:Always Breaking

I’ve actually been keeping up with the April Challenge, so far. It’s only Day 5, so I guess it’s not much of an accomplishment yet. Here are the shots for days 2-5.

April 2, 2008

Paint peeling off the old barn/shed in my backyard. This building is probably 100+ years old, and looks like it. It is also my next project at home. I’ve neglected it for too long and will be fixing it up over the next few months.

April 3, 2008

I’ve blogged before about trains (or lack thereof) in Sonoma County. This is a section of track north of Penngrove, CA.

April 4, 2008

April 5, 2008

One of the thousands of pieces of glass from my car window that was smashed yesterday in a random act of stupidity. Actual size is 1/2 inch long.
These shots were taken as part of the April photo challenge.

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Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been behind in the 2008 Challenge. This week I’m trying to catch up a little by posting two shots, both of which I took this morning while on a walk with my dog.

Only a few blocks from downtown sits one of the town’s dairies. I don’t know how long this one has been around, but I’m pretty sure the site has been a dairy since Petaluma became a town. This one also sits across the street, diagonally, from city hall. Petaluma has a long history as a diary town, so it’s nice to some reminders right in the middle of everything. The trucks coming and going are probably a nuisance since it’s a residential neighborhood, but I like seeing it.

Petaluma has its share of graffiti problems, but this is actually authorized graffiti artwork. I am totally opposed to graffiti as vandalism, but completely support property owners who allow graffiti artist to paint walls as a form of expression. In Petaluma, the Phoenix Theater allows graffiti art on the back wall of the building. The art is clearly visible from one of the busiest streets in town and has grown more colorful and expressive in recent months. This shot is inside an old room attached to the building that has no roof. Fortunately the left over cans and trash aren’t visible from the street.

Both shots are hosted on Zooomr for those that want to know the exact location. Both shots were also taken as part of the 2008 Challenge at photochallenge.org.

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I took this for the 2008 challenge last week and posted it to Zooomr and Flickr, but haven’t had a chance to blog it yet. I also submitted it to JPG Magazine under the “Fresh” theme for Issue 16. I’d appreciate a vote if you like it.

This scene is very representative of the farmland around Petaluma at this time of year - green and yellow with a bright blue sky. Even though much of the country is still in winter, California gets to experience Spring starting in February. We’ll get some more rain before Summer, but at least we have color early. The color will fade by June and the fields will all be brown then, so I always enjoy the green while it lasts.

The irony of this shot is that the county landfill is nestled in the hills in the background. Fortunately, you can’t seen it in this shot.

This shot has a Geotag on Zooomr for those that want to know the exact location. This shot was taken as part of the 2008 Challenge at photochallenge.org.

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It’s the end of February and Spring is in full force. In typical California fashion, a few weeks of bad weather was followed by a week of upper 60s and low 70s, so all the plants have started budding and blooming. I drove by this house kind of on accident today and had to stop to take a picture.

Even though I didn’t plan the shot, it’s perfect for the 2008 Challenge for this week because the weather has been spectacular, as it usually is in February. Our town has a lot of flowering trees and several beautiful Magnolias. This tree, in particular, is stunning and the photo just doesn’t do it justice. So, no long blog post for this one, just enjoy the weather, if you can.

I used a polarizing filter, so the sky is really dark. I did some minor contrast adjustment, but this one is pretty much “as is”. This shot was taken as part of the 2008 Challenge at photochallenge.org. The photo is hosted on Zooomr, along with these others I shot this week.

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Corner of Rohnert Park Expressway and Stony Point Road, Rohnert Park, CA.

Rohnert Park is not really in my local community, but my family does bit of shopping in Rohnert Park and we drive through it often. This particular location could have a dramatic impact on my local community, though. The land in the middle distance of this shot is slated to become a Las Vegas style casino built by the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria. Imagine a large building with lots of blinking lights obscuring the view of the mountains in the background. For those that cherish open space the casino will be a horror. The cow pastures will be replaced with parking lots. The street I stood on to take this will likely be too busy for me feel safe standing on. Not that the view would be worth photographing if the casino gets built.

