Month: April 2009

Red Sox at A’s

April 17, 2009

Monday was cold and not so nice, but the weather was supposed to improve during the week. I opened the Chronicle and there was a full-page ad for A’s vs. Red Sox… only time the Sox will be in Oakland this year. Hmmm. My calendar says I’ve got nothing scheduled this week, before the onslaught of SF International Film Festival and AIA Convention. Wednesday afternoon would be perfect.

I went to the A’s website and found a seat in the second deck, dead behind home plate in section 217, row 7, seat 5. A couple of clicks and I’m there.

sweet seat in the sun
sweet seat in the sun

I was hoping to see Dice-K but he pitched last night and got knocked out in the first inning of a game played in cold, windy, drizzly weather that consumed over 4 hours in its 12 innings. A’s prevailed 7-5 to threaten a sweep of the three game series. Continue reading “Red Sox at A’s” →

Fishy Wednesday

It all started with a phone call from Sarah, “I read in Friday’s Chronicle…”

“It’s the best time of the year to come out, right now,” says Brett Wilson, who oversees the Warm Springs Fish Hatchery, officially known as the Congressman Don Clausen Fish Hatchery, 8 miles west of Healdsburg.

A hatchery steelhead is hardwired like its wild brethren to return from the ocean to its native spawning ground. This provides two advantages over wild steelhead, if you’re looking to see fish in action fighting their way home. The first is you know exactly where to find them. The second is that there are some fish there to see.

They arrive in spurts and the average yield is two or three fish every half hour, Wilson estimates.

Even when holding on the steps or resting after flopping over the top, they are something to see. The anadromous rainbow trout can be 3 feet long. The males are in spawning colors, red stripes up the sides. The females are chrome, or turning dark with the freshwater.

Warm Springs Fish Hatchery: 3333 Skaggs Springs Road, Geyserville. The Visitor Center is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wed.-Sun. (707) 431-4533.

We needed to go to Simi Winery in Healdsburg to pick up our Wine Club shipment, so we could combine that with a visit to the hatchery. Sounded like a plan.

Nestled in the Sonoma hills near the shore of Lake Sonoma, the fish hatchery is a beautiful spot.

23w_hatchery
We followed the signs through the welcome center, over a bridge, through the hatchery and along a path to the fish ladder. Continue reading “Fishy Wednesday” →