shadows mighty.

And we rented bicycles and were off! 

We saw Dharma's work at Augen Gallery! Hello!

And saw a really interesting show at the Portland Craft Museum.

There we met many sweet people who guided us to all the cool spots.

Thank you!

So we pedaled fast & with excitement!

Hitting an art installation that was in an abandoned high school....super super super.

We played with shadows.

And swirled

to the whirl........

And we were inspired by color.

That night we biked to dinner and then to the show. 

A M A Z I N G.

To wake up in the a.m. inspired by the geography of the sheets on the bed.

And the conversations of light and form on the streets.

And a local greasy spoon made our bellies full.

So we lingered at this record shop....inspired by the range....

And home we went: minds buzzing with image and sound.