You ever read The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller? Terrible book. Purple prose at its most florid. Made into a bad movie starring Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep three years after the book’s 1992 publication. Despite obvious star power, it’s terrible too. Call me a Philistine if you like, but I’m no fan of bodice-ripper romances set in rural Iowa – so sue me. I prefer something a bit grittier. Hence today’s post on The Bridges of Yolo County. It’s a photo essay set on both sides of the Sacramento River. In addition to a couple of iconic bridges, it features the River Walk, Old Town Sac, and the State Railroad Museum. Hope you enjoy The Bridges of Yolo County as much as I did while I walked the loop this morning.
The River Walk begins in West Sac near my front door and follows the Yolo bank of the river from the I-Street Bridge south to the Tower Bridge.Sacramento’s Tower Bridge.It’s iconic.The Tower Bridge as seen from the I-Street bridge looking south.The I-Street Bridge viewed from the Sac side of the river.The I-Street Bridge has train tracks on the lower level and a roadway for cars on the upper level.Like I said, grittier.
Joe’s Crab Shack anchors the south end of Old Sac.Joe’s famous motto:: Free Crab TOMORROW, never today.Why? Because when the bell rings it means that bridge is going to raise itself up 40′ to let a boat pass thru, that’s why.
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The sign makers of Old Sac just love to point the finger. Literally.
See what I mean?
Founded by the late great Denny Anspach and funded in part by the State of CA when Reagan was governor, the State RR Museum anchors the north end of Old Sac.
Steamers to San Fran – downstream, of course.
They call it a “roundhouse” for a reason.
Calstrs and the Ziggurat building as seen from the Sac side of the tracks.One last locomotive for the road – er, I mean, the rails.And one last finger for the road too.
“Sí se puede” is the motto of the United Farm Workers of America. Loosely translated, it means “Yes, we can.” UFW co-founder Dolores Huerta came up with the slogan in 1972. It has long been a UFW guiding principle serving to inspire accomplishment of goals.
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I am here at Pachamama today for a couple of reasons. One is to use their wi-fi. Running my mobile hotspot all month from a remote location has pushed me over the Xfinity data threshold for throttling down, thus making the connection effectively unusable. Ah, the things we do for love – and gainful employment.
Two, the Keller Interiors floor installer is ripping carpet off the stairs and putting down new flooring today, thus making the main (upstairs) living area of 392 Midstream effectively inaccessible. Getting the step risers to the proper height and depth (read: within code) is a major undertaking, or so they tell me. At $100 a step, it better be.
Three, it’s Saturday and that means Midtown Farmers Market is just a half block away. There’s produce. There are flowers. There’s Naan Tikka. If I’m feeling naughty, there’s even Upper Crust Baking Company. Be still, my beating heart – and my A1C.
Last but certainly not least, it’s a lovely day out. It was 58 degrees on the porch this morning as I sipped my coffee. That’s the first time since we went to the Mendocino coast that I’ve needed to wear my sweatshirt. I can’t begin to tell you how good that feels this time of year here in the hot-hot-hot Central Valley.
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I also can’t begin to tell you how great it feels to be 99% done with painting. And having the flooring installed, with new bedroom carpet coming Monday, gives me great hope for the future. A realtor walkthrough is scheduled for Tuesday. Flight home to Denver is Wednesday. In a word: YES, WE CAN! Or, as Dolores Huerta might say, “Si Se Puede.”
I’m giving y’all a break today, and taking one myself. Here, without much in the way of preamble or commentary, is today’s two cents worth: A Trojan-Pizza-Delivery-Guy. Who knew? Not me. Enjoy anyway.
Yesterday’s post, here, mentioned a “hay fort” from the halcyon days of my youth. Today’s post is about a real fort – specifically, Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park in Midtown Sac. The best part? Because of a roof re-construction project currently in progress, admission to the fort is free. Even when they charged you, it wouldn’t break the bank: Adults $5. Kids $3. But still, free is good. Right?
What, you didn’t believe me? Yes, it’s FREE!Emigrant wagon – smaller than a Conestoga.This is a fort, not Motel 6. So the bed is unmade. Also, no flush toilets. Sorry.
As this scale model shows, Sutter’s Fort was hardly a medieval walled castle. The walls were low (about 10′) and served mainly to keep the livestock in and the Maidu out.The firewood is not free. What, you think this stuff grows on trees?The fort is free, yes, but the ceilings are low. If you forget to duck, you will break your nose.If you ring the doorbell, we promise not to shoot you. (JK: We will shoot on sight.)The doorbell, of course.Writing desk where Sutter did his blog posts with a quill pen. Nope, I am not kidding.Before hanging out at Sutter’s Fort, I hung with our old pals Tim and Candice Taylor at Trinity Cathedral: Old friends are the best friends.
Hope you enjoyed your FREE tour. If you care to leave your docent a gratuity, there’s a tip jar by the door. After all, this stuff doesn’t grow on trees.
