Montgomery Blvd.

This is our main route into town, and a more pleasant one than the alternative, State Highway12 . We lived off a State Highway that ran through Berkeley that was also a major route into town, but it was far less pleasant to drive on. than either Highway 12 or Montgomery. John and I often talk about much we like this route. It has far less traffic because it isn't a through road  and is also off limits to trucks, although one runs astray on it every so often. By the time they realize they shouldn't be there, big trucks are unable to turn around. It's pretty scary for cyclists too, although they aren't banned from using it. Closer to town there is cycle lane, but it quickly disappears along this stretch leaving them on a very curvy road without even a shoulder. However, they aren't allowed on the state highway and occasionally stray onto Montgomery as the best alternative. Most of them never do it again....Animals don't fare too well either. Extra vigilance is needed at night for possums, raccoons, skunks and deer. 

The trees on the right seem to defy gravity but they must be well anchored by their roots as they don't seem to fall. The creek runs right next to the road on the left although it is quite a drop-off which presents another problem for the occasional which misses a curve and winds up over the edge. A car is being fished out of the creek with some regularity, which prompted the authorities to put up cement barriers along one  stretch. Apparently not a long enough one as a car ran into the creek just past the barriers.

We need to tether our umbrella on the porch to the railing as even then it is closed, the wind picks it up, lifts it out of the stand and deposits it on the roof with some regularity. For now, we're waiting for Peter to come for dinner and get it down for us.

Clearly, this is one of those Sundays when nobody is in charge of the world. The news seems to confirm this as there are earthquakes in Afghanistan, floods in Britain and war has broken out, again, between Israel and Hamas. Poor ordinary civilians seem to be caught in the crossfire.