Happy New Year, Hogmanay, and everything else!
Today it’s foggy and drippy — perfect weather for sitting indoors and staring out. The balmy temps and sunny skies have mocked T. during her illness — and while it’s not too cold, and she’s only coughing and headachy today, there’s not as much impetus to go out without the sunshine. *sigh*
Still, there’s acres of sky and lots of birds, and plenty of blankets for the occasional cat nap. (Yes, those are the Big New Year’s Plans). And we have lots of great memories from our “Boxing Day” jaunt to the Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.
The Academy is where T’s family spent a lot of time when she was a wee-tiny girl, and her parents couldn’t figure out what to do with she and her sisters after church. Golden Gate Park, is, of course, famous for its rolling lawns, strange corners wherein you might find a herd of buffalo, sculpture, ponds, galleries, greenhouses and museums. It is 1017 acres of public space within the city, and home to T’s favorite aquarium, the Steinhart, where she used to go and be terrified of the albino crocodile. She was amused to find that …he’s still there. (It’s disturbing how long those things live.)
The aquarium and its environs had been closed for almost six years for renovation, and reopened in September of this year. The crowds are still intense, but T. steadfastly forced her entire family (sans a father who is resistant to all such blandishments) to get up and get rolling by 7:45 a.m. — no mean feat, to be sure. As we were leaving at three in the afternoon, and still saw HUNDREDS of people in line to get in, we were very, very grateful that she’d been such a complete and total hag about leaving on time.
As it was, by the time we got there — a half hour before it opened — there were a few hundred people in line ahead of us, and at least a thousand behind. If you want to go, choose a weekday during the school year and get there right when the doors open. Or, if you want to wait, you can just enjoy our pictures — click here for the full (well, sans cringing teens and ducking adults) slide show.
Happy New Year, and thanks for being along for the ride and keeping in touch in 2008. Looking forward to more adventures, aggravations and amusements in 2009.
– D & T
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Fabulous! Thanks for the visual trip to the Aquarium.I hope to make it there in person some day!
Happy New Year!
Just read about a Hogmanay celebration they had here last night. Wish I had known–I would have gone.
Nice to have a mini-tour of the reopened Academy!!!
Happy New Year!
I hope T feels better very soon.
I love your photos. Here and the ones on Flickr.
I wish you more adventures and amusements and fewer aggravations.
Best,
Paz
I applied for a job at the Academy last year (collections assistant for herps) and didn’t get it. I’m sure a couple thousand more recent grads applied for the job than were in your line this weekend! Great photos! Did you check out the southern cypress swamp exhibit? It’s the one I really wanted to work on. That and the Amazon river one. Happy New Year!