When I was little, I’d like nothing better than to drape a blanket over a couple of chairs in the middle of the living room rug and call it a camp out. When I got a little older and the hay mow in the barn got full, one of my favorite pastimes was to a build a tunnel out of hay bales leading to a central cavity which I liked to call a “hay fort.” Now I know I told some of you I was going to camp out at Lake Tahoe this weekend to escape the 105-degree Sacramento heat. But daily highs have come down into the more tolerable mid-90’s. Accordingly, I have decided to pitch a tent in the back yard and relive the glory days of my misspent youth. So sue me.
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Now on the one hand, Sam Clemens was right when he spoke in praise of travel as a way to get beyond the parochial limits of life in a single place:
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”
― Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad / Roughing It
On the other hand, all due respect to Mr. Twain and his folksy wit, but growing roses requires one to be in the same spot consistently to regularly water the same old ground – as the back yard at 392 Midstream will attest.
So then, we have this conundrum: Which is better: Roses? Or the open-mindedness of the open road? As a seasoned hay-fort veteran of yore, I choose both. Well, at least as far as my back yard is concerned. And at least for tonight – one night only. I mean, roses or no roses, there’s no sense getting carried away here. Right, Sam?
The PCVs of Timor-Leste. RGW (director of management and operations) is in light blue shirt, front row center. The caption reads: “An amazing crew.”R&R with some Aussies on Atauro Island.She has since sojourned in Bali too.It’s a tough life, but somebody’s gotta live it.
Today? It’s an epic meme day. My favorite? The haiku. Why? Well, for one thing, who knew that the word “tired” (or as we like to say around here, “tard”) has two syllables. Certainly not me.
Can you relate?
Enjoy your day, folks.
“Tard” or not, let’s make it a good one.
Me on the way to Tahoe for the weekend, trying to escape the (105-degree) heat.
With the annual Perseids meteor shower peaking last weekend, our eyes turn heavenward, and our posts turn toward a space theme.
First off there’s the story from a few years back about a Michigan farmer who used a strange rock discovered on his property to prop shut a shed door. The full story is here. The punch line? The 22-lb. space rock was a meteorite, and it was worth $75,000. The bottom line? Be sure to check your doorstops, because you never know what they might be worth.
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Next, there’s this from xkcd about the proper pronunciation of “Perseids.”
When speaking out loud, you can call it the ‘Perseids meatier shower’ and no one will ever know. If you do get caught somehow, just tell them to Google the ‘Kentucky meat shower’ and that will distract them while you escape.
Last but not least…
What space theme post would be complete without a little Star Trek humor?
Alright, I can’t really claim “All Poems, All The Time.” But today? Yep, you got it. And if the fine print’s too small, you can read it at the website, here. But please be advised, to access it you’ll have to be on “X,” the social media platform formerly known as “Twitter.” Sorry. If you have complaints, go speak with Elon. For what it’s worth, he doesn’t do “All Poems, All the Time” either.
I love Brian Bilston almost as much as _____. Fill in the blank to win valuable prizes. Oh, and also, more BB is here. Enjoy.
This one’s for my brother who doesn’t speak to me anymore. I’m sorry I called you “a pig in slop,” I really am. C’mon, “BBQ is good,” right?
There is something about soaring ceilings and plenty of light that elevates the spirit and induces calm. That was the vibe at St. John’s Lutheran in Sacramento yesterday.
See what I mean?Even impressive outside in the bright sun.
There was a flutist accompanying the organ. He played Telemann’s Vivace from Sonota No. 1 in F Major, and Satie’s lovely meditative Gymnopedie No. 1 from Trois Gymnopedies. It was simply divine. There was even a baptism, and who doesn’t like a wide-eyed cooing infant with proud parents and smiling sponsors clustered around up front?
The first lesson was Elijah in his cave, hearing the still small voice, and anointing his successor, Elisha. The gospel lesson was Peter attempting to walk across Galilean waters to Jesus waiting in the boat, and failing miserably when he looked down at his own two feet. The children’s sermon was an extended riff on the gospel, and featured a juggling act by the Senior Pastor with the pithy punchline, “Keep your eye on the ball.”
Everything was perfect… up until the closing hymn.
I don’t know if you can read music, but let me describe it to you: This is one of that genre of late-Lutheran post-modern hymns with a la-di-dah tune line coupled with cringe-worthy, over-sincere lyrics. “Contrasts in outlook and landscape and need… Challenge of famine, pollution, and greed.” Really? Are you freaking kidding me? I’m sorry, but a certain medieval monk is turning over in his Wittenberg grave.
Full disclosure: Just like my favorite Lutheran pastor, Nadia Bolz-Weber, I am a sucker for all the OLD hymns, preferably sung a cappella. A little organ accompaniment is fine. But “Pain of youth growing and wrinkling of age?” No thank you, I’ll pass. About the best I can say is this: At least it wasn’t “Onward Christian Soldiers” or “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” or any of their Teutonic militaristic ilk. But frankly, that’s a mighty low bar.
Anyway, soaring ceilings and beautiful light were plenty enough for me. These are things that can’t be spoiled, even by a less-than-soaring closing hymn.
