Nearby Nature

Quick Videos Of Sibley Preserve Mazes

Forget the panoramic views.  When visitors want to record their experiences at Sibley Volcanic Preserve (map), it’s all about the mazes.  Three mazes are easy to find today, with the largest one nestled in the former quarry pit.

There are lovingly-recorded videos, uploaded to YouTube and other sites, which show the quarry maze visits.  Kids are attracted to the maze like bees to honey – and here’s an example where a young girl is having fun while her father chats with her, off-camera.

Sibley Maze Kid

Another video shows the complete maze experience for two adult visitors.  Jacob walks the maze from start to finish, and seems both proud and slightly embarrassed by the taping.  Meanwhile Dan videos the short journey and declares “that was too strange.”

Local druids revere the local mazes and believe that sensitive visitors can “feel the power, the force field, energy, or chi emanating from the dormant volcanic area, and focused within the mazes themselves.”  Here’s a New Age video which celebrates the labyrinth’s aura.

During the rainy season, Mother Nature takes over and a marshy pond develops near the quarry maze.  Check out this video featuring a deafening chorus of frogs that live there.  Or view a little boy discovering these newts swimming in the same area.

If you have never “done the maze,” then take a quick drive to Sibley.  It’s just a short uphill walk along the Volcanic Trail (trail map) – and impossible to miss.

The Turkey Has Spoken

As we head into the Thanksgiving week, a special visitor decided to make an appearance in the Montclair Hills.  According to eyewitness Rhona Lashinsky, this visitor caused quite a ruckus for everyone who encountered him… read on.

Oakland Turkeys

Eyewitness:  Rhona Lashinsky, Shepherd Canyon, November 23, 2008

I was driving down Shepherd Canyon around 9:45 this morning.  Just past the fire station, I approached a long line of cars that were stopped in the roadway.  Clearly, something was amiss.  Up ahead, I could see that a woman had exited her car and was wildly flailing her arms in all directions, apparently engaged in some kind of dispute.

Great.  It’s bad enough the sanctity of our homes has been threatened, and now we can’t even drive to the Village without being confronted with some type of drama.  Then the woman got back in her car, but we still weren’t moving.  Obviously, this confrontation wasn’t over yet.  Probably some obstinate, low-life creep causing a problem for everyone.

I could feel myself going into alert mode.  As the cars inched forward, I reminded myself to be observant – in the best tradition of an MSIC community member – in case law enforcement needed my eyewitness account.

Finally – finally!!  I was able to get an unobstructed view of the culprit: a giant, 4 ft tall wild turkey, squawking loudly and strutting around right in the middle of the lane!

If you tried to go around it by swerving into the opposing lane, it scurried over to the driver’s side of your car.  If you then tried to move forward, it lunged again to the front of your car.  It took each car easily 2 minutes to make its way past the bird.

We do see wild turkeys around here, which are rather small in stature and travel in groups.  This four-foot loner sounds like he was sent by the Turkey Deity, telling us to watch out this week.

Fire Season’s Officially Over

Hallelujah, the fire season’s officially over!

We fared well this year, with no real damage to home and hearth.  No one was forced to flee, like the Big One back in 1991.  Look at this photo showing everyone driving, one-way through town – and with the fires raging only a few miles behind them.

Oakland Fire 1991

During the 2008 season, we had two “book-end” fires:  one early and one late in the season.

The Hiller fire arrived in June and burned three acres.  It looked intense but was snuffed out quickly because we were, well, prepared for this sort of fire in the same place as 1991.

At the end of October, there was a controlled burn-gone-bad outside Tilden Park.  The Grizzly Peak fire burned around ten acres in the woods, but was put out quickly by coordinated fire fighters.

Add a few official Red Flag Warning days, where the winds are high and anything can ignite – and call the Fire Season over.

Who Is Bob Walker?

Lover of the East Bay Regional Parks, photographer Bob Walker was an activist who wanted to preserve as much land as possible.  He would have been quite happy about Measure WW passing, which extended the East Bay Regional Bond that he advocated through Measure AA.

Walker spoke through his photographs, not only snapping iconic vistas but also capturing other important open space perspectives.  Look at these examples below, showing the quiet perfection of fragile salt flats or new streets snaking into the landscape.

Bob Walker Collection

Bob became an environmentalist by chance, through his lenses.  He lead hikes, hosted slide shows, and took thousands of photos.  He’s known today by the ridge named in his honor, within the Morgan Territory Regional Preserve that he helped save.

Walker left behind 40,000 photographs of the parks, which he snapped between 1982-1992 for the Park District.  After his death in 1992, these images were eventually donated to and archived by the Oakland Museum.

The Museum periodically displays some of Walker treasures, including an exhibit of 40 selected images that closes today.  No worries, as there are many ways to check out the Walker collection online or in print – or just walk around the East Bay Parks legacy instead.

More info:   Some of Bob Walker’s images are available through this quick virtual slideshow.  The Wilderness Press also published After the Storm last year, a larger collection which is currently available from Amazon.  Learn more about Bob’s story, from the After the Storm exhibit several years ago.

Ready For Winter Storms?

Well, the rains really kicked us hard yesterday.  When you drove around town, you could see the flooding beyond the culverts.  The rivers were particularly strong as you headed down the steeper streets.

Last night, some 4,100 households experienced a power outage too.  This happened around 11:00pm, which disrupted key TV viewing – no worries, since you can view the Saturday Night Live clips on Hulu.

With this wake-up call, it’s time to get ready for the winter storms and protect your castles.  Oakland Public Works is providing materiel for local residents, before the floods arrive.

Come with proof of residency and your household is entitled to pick up 20 sandbags and plastic sheeting free from Public Works, on Shepherd Canyon Rd (map).  You may also stop by local fire stations for five sandbags, when there’s bad weather ahead.  All these locations are open weekdays from 8:00am – 9:00pm, and weekends from 8:00am – 4:30pm.

According to Public Works, residents can help prevent floods by keeping drainages clear.  They recommend that you:  check and clean private drainage systems; do not place leaves, debris or lawn clippings near storm drains; and place leaves and green trimming in your green cart for weekly recycling pickup.

Oaklanders have been making strides to keep the creeks and drainages cleared out.  On the Creek to Bay Day, in September, some 1364 volunteers showed up city-wide to collect garbage and green waste.  There’s another program to Maintain-A-Drain, where volunteers lay claim to their very own drains and help prevent flooding as well.

Still, we’re at the mercy of Mother Nature.  If you do see any flooding or storm drain problems, please reach Public Works at (510)-615-5566.  Public Works staff picks up the phone weekdays from 8:00am – 4:30pm, while the line is forwarded to Fire Dispatch after hours.