You Say It's Your Birthday!

Gulf Fritillary in Robbie's front yard amidst the lavender

Some birthdays I try to do something extra, by which I mean go on a pelagic birding trip. This year I celebrated with a fun version of 'same old, same old'. I got up at 4:50 AM, drove to the Bay area where I got my 'hair did'. Following that, as-per-usual, I met up with my friend Robbie so we could go out to brunch.

We went to our absolute favorite cafe for our hair-day brunch, Rick and Ann's. If you ever get a chance to visit Berkeley, that is THE spot for breakfast. I'm pret-ty sure their other meals are great too, but I've only been there for my favorite meal of the day, breakfast. Treated myself to Doc's Delight which is a massive waffle, apple sausage (yum...) and two eggs, which I take poached.

Oh... and instead of coffee, I had a nice bottle of Cock & Bull, a rich ginger beer. 

Roberta was a dear and treated me - hey it is my b-day after all.  I am so spoiled. Robbie had the Yukon Gold Plate, i.e, a veggie hash with served with 2 eggs - she has taste too so also chose poached eggs - and a scone. 

Them's good eats.

If you count the doggie legs, there are
six, so there are at least 1.5 dogs shown

Now Robbie & I have brunched in Berkeley for like forever, but today was extra special, well hell, it is my birthday after all. As we left, there was a man with two stately & gorgeous Irish Wolfhounds. I bustled on over to chat with the doggy Daddy, who was very nice indeed. I told him what a fantastic birthday treat it was for me to get in some petting time with his hounds. Yep! This was a functional and fun birthday. 

Something Swallowed the Sun

I wanted so badly to see the eclipse, but to do so I should have reserved a room more than a year ago. I checked out the hotels in all the towns - large & small - in the path of the Total Eclipse (TE). I was horrified to discover that in ensy town after ensy town, ALL the rooms were booked. Rats. I did get an astoundingly generous invitation from my new Denver cousin David. They were to view the eclipse at their country house and had a small group gathered there for the event. That was uber kind for him to invite me, but I couldn't work up much enthusiasm for either driving that far or for flying there. If that's not total proof I'm aging, I truly don't know what is.

That brings me to today. I pondered where I might view a partial bit of the TE and decided to visit Michigan Bar Road. MB Road is fairly empty most of the time and today as no exception. I got out there. Parked. Waited.

This time of year, particularly during the ongoing drought, you'd be hard pressed to find any greenery without irrigation. 

The car radio was tuned to Capital Radio/NPR. They reported on the path of the TE as it progressed eastward. Then a little after 10:10AM or so, the miracle began... only I couldn't really see it. Yes, the entirety of the sky looked queer, feeling almost as if I were wearing ill fitting glasses - but the sun never disappeared. HOWEVER! I did take photos and although the sun seems untouched, there was a bizarre reflecting of the true shape of the sun that took place in my iPhone. It created a tiny crescent (the true outline of the sun) revealing there really was a TE underway!

Although the sun looks as round as ever it is an illusion. The ensy blue crescent above, reflecting in my iPhone, shows what the full eclipse at my location. Just a tiny bit left that is not blocked at my location.

I was elated to see the little tell-tale crescent and posted about it immediately on FaceBook. One of my FB friends commented that I'd likely fried my iPhone's inner sensors. Thank heavens, for whatever reason, that did not happen!

One of the things I looked for during the eclipse was something I remembered the last time I experienced a partial eclipse. I remember the shadows beneath the trees were shaped like tiny crescents. I still do not understand how that could be, but it was fascinating.. I could sort of see such crescents under the oak during the eclipse but not any where as clear.

I nicked this photo of crescent shadows under a tree during today's eclipse. Interesting.

The next total eclipse of the sun will be on April 8th 2024. I need to get cracking on finding a hotel room for that date.

Baltimore to Balti-less

clockwise L to R: James-Allen, Gloria, Juan, William, Dolores, Diane, Kirk

It's been a great week, a short one but I'll be back. No visit to Baltimore is complete without visiting my brother Juan. Kirk drove Dolores, James-Allen and I to where Juan lives, just north of the Virginia border. His wife Gloria and her sister Diane met up with us there.

Juan out soaking up soaking up some sun

Juan and Dolores, my bro & sis

Snackin' and Yakkin'

 We decided to take Juan out for lunch, so we headed off to a nearby Mexican Restaurant.

Drinks all around, feeling our oats. The
photographer, in the black shirt, is my nephew William)

 It was a fun week, and I'm happy I decided to take up on my niece Ain's birthday party invitation. I always enjoy visiting Baltimore, but I fly out tomorrow so I'm in for Balti-less (get it? Uh... never mind!).