Most folks don’t want the casino, but with the casino the city will get a nice kick-back for fire and police service. I think there will also be money for schools and other organizations as well. The tribe says they have the right to develop the land, even though the local community is vehemently opposed to it. This impacts Petaluma because Petaluma is only 11 miles South, and between Rohnert Park and the greater San Francisco Bay Area. Basically, everyone coming from all points South and East will have to drive through Petaluma to get to the casino. The casino would be about 45-60 minutes from San Francisco. Well, not considering the extra traffic that will no doubt clog Highway 101.

Another concern for Petaluma is that another tribe has bought land on the southern edge of Petaluma. The tribe claims they have no plans for a casino, but residents don’t believe them. Just because they don’t have plans today doesn’t mean they won’t in the near future. If the casino gets built in Rohnert Park, Petaluma will be next. The goal of the casino developers is to buy land as close to the Bay Area as possible while paying the lowest prices. Petaluma is not cheap, but it’s not as much as Marin County or the South Bay. Our suburban town with a history in farming and agriculture will be transformed into a gambling destination. I don’t care how much money comes to the city or county, it’s not worth it. How much is your soul worth? More than a couple of casinos.

The Stop the Casino 101 Coalition has more information on how the casino will impact Sonoma County. The City of Rohnert Park also has information including environmental impact statements regarding the development.

This shot was taken as part of the 2008 Challenge at photochallenge.org. You can see where the shot was taken by viewing the Geotag on Zooomr.

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Six weeks into 2008 I’m doing my third post for the 2008 Challenge. It’s definitely been a slow year for me, at least in terms of taking pictures. Everything else is completely insane, unfortunately photography has been moved to the back burner. This week I forced myself out of my cube and took a long lunch just to be outside taking pictures. I decided to go to the Petaluma Adobe State Park.

I’ve lived in Petaluma for 13 years and had never been to the adobe until this week. I may have been there as kid in grade school as part of a field trip, but I don’t remember. It’s somewhat embarrassing to admit that I haven’t visited this cornerstone of my community. The Adobe is probably the most historically significant place in the area. For a complete history and description see the official web site at http://www.petalumaadobe.com/index.html.

Aside from the historical significance of the building, it’s also an impressive structure that has stood for 160 years through several earthquakes, including the 1906 and 1989 quakes. General Vallejo built the Adobe in the 1830’s as part of his 100 square mile land grant from the Mexican government. The building is made out of adobe bricks and redwood. I love old buildings, especially simple, natural structures. As soon as I walked up to the building I knew I could spend the day just taking pictures and appreciating the simple beauty of construction and architecture.

I choose this photo because it gives a sense of the size of the building and shows the adobe and redwood construction. The second floor has a wide balcony the runs around the entire building, this shot was taken along the back wall of the building on the balcony. I took about a hundred shots and haven’t processed them all, but a few are up on Zooomr:

I plan on going back to the Adobe with my family and spending more time going through all the exhibits. The Adobe is a state park and is open everyday. The admission fee is very low, I think it was $2 for adults. If you’re in the area it’s worth a stop just to see the building.

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This is the Petaluma River in downtown Petaluma. Normally the river is several feet lower, but heavy rains on Friday pushed the river to flood stage. This shot was taken several hours after the rain stopped and the river had actually started to go down.

Petaluma didn’t have any major flooding, just the normal amount in the lowlands of the river basin North of downtown. Some parking lots and roads were flooded, but no there was serious damage that I heard about. Flooding is pretty much a yearly event here. Some years are certainly worse than others, and compared to the December 31, 2005 flood, this weeks flood probably won’t be remembered as a “flood”. The river just got to really, really high.

I live in an area above the flood plain so thankfully never have to worry. As a community however, seasonal flooding is something we all think about. Many streets in town get flooded because the run off has nowhere to go because the river is full. Businesses in the flood plain have to sandbag, commuters get stuck in snarled, flooded roads, and sump pumps in basements are working overtime.

