Finally got my rear pinion seal (and tail shaft o-ring) taken care of, nice to have a drip free garage again. Thought I’d tackle recharging the AC, so a 20 minute warm-up drive, briefly set AC on high, and pulled it back into the driveway, Autozone AC recharge can ready. Popped the hood and - great, smoke off the passenger side exhaust with a small frisbee size puddle of tranny fluid underneath.

Side note, I have great neighbor - retired navy commander/ naval aviator, and I’ll never forget his curious training question, one all top gun wanna be’s got: “if you open the ashtray, and your engine shuts down what do you do”. “Sir, our aircraft don’t have ashtrays” was often the response.
However, the keen prospective naval aviator would correctly reply “close the ashtray”. The most recent operation probably is the culprit. Roger that.

For four years AC compressor has turned, but I’ve chosen not to use it. Had AC on high for 60 seconds, and trans fluid leaks, see photo - any correlation to first ever full high AC, or just coincidental? Probably looking at leaking cooler lines, dipstick tube, or modulator, right?

 

One of these.

It's just a coincidence that you were tinkering with the AC. PAG and Ester oil from the AC system is clear and would only leak from the compressor or lines if you opened up the lines.

 

Thank you. Looks to be some venting from overfilling after recent trans service. Won’t do that again.