more from my trip

The first night I arrived a young woman named Gopi picked me up from the airport to deliver me to the house where I was staying.  To Julia's house.  It was pitch black outside and the air was cold, but so fresh, smelling of oak and eucalyptus when I got dropped at her house up on top of a mountain.  Julia was so excited to show me her neighborhood that we all went for a walk, right then, in the dark night air.  There were no streetlights, and we made our way, allowing our eyes to adjust and using the moonlight as a guide.

I saw many things on that trip.  Sights and colors and images to inspire the budding photographer that I am.  I wished I had a lens on my camera that would zoom closer. Still I captured the images I captured.

One night we went to her local farmer's market on the way into town.  As we were leaving a group of teens sang "Singing in the Rain" flash mob style.  Then we made our way down the mountain to join her husband for dinner -- turkey burgers at a Stanford cafe.  I got a blueberry milkshake to go with mine, splitting my burger with their daughter.

One day Julia took me on a walk in her neighborhood to introduce me to a 300 year old oak tree, which in an earlier photo you will see, got a hug from me.

One of my favorite memories from the trip was attending a talk at Stanford with Julia's husband while she put their young daughter to bed.  Just being on the campus was good for me.  I miss the stimulation of young interested minds. We get set in our ways as we age, and seeing all those college kids made me remember what it was like to be young, inspired, on fire with conviction and ambition.  Maybe one day I will go back to school.  You never know.