Tony and the mushrooms

January 1, 2025. Sunset 5:01 PM. San Francisco, CA. Bright orange next generation-- Same place as last year. Poisonous? little miracle

Bright orange next generation-- Same place as last year. Poisonous? little miracle.

all turkeys accounted for

Nov. 28, 2024. Sunset 4:51 PM. San Francisco, CA.

Just before sitting down to dinner. Thanksgiving with Lisa, Paul, Orion, Ash, Ben, Emily, Tony, Norman and me.
We've never been altogether like this before. I’m a little overwhelmed —
but in a good way.
Photo-- Ben Buford

Happy Equilux!!

September 25, 2024. Sunrise and Sunset 7:00 AM/PM. San Francisco, CA. Sunrise --- as the streetcar passes by the workers on the house a few doors away. These very patient people have been wanting to move into their house for months now. These workers are amazing- Sometimes it seems like they do and redo things that appear to be done already.

Sunset-- Tony, Matt and Kiki join the moment. Kiki seems to prefer Tony’s company at this time

LEAP DAY!!

February 29, 2024.
Sunset 6:01 PM. San Mateo, CA.

Driving into the leap day sunset at rush hour with the bells onboard. Looks like a little leaf has leapt into the fray. Happy Leap Day!

Sunset 6:02 PM. San Francisco, CA.

Just up the road a piece- upon request-- Tony does the leaping! (It's not raining here yet)…

No Photo- HOORAY!!!

December 29, 2023. Sunset 4:59 PM. San Francisco, CA.
Thank you Mardi and Matt (and Kiki) and Tony-- This is a first and very exciting moment for the dailybell.

Big sunset moment. No photo available!!! HOORAY!

Anyone who has been following over the years will be familiar with Mardi, Matt (and his dog, Kiki) and Tony-- So I leave it to your imagination to picture them together in some configuration around the bell among the weeds and near the tree and the red truck ringing together.

This evening was the first time (that I know of) in the almost 16 years of ringing along with the sun(rise) and set that people gathered and rang the bell that's now set in stone (well, cement) in front of our house-- when we weren't there.

Solstice simultaneities

December 21, 2023. Sunset 4:54 PM. San Francisco, CA.

December 21, 2023. Sunset 4:54 PM. Albany Bulb, CA.

Such a serene and patient journey into the sunset of the shortest day of the year. Thank you, Joann for this slow and peaceful moment. I love how the glow is gradually replaced by the glitter!
JoAnn

still covid careful around here

December 10, 2023. Sunset 5:50 PM. San Francisco, CA.

Even under the weather, Tony pops down from next door to join us at sunset-- standing apart from our returned friends, Elisabeth and Richard who arrived just in time-- bearing their own bells and noisemakers (as usual)-

We’re still riding the earliest sunset for a few more days—The turnaround is imminent…

Setting time is determined by values aligned with power on Earth, not the sun

Q: What time is it?
A: It depends on when and who you ask(ed)

Prior to the need to coordinate time over vast distances, I imagine that people generally used local needs and criteria for knowing the time. Perhaps the sun directly overhead was a good enough reference to communicate with others in the immediate community, relying more on relative time than an absolute fixed number.

The standardization of time as we have come to know it, is a relatively recent enactment and was brought forward by the railroads in the 1800's. The necessity to coordinate schedules of moving parts over distances seemed to be a reasonable impetus for standardizing time. Yet who chose the reference point? The governments of Great Britain, a once colonial power and the United States, a rising economic power in the world, agreed on GMT. What about everyone else in the world?

India objected. To this day has a single time zone for the entire continent- splitting the difference between what would have been different 2 time zones into a single time zone that was offset by 1/2 hour. If you check to see what time it is in India, it will be offset from UTC (GMT) by 5:30 standard daylight time.

China also objected and adopted a single time zone for the entire country. Unlike India where it was a simple matter to split the difference between 2 times zone, China had to choose a reference for the standard. How to choose-- Geographical- select a place in the center of China's landmass? Or Beijing, the capital and the seat of power, which is located in the east.

And now here we are again: Nobody likes changing the clocks but who decides whether or not we stay with standard time all year or daylight savings time all year.

The absurdly named Sunshine Protection Act, is the bi partisan Senate proposal which favors keeping daylight savings time all year. As if keeping the clock set an hour ahead actually accomplishes an extension of the sunlight. Obviously, all it really does is shift the fixed amount of light available away from the morning into the evening. So instead of the sunrise occurring at 7:30 AM (in this latitude, at least), it will cross the horizon at 8:30 AM. The trade off is beginning our days in the dimness of winter instead of ending them there at the close of the day.

