It’s been a relaxing winter break. One day Audrey and I took Ollie for a walk in a small redwood canyon called Thornewood Preserve, which is two miles from our house. I liked it so much I decided to come back the next day with my camera. I brought a tripod along, so that I could take long exposure shots and make the water look smooth and glassy. It’s quite dark in the forest and the winter sun was very low. It’s quite hard to photograph a redwood forest, but these seemed to capture the spirit. ...
We arrived in Puerto Vallarta on a Friday evening, rented a car, and hit the road for “The One and Only” resort, a little over an hour to the north. After a slow start through traffic, we were happy to reach an expressway and make fast progress towards our destination. But when we got to our exit, we learned we had been on a toll road. A toll was due. It was payable only in Pesos, in cash. And we had not yet gone to an ATM! ...
Nashville is a great city for music. And this visit, I found the right spot on the right night. I was in town for a conference sponsored by the Gates Foundation and they treated us to dinner at the Country Music Hall of Fame. Afterwards a group of colleagues sought out some live music. We discovered The Listening Room Cafe and were in luck because it was singer-songwriter night. Four writers who create music for country stars took the stage together: The Warren Brother, JT Harding, and Marv Green. They each sat on stage on a stool with a guitar. In sequence, they shared stories and songs. In one story, the Warren Brothers wrote a song with 14-year-old Taylor Swift in their office. Then nothing happened. Twenty years later, Taylor’s agent told them to be “waiting at your phone at 9:37 am tomorrow.” When she called, they learned she was finally recording their song. Dryly, one of the said, “so I told my daughter, we can pay for you to go to college after all.” ...
It was an unusual Thanksgiving. After returning from a fun family wedding, we had no one at home with us for the holiday. So rather than eat a 20-pound bird ourselves, we decided to head to Half Moon Bay for Thanksgiving on the Beach. Lunch at the Ritz Carlton was lovely, and then we enjoyed a sparkling clear cliff-and-beach stroll. It was warm and the visibility stretched for miles. Afterwards, we rode in our convertible with the top down along Highway 1 to the Pigeon Point Lighthouse. ...
We travelled to Greenville, South Carolina to celebrate Jack and Lauren’s wonderful wedding. The family is compiling all the wedding photos, so here I’ll feature just a few shots of us and of the waterfalls in Greenville. It was a beautiful weekend! click for bigger photos