Photography | ReallyRedding

January 15, 2009

League of Women Voters Soup Supper at Lema Ranch w/pics

I’ve been called to jury duty today. If you need Real Estate help, Erin’s got it covered.

We attended the League of Women Voters Annual Soup Supper at Lema Ranch last evening. Lot’s of great people and atmosphere.

Plus excellent food was in abundance. Everybody brought an interesting soup.

Erin received an award for her work with the League, seen above with Susan Wilson.

Our speaker for the evening was Mike Chuchel, the Unit Chief/County Fire Warden of CalFire in Shasta County. He spoke about fire safety and about last season’s horrific lightning sparked fire event. People, you need to pay careful attention to the 100 feet of defensible space rule! Mike says they are going to start citing offenders this year, instead of simply warning.
Soup Supper at Lema Ranch

There were hundreds of fires last summer. Thousands of acres burned, but few homes were lost, due to the hard work of our many firefighters from all over the state. Mike had lots of interesting anecdotes and statistics about the season. As he pointed out, you may not think it was such a big deal, but how many other events here can you think of where the President of the United States showed up to look? Plus our Governator came here 4 times in one month. It was a very big deal. I hope we never see its like again, but the warm January evening does not bode well for the dry winter we’ve had so far.
Soup Supper at Lema Ranch
Lema Ranch is as stunning at night is as it is by day. What a lovely resource. It was a terrific evening!

January 12, 2009March 22, 2012

100 years of flight in Redding

I snapped this photo of an Ultralight flying past my house yesterday. I was reminded of an old photo I saw of the first airplane that landed in Redding, almost exactly 100 years earlier in 1909.

An interesting resemblance between the two aircraft, and the spirit of their pilots. Photo courtesy of Shasta Historical Society. Consider joining us.

January 9, 2009March 22, 2012

Coyote or Dog?

Early yesterday in the misty morning, I spotted this fella trotting through the neighborhood. At first, I thought sure it was a coyote, but as it approached, I couldn’t be sure. It does resemble some sort of German Sheppard mix, but seems to have no collar, and made no eye contact. Perhaps the coyote winter coat is what’s throwing me off here, but still I wonder. It was just a ghost in the mist, like any coyote. You can register your opinion, if you’d like, at the poll to the left. (Updated later, somebody from the neighborhood assures me it’s a dog, and we know exactly who’s dog it is. Unfortunate to see it running around so far from home. Dog’s not to blame, but we can blame the owner.)

January 8, 2009March 22, 2012

Greeters at Rivers

Wow, there are not many places I’d rather hold a Chamber of Commerce Greeters Meeting than Rivers Restaurant in Redding. That’s where we were this morning.

There were about 150 people there, despite the dreary weather. That has to rank as one of the largest meetings we’ve held. Little wonder. The food was excellent, and the views, though muted by the weather, are unmatched in Redding.

Chef Cal DeMercurio described the astonishing lengths to which they go to deliver the best food and drink experience in town. They offer a compelling culinary experience, and it has been rewarded with heavy business since the restaurant’s inception a few months back. This is the place to be, and to be seen. As he put it, “there’s no need to ask for a window seat. They’re all window seats. True enough. The design takes total advantage of the blufftop site. Many years ago, Redding turned it’s back on the river that coursed through our town. This restaurant is evidence that those days are gone.

It replaced a restaurant that was burned while remodeling. The total re-build is a smashing success and ranks as one of Redding’s finest amenities.

December 31, 2008March 22, 2012

Old Redding scenes, new views

It’s been so beautiful out the last couple days of 2008. A lovely way close out the year. I took the opportunity to shoot a couple of Then and Now scenes in my favorite city. The old photos are courtesy of the Shasta Historical Society (consider joining us) and the new ones I took yesterday.

I didn’t get too technical about duplicating the exact location, but that might be a fun project.

Here’s what the Eaton House project is looking like, all winterized apparently. We save so few of our old buildings in Redding. This is a great opportunity to preserve something of the past.

It’s going to be much better when finished than it had ever been. One thing about Redding’s past is that there wasn’t a whole bunch of architecture really worth saving. Much of what seemed worth saving is gone. The Carnegie Library, The Old Courthouse, the Hall of Records. All dust. Judge Eaton’s house is a fairly ordinary looking thing, and maybe that’s what will make it interesting to future generations.

December 21, 2008March 16, 2012

McDonalds rises again

Here’s a few images of the new McDonalds building on Cypress Ave in Redding, rising from the ruins of the old building. It looks to be very substantial, and much more well constructed than the building it replaces. The old building was destroyed by meteor strike from outer space, as seen below.

Okay, just kidding about the meteor. I would imagine the new McDonalds will include a very modern interior, replacing what was a very dated and run-down restaurant. You would imagine there will be the new self-checkout kiosks included. You can see an example of these kiosks at KIOSK, if you haven’t used one yet. They reduce queue times and labor costs for the business using them, so are very useful, and have been a success in McDonalds stores across the world. I am eager to see how this restaurant will look once completed!

December 19, 2008March 16, 2012

Local Winter photo contest – you can vote

A News Cafe is running a winter photo contest. There are some lovely entries. If you haven’t seen them, you can click HERE and vote for your favorite. I really like Brian Rueb’s entry, which looks like Burney Falls in snow. These two here I took of the western range a couple days ago didn’t make the cut. Sometimes photos just can’t do justice to the real thing.

I entered a shot I took a few days ago in my garden. It was one of 2 entries that featured a Buddha statue, which I thought was interesting. He looks peaceful somehow, in snow.

December 2, 2008March 16, 2012

Planetary conjunction

Okay this might not look like much here, but it was visually stunning yesterday evening just after sunset. The crescent Moon, lined up near Venus and Jupiter. I got out my camera and tried to capture the majesty, without much success.

Here’s the moon using the 200mm lens on my real estate camera. The conjunction was pretty spectacular in real life, but if you missed it, you’ll just have to use your imagination, perhaps. Using my telescope, you could plainly see several moons of Jupiter lined up in the same plane as the Earth’s Moon. And Luna herself was amazing with the light giving sharp detail to the massive craters. It was a nice evening for stargazing. I bought this 4″ Meade Newtonian reflecting telescope from an unemployed mortgage broker for $50 (no joke). Too bad I can’t hook the camera up to it (yet).

Appropriate to the setting, we have a rare live recording from the Schreder Planetarium of Craig Padilla’s Night Rain, originally from the album Eye of the Storm. This was recorded under the stars, under the dome a few years back. This 7 minute piece features a pyrotechnic guitar solo by Al Mires, now proprietor of Palo Cedro’s Music Max music store (Remember to shop locally folks). And Craig plays acoustic electric guitar here, no less. I think this recording was released only as a cassette prior to this, so I hope you enjoy it.

November 20, 2008March 16, 2012

Greeters

We’ve been members of the Redding Chamber of Commerce since 2005. I never thought of myself as a “chamber” type person, but it’s actually a pretty good thing, and I’ve learned a lot. Once a week, many members meet for what’s called Greeters. It’s always on Thursday mornings at 8:00 am, and always at a different local business. This week it was at Need2Speed.

At Greeters we showcase the host business for a few minutes, and then pass the microphone around and greet one another. Just say who you are and a few words and pass the mic. Sounds goofier than it really is. Although it is certainly goofy too… Continue reading “Greeters”

November 19, 2008March 16, 2012

Buy American?

I love the colors of the Fall. This Liquidamber seems to be growing out of the top of my car here. I took this a few days ago. I was thinking about my Cadillac today after watching GM CEO Rick Wagoner… Continue reading “Buy American?”