December 19--Mills Field

I forgot to post last night because someone posted a picture on Facebook from the late 1920s, of the airfield that later became the San Francisco Airport. It was nothing more than a few buildings and a gravel runway near the old highway. So naturally, I had to spend hours in the airport's archives to see how it grew into the international airport it is today.



Here is the image. The archives say that after it opened, the airfield had about 20 flights a month.

Here is another view, from the air:



The area at the top left, where the road curves, is where the current airport is located. Both the above images are courtesy of the SFO archives.

Here is a current picture:



(Photo courtesy of Callbookaddict at English Wikipedia, under a Creative Commons license)

The site of the original airfield is where the buildings along the freeway in the lower left side of the image are, just above the green area. The current terminals and runways are all built on landfill over the bay. Part of the original design of the airport included a seaplane harbor, which was used by Pan Am and other airlines for trans-Pacific flights. You can see it in the upper left.

This stuff fascinates me.

December 20--the happy post office

Malida told me yesterday of a work potluck today, and wondered if I could whip something up for her to take. I decided to do the cream cheese Christmas tree thing again, and got all the ingredients. I also decided that I would drop it off at her clinic just after I baked it, so it would still be warm.

I got up at a reasonable hour and got to work on the tree. It was easier this time since I had done it before, and I was a little more creative with it. I should have taken a picture, but forgot. While it was baking I got ready, and was able to deliver it to the clinic less than 20 minutes out of the oven.

She sent me a text 15 minutes later to tell me it was already gone! It's my Christmas go-to from now on.

After dropping off the treat, I headed down to the little post office in the rural town south of us to mail a package. I much prefer this post office to any other. It's small, the people are friendly, and there is never a line. Plus there is a lovely rose garden next to it, that has one of my favorite Ingress portals.

I had planned to head home after mailing the package, but decided on the spur of the moment to head out to the Cosumnes River Preserve and take a walk. It was a perfect day for walking, though a bit cool. I had a warm shirt in the back and put that on and was fine.

There were a number of cars in the parking lot, but I saw only one other person on the trail. It was peaceful.



As I crossed a bridge, I looked down, and this guy was looking up at me. I suspect he is some sort of heron, but I really need to get a bird book and start figuring this out. I think it is a green heron.

They reopened a part of the trail that has been closed for a number of years. They close off sections periodically for restoration purposes. The part they reopened used to be one of my favorite areas. My first wife and I walked it frequently, and we would always sit in a particular spot near the river. It was nice to revisit it again after so many years.



After I got to the river, I looped back along the far side of the wetlands. There were all sorts of birds everywhere.



I think this is some sort of sparrow. When I got this camera, I wasn't planning on photographing birds every day, but it is sure turning out that way. I am pleased with what I am getting, and it has renewed my passion for photography.



This looks like a lot of post-processing, but it is pretty much straight out of the camera.

I put in about 12,000 steps. It was a good walk.