photo of the week: swimming the estuary

Not a great photo, but shows a nice slice of the estuary and Port of Oakland with the new Bay Bridge section in the background. What's interesting is the person swimming in the estuary at the lower right...definitely not something you see every day.

Being the Oakland history geek that I am, it reminded me of a story from 1903. Albert Olander, proprietor of Olander's Saloon in East Oakland, bet his barber that he could swim across the estuary. Olander bet his saloon and his barber, Daniel King, bet his barbershop. The selected location was about 1.25 miles across, and before a crowd of hundreds of people, Olander successfully swam across and won the barbershop.

The building that housed Olander's Saloon is still standing, at 1247 East 12th Street. It's no longer a saloon, but the interior still has the wooden bar and other details from the days when it was. Serious props to the guy in the photo above, who was swimming the length of the estuary, not just across.

waterfall at Temescal restored

The EBRPD park at Lake Temescal recently got an old feature back. Most people probably didn't know it even existed because even when it was running, it was usually just a trickle. Now the Works Progress Administration project from the 1930s is back to its former glory. Read more: Lake Temescal waterfall restored, flowing again.

Next time you're near Lake Temescal and looking for a peaceful spot, walk up the stairs and check it out. Although there are two freeways nearby, the sounds of the water make it a surprisingly serene location.

King Tides walk along the estuary

Today the Friends of Sausal Creek and Waterfront Action hosted a walk along the estuary to look at the effects of the King Tide. The walk was led by local historian Dennis Evanosky, and despite being on a Thursday, there was a large turn out, with 50 people and 4 dogs.

We started the Fruitvale Bridge Park, which is where Sausal Creek flows into the estuary. If you weren't familiar with the area, it probably didn't look much different, but it's clear in the above photos how much higher the water was for the King Tide. Particularly notice the gravel bank to the left that's completely gone when the water is high. Normally there's a small drop from Sausal Creek into the estuary; instead the water was high enough to flow back into the culvert a ways.

As we walked along, Dennis told us about the history of the area, from the days of the Ohlones to the Spanish and the Peraltas to more recent times. The history isn't just cultural, it's also geographical. Sausal Creek used to flow freely into the estuary instead of being culverted much of the way, and the shore around the estuary was very different then. Most notably, Alameda was then a peninsula, and the areas near the shore where much marshier.

A nice easy walk, with lots of birds to see. If you want to see near the other end of Sausal Creek (actually, Palo Seco Creek which feeds into Sausal Creek), come on the Oakland Urban Paths walk on Saturday, February 8. That will be more of a hike on dirt trails, with lots of elevation to climb.

More pictures from the walk:

Oakland Floats

This is a guest post by my lovely and talented wife. Her website on spiritual direction and other matters is Sleep on the Hearth.

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I've long been curious about sensory deprivation, so I decided to try a 75-minute float in one of the tanks at Oakland Floats.

Everything about making and paying for my reservation was easy, and I received a friendly voicemail with tips about how to prepare. The staff was helpful and professional, and the place was wonderfully clean and had a strong, healthy energy. All this was the easy part...more complicated were the deep stirrings that went on inside me as I anticipated and then actually did this crazy-seeming thing.

Flotation tank: One fear I had was of being trapped inside, unable to find or open the door. But when I arrived and told Daisha (if I'm remembering her name correctly!) about my fear, she showed me that there's no latch on the tank door that can accidentally be locked or even latched. She also told me I could prop the door open with a towel if I wanted to, and that's all it took to calm the surface-level fear I was feeling.

I say surface-level because deeper down lay fear of a whole other stripe, fear that neither Daisha nor anyone else can do anything about. First of all, I've read that people in sensory-deprivation tanks can hallucinate. I've experienced hallucination, and I hope never to experience it again. Secondly, I had a fear that was nameless until the right word came to me in the middle of my float, and that word is death. Floating sightless in a box with no sense of attachment to your body seems to me, well, a heck of a lot like death.

So why did I pay money to spend time in said box?

One thing I was hoping for was the ability to sink into a deeper meditative space than usual, and while I had only a little bit of the experience during this first float, it was enough to show me that more could easily happen next time. After a few minutes in the tank, I felt comfortable enough to close the door all the way. It took a while to relax and trust the water to hold me up, but hold me up it did. There was no danger of sinking or accidentally flipping over. I was so buoyant, and the water was such a perfect skin temperature, that I could simply lie still and exist, without feeling the water or the air.

