Last Friday was one of those days. When you wake up feeling listless, moody, irritable, unmotivated and overall feeling lousy about yourself and the world around you. So, Terry suggested we drop everything and go out buffalo hunting. What! said I. He had my attention, but I kept sulking. I didn't want to show too much interest and let go of my bad mood blanket that easy. You know how those things go. So, buffalo. What I meant to say was that Terry suggested we go in search of buffalos that supposedly reside in Golden Gate Park. After some internet researching we found out their exact location at the park and that buffalo were really bison. (I like to be precise when it comes to wild ox species, you know.) You'd like to know the difference? Well, bison and buffalo are members of the same family, Bovidae, but they do not share the same genus or specie. That's all you need to know. Anyway, I was quite intrigued, and it was an opportunity to take my camera along and take some monochrome sepia-toned photos. I was going to take us back in time by shooting some real old Wild West style of photos... bison and all.
Well. We did run into some bison - three to be exact - not impressed by us or us by them, really. And listless as I was (and in dire need of the ladies room) I decided they were not worth leaving the car for, so I took some quick shots though my window.
(I edited few of the photos in Pixlr to give them a proper vintage look.)
After driving around for a while in search of the bathroom we found ourselves in a bit of a remote part of the park. With the fog engulfing us ominously, the tall eucalyptus trees swaying in the wind uttering warnings and a couple of shadowy scary figures looming about (and influenced by long hours of watching "Midsummer Murders" series {read: crimes are often committed in the woods}) I decided this wasn't the right time to go exploring the wild and remote Golden Gate Park trails, that instead it was a perfect time to drive to the Ocean Beach. It was a good decision to make.
On the way we stopped for a moment by the Dutch Windmill and Queen Wilhelmina Tulip Garden. I was quite excited to take some photos of the windmill from different angles but then sadly remembered I had with me only my telephoto lens. Since I was too close to the windmill and with not much room to go further back I couldn't really take satisfactory photos. This is the best I could do...
Not bad, though!
The sparse bison and bad photo equipment planning did not do much for my mood. But, all was well again after we arrived at the Ocean Beach.
Indeed, that turned out to be one mood improving idea. The beach weather was just perfect, completely fogged in and windy. The skies were gray and overcast, the waves loud and comforting. We took off our shoes and dug our feet into a surprisingly warm sand. As did our fellow seagulls.
It all felt a bit like magic... feathers stuck randomly into the sand...
... broken shells and a lost crab claw...
... a smiling wall...
... fog engulfed ships in the distance...
... wandering ravens and sea gulls...
I felt truly refreshed and invigorated. Especially at the end, after we visited a lovely Russian bakery Cinderella, and treated ourselves to some cream puff pastries and a 7 layer torte. Mmm.
Day turned out to be a treat indeed.
xoxoxo
{All photos Tina Tarnoff}