Many people point to growth in the flood plain as a primary reason for flooding. The controversy has been ongoing for decades as far as I know. There hasn’t been real development in the flood plain in recent years, but there has been development in areas near the flood plain that have probably made problems worse.

Taken as part of the 2008 Challenge (although I’m a week behind).

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In 2001 the only movie theater in Petaluma closed its doors largely because the company that owned it had recently opened a huge 16 screen theater 11 miles away in Rohnert Park. That left residents two options - drive to the new Rohnert Park theater or drive to Novato (both are about the same distance). Imagine, a town of 55,000+ with no movie theater. Bear in mind that scenes from many movies have been shot in Petaluma, most notably American Graffiti. Residents were not happy, especially those with teens.

Seven young teenage girls decided to do something. To make a long story short, in 2005 they got our town a new theater. (You can read about opening night and the history at SF Gate.) Our town owes a huge debt of gratitude to Noëlle Bisson, Elizabeth Comstock, Ditmer, Liza Hall, Sarah Marcia, Taylor Norman and Madison Webb.

It’s not just that we again have a place to watch movies locally, it’s what the theater has added to the community, especially downtown. The old theater was at the North end of town in a commercial/business area. You had to drive to get there. The new theater anchored a huge redevelopment effort on edge of the historic downtown shopping district.
Boulevard Cinemas and the accompanying Theatre Square retail/office/urban housing center are only a couple of blocks from the true heart of downtown where local shops and restaurants dominate the retail landscape. Also, the entire downtown area is within easy walking distance for many residents.

Many feared the new development would bring more chain stores and ruin the small town feel, but so far the theater and accompanying retail stores have been a huge boon for our town. The new theater, restaurants, and shops have added greatly to what was already a wonderful downtown.

In the past couple of years the movie theater has sparked a revival of night life in downtown Petaluma. On Friday nights teens and tweens swarm to the theater in droves. When new releases come out, long lines are not uncommon. Because the new theater is downtown, it’s easy to go out to dinner and movie because you can walk from one of the many local restaurants to the theater. Every month I go with a group friends to have a beer then see a movie. We would not have done that without a downtown theater.

The theater is thriving, and that is driving people to downtown pretty much every night of the week. Every time I go to the movies or walk around the theater district, I see friends. It’s become a great place to hang out and relax, and enjoy the community.

This shot was taken as part of the 2008 Photo Challenge at www.photochallenge.org.

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Most people in Northern California wouldn’t consider early November to be prime beach weather, but today absolutely was. It was about 80 degrees (F) at the beach. It doesn’t even get that warm in the Summer. This week is definitely what they call “unseasonably warm”. We had a great day at the beach. There was no fog and a gentle off-shore breeze. We’ve gone to the beach many times in the fog or with blasting on-shore wind cutting through to your skin. Today could not have been better. Simply a perfect day.

The weather brought out a lot of people, including a lot of surfers. There were more surfers out today than I have ever seen at Dillon Beach before. The waves weren’t that big, but they seemed to be having fun.

We brought our six month old puppy Molly and let her run around. think the ratio of people to dogs was abouth 3:1. There were a lot of dogs. Molly had a blast. She was a little afraid of the water and wouldn’t run in like most other dogs. The kids, however, had no problem getting in. The water was cold, but the weather was so nice it made bearable. It was still too cold to really swim in, but the kids got plenty wet. And sandy. Very sandy.

All in all, probably the most relaxing and enjoyable day we’ve had in a while. I wish we could do it again tomorrow.

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What a busy week it’s been. I haven’t had much time for photos or blogging. I did grab this shot on Halloween before the trick-or-treat madness started. I don’t bike much these days, but really want to get started again. I seem to always hurt myself when I try to exercise, but hopefully I can get back into it soon.

I’ve also posted couple of more shots on Zooomr:

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