Lying there, I thought of Denise Levertov's beautiful poem "The Avowal." I thought about daring to lie face to the sky, to use Levertov's words, floating into Creator Spirit's deep embrace. Beautiful, but it made the thought of death all the more present and real, because isn't her poem, in the end, a metaphor about death?

But there was a powerful counterpoint to the death theme. When my ears were submerged (which I discovered was my preference; I didn't like the neck pillow), I heard my heartbeat, a steady, faithful, powerhouse of a noise. I'm very much alive.

The other counterpoint is harder to describe and was completely unexpected. It came to me when I spent a few minutes scanning my body to notice how each part felt. When I checked in with my back, I became aware of my spine, and it felt like a thing unto itself. In fact, I felt like I was a spine with a heart, and nothing else, with the rest just along for the ride. The simplicity of my aliveness was a different melody than my fear and answered it wonderfully. Counterpoint.

Also, I'm happy to say that I did not hallucinate, so I'm about to make a reservation for another session at Oakland Floats. All in all, my first float was great, and I look forward to doing it again.

Oakland Floats is on 40th near Broadway, just on the edge (Gene tells me) of the Temescal. They sublet space to Body by Melisa and other folks in healing professions, including talk therapists and a Rolfing practitioner. Just downstairs is Five Flavors Herbs, which I visited after my float, and Paeonia Integrated Medicine. Five Flavors Herbs is a light, pleasant space with interesting art, and the man I spoke with took the time to look something up for me and explain which herbs might help my allergies. I think it's terrific that such compatible businesses share the building--the whole corner of 40th and Manila is dedicated to various aspects of physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Excellent!

12th Street Project Update

The 12th Street Project celebrated a milestone on Friday, with a parade of boats marking the opening of part of the channel between Lake Merritt and the estuary. It's part of the larger Measure DD work being done around Lake Merritt, and while there is a lot of work still to do, it was worth celebrating the progress.

Erik Niemann

There were members of the community, local politicians, and various people who have worked on the project on hand to talk about the progress. I was invited by Erik Niemann, who has been tracking the progress of the 12th Street Project on his blog. He was delighted to have lots of people there to check things out, as usually it's just him and the construction crews.

You may recall that Lake Merritt isn't really a lake, but a tidal slough. It was originally more open to the estuary, but was dammed by Samuel Merritt in the 1800s. There have been a long series of engineering mistakes since then, and tearing out "world's shortest freeway" and re-opening some of the channel to the estuary are working to reverse that. The result will be better water flow in and out of Lake Merritt, which will improve water quality, and provide more habitat for fish and birds.

Speakers included mayor Jean Quan; city council president Pat Kernighan; Lesley Estes, Oakland Public Works Watershed Program Supervisor; a representative from the California Coastal Conservancy; Peter Perrine of the California Wildlife Conservation Board; and Dan NcElhinney of CalTrans.

Also on hand were James Vann of the Coalition of Advocates for Lake Merritt (CALM) as well as an architect for the initial proposal; Joel Peter, who was manager of the Measure DD project before he retired recently; people representing the main contractor, McGuire and Hester; and members of the design team, including landscape architects, engineers, and hardscape architects.

The parade of boats included kayaks, stand up paddle boards, a canoe, two dragon boats, the gondolas from Gondola Servizio, and the venerable Oakland Women's Rowing Club. It was a nice bit of symmetry to have the OWRC there, as they were present at an earlier Measure DD celebration, the opening of the Lake Merritt Boathouse back in 2009.

There is still more work to be done, including planting native aquatic plants in the new marsh, landscaping and larger projects like tearing out the culverts at 10th Street, but it was a nice day to celebrate. A larger obstacle is the pumping station at 7th Street, but this is a big step in the right direction.

Additional coverage:
12th Street Blog
Oakland Tribune
SFGate
KTVU (video)
SF Business Times

Lots more pictures from the event:

Skyline HS students, volunteers clean up Oakland estuary

Earlier today, the Student Conservation Association (SCA), Save the Bay, and the East Bay Regional Park District teamed up with students from Skyline High School and other volunteers to clean up part of the Oakland Estuary.

The Skyline students were led by environmental sciences teacher Catherine Kuhn and art teacher Michael Raytis. They were joined by other community volunteers, including a group from the Tzu Chi Buddhist Foundation. Amongst the other volunteers was SCA alum Jeff Chen, who is one of the co-founders of Pickup America. Jeff and others recently finished a 3,000+ mile cross-country trip picking up garbage. A lot of garbage. Over 188,000 pounds of it.

