Seen Around the Neighborhood, plus Bonus Vacation Photos

Luckily, I didn't see a bear like I did at Lake Tahoe. (That episode played out like this, by the way: I hiked down to Emerald Bay while Mr. Burli took the sleeping, feverish JT on a drive. As I approached the vacation home of a wealthy woman built in the 1920s, which I was planning to tour, a man ahead of me called out, "Ma'am, there is a bear up here," and I looked behind me to see who he was talking to. Oh, me. Apparently I am so old that I am now ma'am, I thought, and there is a bear. So, what did I do? I got out my camera, took a picture and then as the bear scampered in my direction, I decided that I should hustle off. Luckily, another man came around the corner and when I mentioned the bear to him, he picked up a stick and threw it at the bear. Later the park ranger mentions that you should not run when you see a bear. Oops.)
Anyways, what I did see the other night was this newborn giraffe, born in the afternoon. We were there around 7pm but the baby barely made an appearance and the other giraffes kept peering into the stall where the mom and baby were. Later, after the zoo at night show, we caught the bus back up to the entrance and the bus had to circle around elephant mesa where the giraffes have been relocated. I managed to get this quick picture! 15 months gestation, and then the baby falls 6 feet to the ground at birth. Pretty amazing.

In the wine country we saw lots of... no, not bears nor giraffes, but these naked ladies. Also known as belladonna lilies or amaryllis. I even asked Cousin K. what these flowers were called in in the hope of getting some for our garden. (I love how they come up on these slender stalks and the pink trumpets just call out for attention.) Then we arrived back home, dismayed at our dirt yard with all its bare non-grassy patches and there over by the lemon tree and the potato tree I discovered this:

I have my own naked lady! It is a sure sign of late summer in California and of the early European settlers.

And now, some bonus shots from our little vacation.

A whirly fun thing at the Julius Kahn playground in "Fransancisco".

A windy look back at the foggy bay.

Hop Kiln Winery. Nice because they had a fish pond out back where the kiddo fed the fish a whole loaf of bread. And besides that, the building was historical - the area used to be known for the hops grown there which was dried at this kiln. Many of the other wineries had highfalutin, "I'm so fancy"-type buildings that just seemed to be cold and snobby. This at least had a sense of history.

And not too far away was this sawmill, which was sort of fun to look at. And then we found Korbel which had free tours and an interesting story to it as well - the original Korbel was from Bohemia and was imprisoned by the Hapsburgs for trying to overthrow "their cruel regime," as the tour guide pointed out. Also, another kid was going on the tour and he was loud and whiny and made the other guests cringe, so we felt no qualms about bringing JT along. He was even given some grape juice to taste as we sipped our bubbly. Perhaps the most fun part of the wine country for JT was the concert in the park in Healdsburg, where my mom's cousin lives. She spotted me (although she thought I was my sister) while I was walking around trying to spot her. We bought super-ripe blackberries that stained our mouths and fingers and enjoyed a cup of wine with her and her friends. She and her husband have a beautiful B&B in town, and she graciously showed us around the next morning. (We were cheap and stayed at the Best Western in town which was the cheapest in the area - because they were doing construction! Luckily, the construction was on the other side of the building, but Mr. Burli did complain about the use of Styrofoam plates at breakfast and poor planning of their new wing.)
Well, enough photos for now. I have more. So come back another day!