A Toothless, Singing Hippie, San Francisco (October, 1990)

Way back in 1990, I came upon this fine fellow -- a toothless, singing "hippie" -- at Hallidie Plaza in San Francisco. That is where the Powell/Market Street "turntable" (a trolley turning station) is. He was there entertaining tourists and commuters while the trolley "Gripmen" turned the trolleys around.

What was he singing when I snapped this photo? Well, SHOCKINGLY, he was singing the San Francisco, "Summer-of-Love," hippie-classic by Scott McKenzie. C'mon, you remember the song! Sure you do! Here it is:

San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair)
Lyrics by Scott McKenzie
~
If you're going to San Francisco
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair
If you're going to San Francisco
You're gonna meet some gentle people there
~
For those who come to San Francisco
Summertime will be a love-in there
In the streets of San Francisco
Gentle people with flowers in their hair
~
All across the nation such a strange vibration
People in motion
There's a whole generation with a new explanation
People in motion people in motion
~
For those who come to San Francisco
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair
If you come to San Francisco
Summertime will be a love-in there
~
If you come to San Francisco
Summertime will be a love-in there

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Dim Sum, Yum!

Photo by Jill Weiner, Using my Minolta Maxuum 7000.

Here I am emjoying some nice Dim Sum for breakfast in
San Francisco's Chinatown, October 1990. Yum!

Turnin' Trolleys

Trolley "Gripmen" turn trolleys #12 & #16 around,
at the Powell/Market turntable, at the end of the Line
as Tourists & Commuters look on.
San Francisco, October 1990.

Jill & Me in a Redwood Tree

Jill & me inside a Redwood Tree at Big Sur, California, October 1990.

An old girlfriend & me inside a relatively small Redwood tree at the Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park which is within the famed Los Padres National Forrest. Big Sur is a spectacular place and offers some wonderful camping and lodging opportunities (we lodged). A trip I'd love to make is a drive from Yosemite to Big Sur.

These Redwoods are the tallest trees on Earth, some reaching to MORE THAN 367 feet with a diameter of more than 20 feet and at an age of 2500 YEARS! They're simply spectacular and fun to be around (and inside of)! By the way, those gaping holes in them were carved out by ancient fires.

The Redwood is a close cousin of the Giant Sequoia which can be found elsewhere, at the southern most end of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, in Central California. The Giant Sequoias are known as the "biggest" (i.e., the most massive) trees on Earth. The Giant Sequoias grow "only" as tall as 311 feet, but to a diameter of 35 feet wide! They are the fastest growing trees on the planet and are known to live as long as 4,000 years! Whoa Sequoia!

If you are wondering what the widest tree on Earth is, that honor goes to the Tule Cypress Tree. One near Oaxaca, Mexico measures 51.6 feet in diameter. Significantly wider than both the Redwood and the Sequoia, but also far shorter than either, standing less than 150 feet tall. Short and squat little punk.

Finally, I'd be remiss to not acknowledge the chick in the photo. She's Jill, my former fiancée. We drove down the Coastal Highway (Highway 1) together from San Francisco to San Diego in October 1990. Actually, she did all of the driving. Clocking in at 5'2" or so, Jill is significantly shorter than any of the trees mentioned above. C'est la Vie.

Peek-A-Boo

Harbor Seal, California Coast, October 1990

A Harbor Seal peaks out the water, on the California Coast, somewhere between San Francisco and Carmel, October 1990. The water may look oily, but it wasn't. That's just the reflection of a ship's masthead and the late afternoon sunlight playing tricks on you.

Peek-a-Boo
Lyrics by DEVO
-
Peek-a-boo!
I can see you
And I know what you do
So put your hands on your face
And cover up your eyes
Don’t look until I signal
Peek-a-boo! peek-a-boo! peek-a-boo!
The way that we weren’t is what we’ll become
So please pay attention while I show you some
Of what’s about to happen
Peek-a-boo!
I know what you do
Cause I do it too
Laugh if you want to or say you don’t care
If you cannot see it you think it’s not there
It doesn’t work that way

California Dreamin'

One of the most beautiful trips I've ever taken was a drive down Highway 1, from San Francisco to San Diego, back in September 1990. Along the way I found this giant rock sticking out of the coast somewhere south of San Francisco and north of Big Sur. A reader of this blog, "Changa Peluda", was kind enough to correctly identify it as Morro Rock and the setting as Morro Bay, California. The entire coast there is absolutely gorgeous. On this trip there was fog all the way down.

I Left This Hat, In San Francisco

Photo by Jill Weiner

Nothing cheers me up more than a silly hat! Here I am trying out a very silly hat at a shop in Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco in September 1990. The shop had these epic, fairy tale, floor to ceiling murals along with faux-architectural ruins tossed throughout. I'm not that skinny anymore, but I still have the bag (now relegated to holding other bags). Man, I use to love that shirt!

P.S.: I never did buy the hat.