Today's cleanup was focused on the estuary near the Oakland Coliseum, where the East Creek Slough meets the estuary. (For reference, that's where Peralta Creek flows into the estuary, along with Courtland Creek and Seminary Creek.) The volunteers broke up into three groups. One group picked up trash along the shoreline; another removed invasive species like ice plants and fennel; the third group rolled out a barrier and mulched to help keep the invasive species from growing back.

Thanks to all who turned out to help clean up the estuary and make Oakland better!

Lots more pictures of the cleanup:

Creek to Bay Day 2012

Saturday was Creek to Bay Day, the Oakland part of the larger Coastal Cleanup Day across California. It happens as part of International Coastal Cleanup that has people volunteering all over the world. Last year I volunteered at Wood Park along part of Sausal Creek; this year I volunteered at Peralta Hacienda, along part of Peralta Creek.

There was a big group of students from Fremont High School in Oakland, who mostly worked down by the creek, as well as a troop of girl scouts who cleaned up the playground area. The rest of us, a mixture of nearby neighbors and people like me who came from elsewhere in Oakland to volunteer, worked in the gardens and along the entrance walkway from Coolidge.

I worked on picking up trash, and trimming around the interpretive signs in the garden. While some of signs were pretty grown over, it was easy, relaxing work. It was also a pretty short work day, from 9am until noon, so it made for an easy way to help cleanup Oakland and the bay.

Trash that ends up near the creek frequently ends up in the creek, and then in the bay. Besides being unsightly, the garbage can injure or kill wildlife. It's a big, ongoing problem—last year's Coastal Cleanup Day picked up 1.3 million pounds of trash. Fortunately there were thousands of volunteers out around the bay and California working to clean up waterways and the coast again this year. Thanks to everyone who turned out!

But you don't need to wait for a special day. Next time you're out walking along the shore, or just walking around Oakland, stop and pick up trash and throw it in a garbage can. Every piece you pick up is one piece that doesn't end up in a creek, the bay, or the ocean. It's an easy way to help make Oakland (and beyond) a little bit better.

More pictures from Creek to Bay Day at Peralta Hacienda:


Additional coverage of Coastal Cleanup Day around SF Bay:

• NBC Bay Area
• San Jose Mercury News
• Contra Costa Times
• Save the Bay (SF)
• Oakland North

And just a reminder: the 5 Houses Bike Tour on Saturday, September 29th will begin at Peralta Hacienda. See http://5houses.ouroakland.net for more info.

tall ships visit Oakland

The other week two tall ships visited Oakland. The Hawaiian Chieftain and the Lady Washington cruise up and down the west coast, teaching kids and adults about sailing and history. Both ships belong to the Historical Seaport which runs the educational programs. The Hawaiian Chieftain is designed similar to an 1800s sailing ship, but was built to haul cargo in Hawaii, and so has a steel hull with three keels and a very shallow draft. The Lady Washington is based on an actual ship design from the 1700s. There were designs drawn up for two, but they couldn't afford to have the second one built. Instead, the larger sister ship was built and now sails around Tom Sawyer Island in Disneyland.

more pictures:

detain the rain with low cost rain barrels

CM Jane Brunner and
homeowner Terry Galloway

Anyone who's lived in the Bay Area for more than a few years knows we generally have dry summers and wet winters (this winter notwithstanding). But what newer residents may not know about are the occasional fires in the urban/rural interface of the hills. The immediate event is devastating, but the longer-term effects can be devastating, too. Denuded hillsides don't hold the rain, leading to mudslides, and roads and homes destroyed.

Hiller Highlands in the north Oakland hills has experienced all this, and resident Terry Galloway knows first-hand about the effects. He lost his home in the 1991 Oakland Firestorm that killed 25 people and destroyed almost 3,800 homes, apartments and condominiums. Then he watched mudslides when the rains began that winter. But even in years when there hasn't been a recent fire, normal rains can cause mudslides which damage property and roads. It's a difficult problem.

One answer is to build a network of storm drains and storage tanks, but Oakland doesn't have the estimated $200 million+ needed for it. A much more economical solution is to detain the rain on individual properties, and make the peak water flow lower by spreading it out. Or as Lesley Estes, the city's Watershed Program Supervisor said, "to control the firehose effect." Galloway already had two 65 gallon 'Moby' rain barrels, and Estes, council member Jane Brunner, and Matt Freiberg of the Watershed Project came to see more storage installed.

