Friday, December 17, 2010
Two doggies splashing and an Asian Art Museum Membership!
Above title sounds like a Christmas song lyric...i've got such on my brain, it being so near the Day and all.
Actually, above title describes two of the more delightful San Francisco things that have happened to us in the past couple of days, making our life here - already so wonderful that we walk around with smiles on our faces all the time -richer and even more fun.
Stephen,Paul and I took the pups over to Baker Beach earlier this week on a gorgeous grey, wet and dramatically cloudy day, (while Peter worked away at getting his cunning little office set up so we can record Christmas gifts for family) , and I was overwhelmed by how easy and free-wheeling our two spoiled mini-dachshunds were on this vast stretch of wet sand, the moment we took them off their leashes! It was like Cyrano became god of the Bay, his extravagantly wild ears flying in the winds, as he took off down the beach in pursuit of a wet beach stick thrown as far as Stephen's arm could throw it! And, once she got her delicate little princess tootsies used to it, Sally walked and walked like I've never seen her walk before!
There was a large Irish wolfhound sort of creature named Moxie there with his owner Tom, and all three dogs became friends - another revelation, since our dogs have always been barky and squeamish around other canines....one of the fears I had moving back to a city was about how our pups would behave with other dogs, back on concrete streets,etc. Well, little did I know how quickly the magic of San Francisco would work on Sally and Cyrano: they have been perfectly well behaved and friendly and open and sharing sniffs with other dogs, since we arrived three weeks ago: no problems! There are flowers in the air here, and every creature knows it: peace reigns, in this most delightful city! Dogs included.
It helps that we are renting in an extremely dog-friendly building, where a special doggie-bathroom area has been set up out back by the garages, complete with wall-mounted dispensers of poo-poo bags for whatever needs picking up, and that 3/4 of the people in these 3 connected buildings are dog-owners, or at least it seems so. And yet, there is never the over-crowded feeling or threat of meeting all the dogs at once in the elevator, like there is in NYC, since altogether, there is less crowding in this city: it's a relaxed experience, rather than a "fraught" one. So all four of us seem happy with the dog situation. And then, there are these beaches for the dogs to run on!
So, Baker Beach one afternoon, then the famed Chrissy Field Beach the next: dozens of fabulous pooches running and chasing balls and sticks, ...one enormous dog run...edged by the magnificent Bay again, with the Golden Gate Bridge on one end of an extensive walk, and the entire Marina area on the other end...i mean, with it's marsh wildlife restoration projects and charming dogs and their owners all happy in the sun, mild breezes blowing: the perfect picture of Doggie Heaven, if ever there was one.
And once again, both free of restraints, Sally and Cyrano were perfectly in their element: chasing balls (well, Cyrano more than Sally, but she was walking like a regular pup athlete!) and hobnobbing with other dogs like they'd been friends forever....i never expected it to be so easy. And CYRANO? HE WENT ALL THE WAY UP TO HIS CHIN INTO THE WATER IN PURSUIT OF WHATEVER STICK OR BALL HE WAS CHASING! Never blinked a doggie eye! Just ran after whatever was being thrown and splashed around til he found what he was chasing and swam back to us standing on the beach...his little paws flapping away, til he got out of the water. At one point the waves were so big, his eyes widened as he seemed to think: wow, what's all this? What do I do now? But whatever he needed to do he did, and HE INEVITABLY FOUND THE STICK, no matter how lost it got in the waves...he found it! My boy! I was so proud....and , frankly, AMAZED!
We walked 'til I was exhausted, so I can only imagine how tired the dogs must have been , but their energies never flagged, they were so filled with joie de vivre and bounce! All the way back to the car, where i have learned my lesson: bring towels to wipe them off with, and get as much sand off their wet bodies as possible before we get back in the car! This much is true, however: once they did get home, they COLLAPSED onto the bed and slept like the dead ! Cyrano was so exhausted, he didn't even wake up when I moved him so I could have room on the bed! He just lay there like the tired lump of love he was and let me move him where i needed him to be!
This doggies-on-the-each thing? Wonderful. And we will do a lot if it, especially since it's great exercise for us as well!
THEN: as if things aren't already so great i can hardly stand it: we received the perfect holiday gift yesterday: membership - actually multiple memberships -in some of SF's greatest museums: the Asian Art Museum (Peters favorite of all), and the extraordinary DeYoung Museum of Art, both in Golden Gate Park and it's Legion of Honor Museum as well! I mean: there is no more perfect gift for us, as much as we adore good museums, and have missed going to them for several years now. And since Stephen and Paul also have family memberships to these, we can all go and enjoy them together!
