February 23, 2008

"Working" in Half Moon Bay

The beach at Half Moon Bay


The thing is, most archaeologists (though there are many exceptions) become archaeologists because of the fieldwork - the excavations, the surveys, working outdoors-- hands-on research. We generally do not enter this profession to work in cubicles all day, which is what I've been doing for the past 4 months straight. So I was thrilled when I finally got sent off to do some fieldwork, in the Bay Area no less. But alas, it was not to be- the project got postponed at the last minute, and the fieldwork canceled.

But this wasn't a total disaster- I got to spend a few lovely days in Half Moon Bay, about 20 miles south of San Francisco, and the surrounding area.


My dream house (only somewhat joking)





Crazy beach house


Pigeon Point Light House
State of the art at its time, and the tallest lighthouse on the California coast when it was constructed. From the Park Service webpage: "Its five-wick lard oil lamp, and first-order Fresnel lens, comprised of 1,008 prisms, was first lit at sunset, November 15, 1872. The lens stands 16 feet tall, 6 feet in diameter, and weighs 8,000 pounds. Although the original Fresnel lens is no longer in use, the lighthouse is still an active U.S. Coast Guard aid to navigation using a 24 inch Aero Beacon."



Whale skull



Newt Crossing!



One of California's many haunted historical landmarks, Moss Beach Distillery.



Tidepools

2 comments:

Marcia said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Laura K. Cowan said...

Thank you thank you for taking a picture of that blue shack! It is also my dream house (also only half joking). :) We stayed in HMB just down the street last June for a week and every time I walked past this shack (and the adjacent picnic table under a tree overlooking the ocean!) I thought, "That would be the perfect place to write." I still think about it all the time.

Laura
http://a2editor.wordpress.com