Matt Freiberg of
the Watershed Project

Much of the prep work for this install was done by two interns in Merritt College's Environmental Science program, but Freiberg described how simple a typical install can be. It does require some plastic pipes and fittings, and usually cutting the existing downspout, but overall it's fairly easy. Galloway said the hardest part was getting the new 305 gallon tank from the street to its final location behind his house.

The city has a federal grant which significantly reduces the cost of the rain barrels. The 65 gallon barrel retails for $219, but is available through the city program for $48.50. There are larger tanks like the 305 gallon tank installed at the Galloway residence, all the way up to a 620 gallons. Buying one is as easy as going to the city's rain barrel program website and placing your order. You can either pick up the barrels or arrange to have them delivered. I bought two of the 65 gallon barrels a couple of years ago.

BUT (you knew there was a 'but' coming), the federal funding for the program runs out at the end of 2012. Which means to get the barrels for the lower cost, you need to order and take delivery before then.

There are benefits besides erosion control. If you have any sort of garden or plants, you can use the collected rain to water them and reduce your water bill. Galloway has a drip system connected to his existing barrels, and uses rainwater to provide water for the small greenhouse built behind his home. The new tank will be used to water six fruit trees. I was also impressed because he has a solar hot water system for providing hot water in the house and heating the small pool in the backyard, as well as photo voltaic panels to generate electricity.

more pictures from the install:


For more information about the program, see www.oaklandpw.com/rainbarrel

Also check out the coverage at Oakland North.

Creek to Bay Day cleanup this Saturday

Oakland has lots of waterways, from Temescal Creek in the north to San Leandro Creek that empties into the estuary near the airport. The creeks and lakes grace parks across Oakland. Unfortunately, they're local low spots so garbage tends to collect in them as water flows in.

So on Saturday, September 17, people all across Oakland will work to clean them up during the 16th annual Oakland Creek to Bay Day. It's part of a larger event, International Coastal Cleanup Day, during which thousands of volunteers all over the globe will clean up their local waterways. Besides trash pickup, some locations will be removing invasive plants and other activities.

• The first 1,000 volunteers will receive a reusable aluminum water bottle.
• All volunteers will receive seed packets and other treats from event supporters.
• Dress appropriately; wear long pants and sturdy closed-toe shoes.
• No pre-registration required (unless you're bringing a group of 10 or more).

I blogged recently about volunteering to make Oakland better. This is a great opportunity to get your feet wet (as it were) with volunteering. It's 3 hours, with no special training or long-term commitment required. So get out there and help make Oakland better!

See the website for more details and a list of locations.


View Creek to Bay Day 2011 in a larger map

exploring the Sausal Creek watershed

Sometimes I think I've explored other parts of Oakland better than I've explored the hills where K and I live. When I'm elsewhere in Oakland, I tend to try new routes, go through different neighborhoods, seek out new things. Closer to home, we tend to stick to the same places—I don't know how many times we've hiked the same trails in Huckleberry and Redwood regional parks, or taken the same routes to Montclair Village. So yesterday, K and I decided to hike someplace new.

Many Oaklanders are probably more familiar with the middle stretch of Sausal Creek, where it passes through the Dimond and the topographically named Sausal Creek neighborhood, roughly parallel to Fruitvale Ave. The Dimond has some awesome wayfinding mosaics (featured on Oaktown Art) to point people towards it. But the upper part is fed by Shepherd Creek and Palo Seco Creek, then cuts the Dimond Canyon through Oakmore, draining a large section of the Oakland hills.

We headed to the western part of Joaquin Miller Park, just off highway 13, to one of the upper parts of the Sausal Creek watershed. Looking at some very helpful maps from the Friends of Sausal Creek, it turns out we're actually in the watershed at home. We're on the Shepherd Canyon side of a largish ridge, and Shepherd Creek feeds into Sausal Creek. (Also check out great info on the geology of the area on Oakland Geology.) We started with a short, steep hike up to Visionary Ridge, to a viewpoint favored by Joaquin Miller himself. We hung out there for a while, admiring the sweeping view of Oakland.

redwoods

Then we headed further up Palo Seco creek. There are gorgeous redwoods, which while not as old as the ones in Muir Woods, are every bit as beautiful. The area was heavily logged in Oakland's history, with redwoods being used for ship's masts and building construction, but new trees have grown up since then. We crossed the creek and walked down a narrow trail on the other side.

