Sunflowers

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SUNFLOWERS

The House of Mirza Abbas Nuri, Tehran, Iran

Crystal Palace Market

CRYSTAL PALACE MARKET


My grandparents shopped at the Crystal Palace Market in San Francisco, and my twin brother and I tagged along.

I can still smell it, after 56 years: The salami, the pork, the beef, the garlic, the spices, the sawdust, the flowers.  Did I mention salami?

In this picture, the woman on the left reminds me of my grandmother shopping, and the man  in the hat would be a very young version of my grandfather.  It was just like this, except I was two feet shorter than the photographer.

The last time I was there was in 1957, when I was ten years old.  My twin brother and I were going to have our First Communion the next day at The Most Holy Redeemer Church in the Castro, so we were given money and told to go get haircuts, go to a movie, and take the street car home.  We enthusiastically  found a barber shop on Market Street and had all of our hair cut off in the Butch fashion. 

From there it was a block or two to the Fox Theater on Market (the photo is probably from the late 20's).

A science fiction 'B' movie (Tor Johnson's role confirms my rating) was showing, and besides my two brothers, there were perhaps twenty other  patrons in this cavernous space.

This is a video of the demolition of the Fox Theater. It was such a waste. I came across this video on the same day I became aware that the House of Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdad had been destroyed. However nostalgic the one, an overwhelming loss the other.

It turns out that my grandparents were mortified and probably embarrassed at our radical appearance at our Communion.  And if that wasn't enough, my mother told me in her last years how she, too,  was mortified at our appearance, but always attributed it to her father's frugality. She had no idea it was just unsupervised kids having fun.

Historical Essay

MURIEL AND SAM

Tug on his new toy container.

Sunset at Summer Solstice

At dawn the next morning, I found a five dollar bill in the sand that had filled a four-foot deep by 6' wide hole dug in the dark by youth.  I wish I had taken a picture of the hole.  Here's the five.

The sand at low tide at dawn the next morning looked like this in some places. I don't understand the hydraulics that make this pattern.  Is it the gradient?

O COMPANION OF MY THRONE! Hear no evil, and see no evil, abase not thyself, neither sigh and weep. Speak no evil, that thou mayest not hear it spoken unto thee, and magnify not the faults of others that thine own faults may not appear great; and wish not the abasement of anyone, that thine own abasement be not exposed. Live then the days of thy life, that are less than a fleeting moment, with thy mind stainless, thy heart unsullied, thy thoughts pure, and thy nature sanctified, so that, free and content, thou mayest put away this mortal frame, and repair unto the mystic paradise and abide in the eternal kingdom for evermore.

Baha'u'llah, The Hidden Words of Baha'u'llah

巴哈伊信仰


China's Central Television feature of the Baha'i Gardens in Haifa, Israel.

Today Is Pathers Day.

I've loved my birdbath for 30 years.

My most treasured award.

Валентина Терешкова



VALENTINA TERESHKOVA

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the first woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova.

The selection of candidates for the mission began in early 1962. The first female astronaut had to meet certain criteria: Be a parachute jumper, younger than 30, less than 170 cm (5 feet 7 inches) tall, and under 70 kg (154 lbs) in weight. Finally, out of several hundred candidates, five were selected, including 26-year-old Valentina Tereshkova – a regional champion in skydiving who had 90 jumps under her belt.    RT

On June 16, 1963 Tereshkova became the first woman in space. She spent almost 3 days (70 hours 50 minutes) on the Vostok-6 spacecraft which was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome, presently Kazakhstan. She orbited the earth 49 times. Another Soviet spacecraft, Vostok-5 piloted by Valery Bykovsky was in space at the same time. 




Climbing aboard Vostok 6 (East, Orient, Dawning 6)

With Valery Bykovsky (left), and Yuri Gagarin.

On Lenin's mausoleum rostrum in Red Square, with left to right,  Pavel Popovich, German Titov, Andriyan Nikolayev, Yuri Gagarin, Valentina Tereshkova, Nikita Khrushchev and Valery Bykovsky.

At age 76, Valentina has a dream of going to Mars, her "favorite" planet.  She recently applied for a one-way trip to Mars.

Stevenson House, Monterey, California.


Robert Louis Stevenson stayed in this rooming house for a few months during the Autumn of 1879.  It is said that his novel Treasure Island was inspired by the the rugged coast nearby. 

猫の置物



Japanese Figurines

Advancing unity among all the worlds peoples:  THE CHILEAN BAHA'I TEMPLE

Structure