Several years ago, I was given a curio cabinet with glass shelves and a mirrored backwall. I use the cabinet to display many of the artifacts from San Francisco's past that I've collected over the years. The oldest items on display date back to the Gold Rush-era. Many of the bottles and ceramics were found at construction sites in the old Mission Bay area south of Market.

My friend and neighbor Joe Pecora gave me the tea cup on the left. The burn mark on its left side is from the catastrophic 1906 Earthquake and Fire.

Many of the bottles and ceramics in the cabinet were found at a construction site south of Market. This area was once the old Mission Bay, and is now the site of Kaiser Permanente Mission, UCSF Medical Center, and the UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital.

The rivet from the Golden Gate Bridge was a gift from my brother Doug and his wife Sarah. The green box contains a piece of the catwalk used during construction of the Golden Gate Bridge. My friend Joe Pecora gifted it to me.

The boot is from the 2006 construction site where the Gold Rush-era ship Candace was found at Spear and Folsom.

The story of the Candace

The green-glassed tower near the Bay Bridge, now stands at the site where the Candace was discovered.

Several of the ceramic pieces came from the historic Belli Building site.

722 Montgomery Street in San Francisco

Construction site at the Belli Building, a half block from the Transamerica Pyramid.

Boot from the Candace site

The ginger tin was found in the wall of this house during renovation in 1996. The house was built in 1895-96.

My mother sent this stuffed toy to me for Christmas several years ago. It is a Christmas present I received from Santa in 1953. The photo on the left of the duchshund is me with this dog. I was born in July, so I'm six months old in the photo. Mom's handwritten caption at the top of the photo reads: Ron First Xmas

The sunrise with the Caldor wildfire's smoky haze.

August 26

The morning's golden light

Alice in Wonderland

Remembering Charles Fracchia

August 10, 1937-July 21, 2021