Sunday, November 24, 2013 - views from the island neighborhood

Delmont Gulch, looking towards Oakland Hills

From Delmont Gulch, looking north to the Monte Villa development

Looking southwest from top of Millsmont- a huge abandoned lot, perfectly aligned streets stretching to the waterfront, the Bay, and San Bruno Mountain in the distance

Sunday selection at the Millsmont Little Free Library - 11/24/13

Yuki and Jazz

The house with 13 cats on Mokelumne Avenue includes this cat who likes my dog. Her chase instinct turns off when he comes around. Most of the time Yuki now ignores him, but on this day, my dog decided to be polite. At this season, late spring, in the early morning, the sun shines directly into our eyes as we are walking down Mokelumne. Next time I will be sure to include a picture of the "munchkins," the unusual cats with extra short legs.

Wild Turkey artifact

This photo is documenting a wild turkey on Nairobi Place, around the corner from where I live, near Chimes Creek. I swear it's in there. My dog was pulling on my leash and barking at the time, and I always manage to capture my finger with the camera phone. Yuki is very animated around large birds. Ravens sitting on telephone posts and vultures also set her off.

Find the turkey in the picture: If you look at the Y shaped branch, a crooked branch crossing the upper part of the Y with sunlight on it, you will see a small greyish turkey shape perched on top of it. Really!

You get to know your neighborhood through walking

I live on an island, a hilltop neighborhood sandwiched between the 580 freeway and MacArthur Blvd., Seminary Ave. and Edwards/73rd Avenue. Because my dog Yuki demands it, a daily walk occurs nearly every morning around 9am, and my neighbor Roxanne usually accompanies me. These walks and talks have spawned a constant stream of discoveries--about the neighborhood, about us, and about Yuki. She tells us which way we go, quite often. Quality Donuts pulls one way, Yuki pulls the other. Sometimes a house comes on the market, and we visit, because Roxanne is a real estate agent. We call Yuki, the "real estate dog." Recently, she has seen a fair number of houses. Three or four times the number of houses are for sale in our zip code (94605) than in all of Berkeley. Roxanne can correct this number if she wants. Yesterday, the amazing sight of the day was a wild turkey in someone's backyard, by Chimes Creek, at the end of tiny Nairobi Place. My couch-loving dog suddenly becomes the "bird dog" par excellence and starts barking wildly. Today, a neighbor we couldn't even see, yelled out a greeting to Yuki as we passed by. Today we saw the most amazing giant tulips, on Delmont. Tomorrow?