Ben Huberman asked us to show Dense. Having driven there yesterday, I immediately thought of downtown San Francisco. How dense? Around 18,489 persons per square mile per the California Department of Finance.
San Francisco, CA as seen from Twin Peaks
Coastal California has two seasons: Winter Green and Summer Brown. It doesn’t rain much here from April to October. During the dry season the grassy hillsides turn shades of brown. Having grown up on the East Coast I was used to summer rains and green forests and green, grass-covered rolling fields. This time of year, I now get to enjoy the lush green-ness of Winter Green California. Here are a few examples from the rolling hills west of Palo Alto, California to answer Michelle W’s challenge this week to be green.
Where’s the Sunshine? Well, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)… “Total nonfarm payroll employment (U.S.) increased by 235,000 in February (2017), and the unemployment rate was little changed at 4.7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment gains occurred in construction, private educational services, manufacturing, health care, and mining.”
We won’t get statewide numbers until March 24th. All we have to look at right now is the January data and it’s not pretty. Employment in the Bay Area peaked in October of 2016 at 4,036,900 and since then we’ve lost 93,800 jobs for a 2.3% drop in employment over the past three months. It’s not unusual for employment to drop at year end… just not by this much. See the SF Bay Area Employment Trends here.
It’s hump day and Michelle Weber decided to throw down a photo challenge to the wordPress community to, “…share a photo that says ‘against the odds.’”
In looking back at my archives I stopped in November of 2016. It was a good month for photos. Here are three examples that say… What were the odds…?
Looking outside at the rain and clouds I suspect it might be more than a challenge to take a photo of a shadow. After six days of rain I keep expecting to see an arc float by with pairs of animals all lined up. Next best solution to meet Cheri Lucas Rowlands’ photo challenge is a trip through my archives. Here are a few shadows from the files.
This past Friday we were challenged to find a way to show solitude. In her challenge, Jen H. stated, “Unplugging is good…” I wholeheartedly agree. A great way to unplug and find solitude is to go where you can’t hear the 21st Century.
I was making the trip from Palm Desert to Hemet over the Palms to Pines Highway (California State Route 74) and stopped off at a scenic overlook to snap a few photos. As I walked down to the overlook I realized there was no one else around. Not even birds or small animals. It was in the afternoon and it was quite warm even for April. With very little traffic on the roadway it was very quiet. So quiet that it struck me that I didn’t hear anything. Silence… I spent a few minutes taking in the solitude and it made me realize that life is just too noisy.
It’s another Friday… a real winter Friday here in Sunny California. Luckily, for us drought-weary folks, it’s a rainy winter day with moments of sunshine thrown in. The clouds are flowing by in a graceful way. Not like that uber-darkness shattered by lightning we suffered at 4 a.m. Big thunder and lightning storms are actually relatively rare around here and they usually happen in winter. It’s nice to have some clouds in the sky. They are graceful portents of change, so when Ben Huberman asked the wordpress crowd to, “…show us something that exists harmoniously with its surroundings,” I thought of my love for clouds.
On a separate note, here’s something less graceful: San Francisco Bay Area employment data for the past 18 months.
Another Friday in my little office that lacks ambience. Jeff Golenski challenged us to look at, “…the atmosphere of one’s surrounding environment.” He focused on lighting that adds to the environment. I went back and found that I must not spend much time out after dark because I found so few photos of lights and lighting. The challenge did make me think of a lighted sign in nearby Millbrae, California. The sign sat atop a large theater in downtown Millbrae and, when the theater was destined for the trash heap of large single-screen movie houses, so was the sign. The local populace and the city stepped in to preserve the landmark that sits along El Camino Real near Millbrae Avenue. It definitely throws off a little atmosphere.
Are you having the same problem? Start typing 201… and have to erase the 6 to put in the 7? Welcome to another new year! Speaking of the old year… see here for recent San Francisco Bay Area median home price trend data. Typical year end slowdown. Nothing to frolic about.
 | Donna H on State of Mind |
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