Notices by Thomas Sturm (tsturm@toot.site), page 3

Good Morning!

Our sunrises have been top quality this week. ????

@toneji Yes! Very nice colors today. ????

Good Morning!

We couldn’t see anything beyond the neighbor’s roof this morning with thick fog covering the bay. But it opened up to reveal a brilliant blue sky in the afternoon.

Good Morning!

Good Morning!

My first soda bread. It’s so quick to make!

This one is with cheddar and rosemary and it came out great. Could have been rising a little more, but very tasty!

Good Morning!

@toneji Yes, I've been in Japan when the wind blows in sand from the Gobi desert. It reminded me of the even heavier sand storms I've experienced in China a long time ago...

But now you should have beautiful autumn colors in the hills above Minoh, no?

@toneji Yes! It's been a long month of smoke in the air.

Our air here is usually very good, since we always have wind from the Pacific... it was glorious this morning to go out and take a deep breath! :)

Good Morning!

For the first time in a month we had a PM2.5 of 0!!! The air outside is beautiful, clean and fresh with a scent of sage and eucalyptus from up the hill.

The fog is still heavy and drizzly over the bay and it was probably that heavy moisture that has been washing the smoke particles out of our air.

Time to take a deep breath.

Good Morning!

Good Morning - the smoke-filled sky is a very particular shade of non-color today. Fortunately most of the smoke is at higher altitudes, so our air is breathable even if smelly.

@toneji We will visit as soon as we can travel again. Right now, flying is just not that great, especially with a child.

@toneji It's a beautiful area to live in. I always enjoy my time in Minoh.

@toneji We have family who owns the Kinsendo store near the beginning of the road that leads up to the museum and the waterfall. I'm actually not sure if they are still keeping the store open, they were near retirement when we visited them last year.

So I've been to Minoh nearly every year for the last 20 years. :)

@toneji Ah! I've been to the Minoh Insect Museum with our son several times. It's a beautiful place. The butterfly area where they fly free is great! :)

@toneji Thanks - I generally don't miss Germany too much, but I do miss the bread and meat. :)

We drove down to Los Altos to meet with friends in a park (very socially distanced picnic).

And while there, we visited the only German butcher shop in the Bay Area and the nearby German bakery.

I only get to go there like once a year or so... it's a big deal. Now our fridge and freezer are full of German meat products of all kinds. Mhmmmm...

@toneji How hot is it in Minoh right now?