This Makes No Sense At All

One dark day near Halloween, we took our grandson south, hoping for better weather. We are surrounded by regional parks, most with hiking trails, but some with historic value. Our destination was Ardenwood, a working farm from 100 years ago, now farmed by the park district. Blacksmiths, horses, cows, corn, pigs and pumpkins all are kid worthy attractions. Since Halloween was upon us, we expected some special events. Alas, the budget cuts have struck, so no special activities. The blacksmith was there, pounding away, but he didn't even have his forge going. So, after surveying the farm animals, and getting hot dogs at the little cafe, we huddled under the cafe porch roof, keeping out of the rain. What now? Well, Coyote Hills was just west of us and it had a boardwalk out into the freshwater marsh. Maybe we could surprise some ducks. Good choice. The rain stopped, and we strolled along the boardwalk, taking in the fall scene. Finally wrapped up the day by going out to the fishing ...

We are out on a slightly rainy Sunday, hiking from Coyote Hills Regional Park to Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge. It is an absolutely perfect time to hike this area. Cool and pleasant, the bay waters steel gray, dotted with ducks. Dark and linear clouds overhead, with light streaks. A few ground squirrels around. An egret leaves a muddy track on the shallow bay bottom. The Coyote Hills end has a few cars. Not much water in the freshwater marsh, big irregular polygons in the mud, separated by deep cracks. Most now under two or three inches of water, so the last rains have put some water into Alameda Creek. As we move south towards Don Edwards, we see the Dumbarton Bridge off to the right, and in the distant foreground, the outlines of a dozen or so salt cars, ready for their load. An aside, we've been getting some unattributed taking of blog content so inserting © 2009 backpack45.com Nearing the highway, a massive crater comes into view, maybe 200 feet deep. We can't...