Eventually we reached highway 13, where the creek temporarily dives underground and under the freeway, and so did we -- there's a pedestrian underpass linking Mountain Blvd. and Monterey Blvd. A short walk took us back into redwoods and a trail following the creek. Near the Montclair Golf Course, Palo Seco Creek joins with Shepherd Creek to form Sausal Creek. From there it flows down Dimond Canyon. We ended our exploration at the Liemert Bridge over Dimond Canyon, but the creek continues through Oakmore, the Dimond and along Fruitvale Ave., with various parks providing access to it.

Sausal Creek joins the estuary

The lower part of the Sausal Creek watershed is considerably less glamorous than the upper part. Just before the creek reaches International Blvd., it goes underground, resurfacing where it drains into the estuary. There's a very small park near the Fruitvale Bridge, and a marker embedded in the concrete to note it's Sausal Creek.

More pictures in my Sausal Creek watershed album:

Sausal Creek watershed

Water Writes mural unveiled

Water Writes

Anew mural was unveiled in Uptown today. It's called "Water Writes", and it's the second of 10 murals around the world documenting the current local and international water crisis. The unveiling was basically a big ol' party and Oakland love-fest. A ton of people turned out, some who'd worked on the mural and some who were just there to check it out. Lots of kids, lots of happy young people, and even a few of us older folks.

The mural is between Broadway and Franklin, just up from 21st Street. If you missed the unveiling, you should definitely check it out in person. The photos can't do it justice -- it's big and beautiful, over 5,000 square feet.

Special thanks to the Estria Foundation which created the mural project, and Manuel Cabello, owner of the building who supported the project.

More pictures:

Water Writes

Also check out the great coverage about the mural on Living in the O (as well as the updated Oaksterdam mural).

winter wonderland

yep, made a sound

Not quite as wondrous as the great weather we had a couple weeks ago, the weather last week was at least interesting. Besides the much-needed rain, there were reports of hail in downtown and elsewhere. There was lots of wind several nights, which is probably when this tree fell in Huckleberry. We had lots of small branches down, and the power went out a few times, though fortunately not for long.

snow on Mt. Diablo

California's water comes from rain and snow, and we got some of the latter, too. Not just in the Sierra Nevada, but on nearby Mt. Diablo. On Saturday, we even got some in Montclair! It was mixed with rain and didn't last long or stick anywhere, but it was definitely snow. I've seen hail a number of times in my 17 years in the hills, but snow is a rare sight here around the 1300' elevation mark. Which is a good thing, because most of the streets are steep and windy enough that they'd be lethal with even a small amount of snow or ice.

This week we're getting another break. Sunday after lunch we walked up to Huckleberry EBRP to take advantage of the weather and get some exercise. We even saw Sutter, first dog of California, outside enjoying the drier weather and waiting for Jerry to get home. Enjoy the weather while you can -- the current forecast shows the possibility of rain towards the end of the week.

definitely made a sound

update: I saw this on my ride home today off Shepherd Canyon. This definitely made a sound when it fell. Interesting timing, too -- our neighbor called today saying her tree guy said one of the big Monterey pines in her yard needs to come down. It's about the size of this one, but hangs over our house.

Oakland Earth Expo

Come celebrate 40 years of Earth Day at the Oakland Earth Expo. It runs from 10AM to 2PM on Wednesday, April 14th, in Frank Ogawa Plaza in front of city hall.

Visit over 100 dynamic local green exhibitors: • green businesses • environmental and social change organizations • artists • government agencies • community groups.

Find tips, products and partners to: • reduce waste • compost • green your workplace • drive less • build or remodel green • reduce energy use • become a smarter consumer • bring your own bag • conserve water • practice bay-friendly gardening • hold a ZeroWaste event • reduce your carbon footprint • restore our creeks • eat seasonally • volunteer • much more!

Read more on the Oakland Public Works Earth Expo page.

rain barrels for Oakland

Civicorps loading rain barrels

Part of my home improvement efforts have been to make our house more resource efficient, not just a bit bigger and nicer. As part of that, I added a 60 gallon rain barrel to use for watering plants in our yard. As you know, the rain patterns in California mean that wouldn't get filled from roughly May until November, so 60 gallons won't last the whole dry season.

Eventually I'd like to have a larger tank to collect rain water and gray water from the washing machine, but that's a long ways down the line. So I was delighted when I heard that the city of Oakland was going to be selling rain barrels to residents for only $45. Saturday I header over to Kaiser Elementary in Hiller Highlands to get some. I don't know if they're planning on selling more in the future, but if so, it's a great deal. The barrels hold 65 gallons, are made from recycled plastic, and come with all the necessary fittings for a faucet and the overflow.