Scattered Thoughts . . .

After our exciting and memorable walk across the Golden Gate Bridge, we boarded a Presidio shuttle bus to make our way to the other side of Crissy Field to the Palace of Fine Arts. Because this iconic landmark is right outside the gate of Crissy Field and the large dome is seen from many points on The Presidio, I was constantly being drawn to it.  This was definitely a place I wanted to visit and to photograph. This landmark, which is seen in many movies and television shows, was built after the great earthquake of 1906. As fires burned throughout San Francisco and spread across the eastern parts of the city, survivors moved west toward The Presidio.  The Presidio set up refugee camps which housed 16,000 or so residents as the city recovered and rebuilt.   Within four years, the people of San Francisco were eager to show the world that they "had risen from the ashes".  In 1910, the city's leaders decided to host the twentieth century's first great world's

I was finally able to stain the countertop in the outdoor kitchen this past weekend.   Assembling this countertop was an exercise in patience and woodworking skills.  In a quest to keep the budget as low as possible, I chose to use cheap 2x4's to make the butcher block countertop.  The moment I ripped a 2x4, it bent in two directions...  a lot!  This happened with every single 2x4 I ripped!  Needless to say, assembling these bent strips of 2x4's into a straight countertop was frustratingly tough.   Once the two six-foot-long countertops were assembled, I then cut them to size and screwed them together in place.  At this point, I hit them with 60 grit sand paper...  then 80 grit...  then 120 grit...  then 220 grit.  All this sanding happened between rain showers.   Saturday morning was beautiful here (actually, it was a bit too hot for my health) so, while we had some unusually good weather, I applied a stain conditioner to the countertops and then applied a few coats of s