As states are weighing in with their preferences for maintaining Standard or Daylight Savings time, we have yet another opportunity to get nasty and dig in.

This issue is so trivial compared to all the hatred, fighting and suffering happening right now all over the world. However, the reaction to fight for one's position with enmity is not trivial. Yet, here we are. For now, with regard to Standard Time/Daylight Savings time, we will all (except for AZ and HI) move the hands of our clocks around-

An act of cooperation and agreement, for the moment.

not quite at ease...

October 18, 2023. Sunset 6:28 PM. San Francisco, CA.

Sunsetting. Tail wagging, Kiki keeps a watchful eye on her former arbitrarily chosen enemy.

family affairs

October 8, 2023. Sunset 6:42 PM. San Francisco, CA.

This was the place to go this evening for neighbors with visiting family members to entertain. Hello and welcome everyone!

So many thresholds crossed this week

September 25, 2023. Sunset 7:02 PM. San Francisco, CA.

So many thresholds crossed this past week, I didn’t keep up!
Wishing a belated Happy Rosh Rosh Hashanah celebrating the year #5784 to my friends and family who have now reached today’s sunset on Yom Kippur. Yom Tov. The evening meal is in sight.

RIP dear Gus

September 10, 2023

Gus passed away today and we will all miss him very much. He was a gentle, easy going fellow. Inseparable from his sister Gladys (Gladdy), he was content to follow her lead until she herself passed away several years ago.

After many years of the quiet, only dog life, Gus’s peaceful, elderly years were interrupted by the appearance of Kiki, a lively, quite bossy little diva. As she grew older, Kiki’s personality also grew larger, and Gus began to spend more time at Grandma’s house where he was suitably pampered and resumed his rightful, top dog status.

For us, this evening event has been a part of our lives for the past 15 years. For Gus it was a lifetime. Like so many loved ones we have outlived and whose presence is still felt, their absence is even more profound. May their memory be a blessing.

8/30/23- Gus's last sidewalk sunset

labor of love

Sept. 2, 2023. Sunset 7:37 PM. San Francisco, CA.

Greetings to and from my neighbors! Happy healthy Labor Day.
Thanks Norman for holding down the fort.

Big Blue Supermoon

August 30, 2023. Sunset 7:41 PM. San Francisco, CA.

"Did you see the moon?" Norman from San Francisco to me in Brooklyn. And sadly I didn't see it here!!! The big beautiful blue supermoon. I won't be holding my breath until next time since it won't occur again until 2037. I miss my friends and neighbors and the dogs from San Francisco, too!!

I left my bell in San Francisco

August 27, 2023. Sunset 7:46 PM. San Francisco, CA.

"Only Tony and me" - NT
It looks so nice and foggy and cool there. Still muggy here in Brooklyn, though I am missing that big loud bell.
Welcome back from your summer with your family, Tony!! It looks so nice and foggy and cool there.

sweet and sour

May 27, 2023. Sunset 8:22 PM. San Francisco, CA.
Our only post this month, (though we've been ringing away into the fog everyday)-

This was an unexpected eruption of joy at seeing each other this evening! At the same time we are saying goodbye to Tony who returns to China in 2 days for the summer. We'll miss him-- 路平安，旅途愉快!

What’s in the bag? Some lemons for the road- redistributing them from another neighbor's spring harvest-- In New Jersey, everyone tried to give their tomatoes away at the same time each year.

Here-- it's the lemons.

racing the sun down-- there and here

Feb. 26, 2023. Sunset 6:00 PM. San Francisco, CA.

From Elisabeth turning the corner a few minutes before arriving in front of our house.

THEN---
One by one - arrivals --
Some walking around that golden corner.
Tony just running out in his slippers.
A rare break in the clouds--

We've missed everyone!!

clumping

January 21, 2023. Sunset 5:20 PM. San Francisco, CA.

Thank you Norman for holding down the fort this evening. I love this photo- Neighbors clumped together by households. I'm sorry I missed the group from a few doors down who brought their company along.
Please come back again!

turning the corner

December 11, 2022. Sunset 4:50 PM. San Francisco, CA.

The end of a rainy day just before sunset.

We have finally reached the end of the 10-day run of earliest sunsets of the year! Tomorrow will tip the end of the day into the next minute of light! And we will very slowly extend the later edge of the day. Meanwhile the sunrise also continues to march forward well into January.

MEANWHILE BACK AT THE RANCH…

November 17, 2022 Sunset 4:56 PM. San Francisco, CA. Our next-door neighbor, Tony is the first person to ring the bell in the slab out front- while we are away-- Hooray!!!
I was hoping to pass the torch and thank you Tony- for stepping up!