In fact, on December 31st - 9:00 AM for Members, and 11:00 for non-Members - there is a ringing of ancient Japanese Bells (16h Century ancient), and we all hope to go to that unique celebration: each guest can actually put hands on one of the ancient bells and ring it for good luck! Well...i mean, come on! Such a SF way to ring out the old year and ring in the new! The very thought of it gives me goosebumps. AS does our plan to spend New Year's Eve up at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and celebrate in the special ways they have planned! We 'd even discussed doing the Eve at the San
Francisco Symphony Gala Celebration...but decided we needed something less formal, so SPirit Rock was our choice...we will spend it with Paul and Stephen , of course. All four of us feel very grateful that our dear little family can spend this turn of 2010/11 together, with our major move having been accomplished...so we can all be together for days to come! This is a blessed time for all of us, and we all feel the special-ness of it. New Year's eve at Spirit Rock will be a time of celebration and thanks-giving.
What a wonderful time this is.
Actually, above title describes two of the more delightful San Francisco things that have happened to us in the past couple of days, making our life here - already so wonderful that we walk around with smiles on our faces all the time -richer and even more fun.
Stephen,Paul and I took the pups over to Baker Beach earlier this week on a gorgeous grey, wet and dramatically cloudy day, (while Peter worked away at getting his cunning little office set up so we can record Christmas gifts for family) , and I was overwhelmed by how easy and free-wheeling our two spoiled mini-dachshunds were on this vast stretch of wet sand, the moment we took them off their leashes! It was like Cyrano became god of the Bay, his extravagantly wild ears flying in the winds, as he took off down the beach in pursuit of a wet beach stick thrown as far as Stephen's arm could throw it! And, once she got her delicate little princess tootsies used to it, Sally walked and walked like I've never seen her walk before!
There was a large Irish wolfhound sort of creature named Moxie there with his owner Tom, and all three dogs became friends - another revelation, since our dogs have always been barky and squeamish around other canines....one of the fears I had moving back to a city was about how our pups would behave with other dogs, back on concrete streets,etc. Well, little did I know how quickly the magic of San Francisco would work on Sally and Cyrano: they have been perfectly well behaved and friendly and open and sharing sniffs with other dogs, since we arrived three weeks ago: no problems! There are flowers in the air here, and every creature knows it: peace reigns, in this most delightful city! Dogs included.
It helps that we are renting in an extremely dog-friendly building, where a special doggie-bathroom area has been set up out back by the garages, complete with wall-mounted dispensers of poo-poo bags for whatever needs picking up, and that 3/4 of the people in these 3 connected buildings are dog-owners, or at least it seems so. And yet, there is never the over-crowded feeling or threat of meeting all the dogs at once in the elevator, like there is in NYC, since altogether, there is less crowding in this city: it's a relaxed experience, rather than a "fraught" one. So all four of us seem happy with the dog situation. And then, there are these beaches for the dogs to run on!
So, Baker Beach one afternoon, then the famed Chrissy Field Beach the next: dozens of fabulous pooches running and chasing balls and sticks, ...one enormous dog run...edged by the magnificent Bay again, with the Golden Gate Bridge on one end of an extensive walk, and the entire Marina area on the other end...i mean, with it's marsh wildlife restoration projects and charming dogs and their owners all happy in the sun, mild breezes blowing: the perfect picture of Doggie Heaven, if ever there was one.
And once again, both free of restraints, Sally and Cyrano were perfectly in their element: chasing balls (well, Cyrano more than Sally, but she was walking like a regular pup athlete!) and hobnobbing with other dogs like they'd been friends forever....i never expected it to be so easy. And CYRANO? HE WENT ALL THE WAY UP TO HIS CHIN INTO THE WATER IN PURSUIT OF WHATEVER STICK OR BALL HE WAS CHASING! Never blinked a doggie eye! Just ran after whatever was being thrown and splashed around til he found what he was chasing and swam back to us standing on the beach...his little paws flapping away, til he got out of the water. At one point the waves were so big, his eyes widened as he seemed to think: wow, what's all this? What do I do now? But whatever he needed to do he did, and HE INEVITABLY FOUND THE STICK, no matter how lost it got in the waves...he found it! My boy! I was so proud....and , frankly, AMAZED!
We walked 'til I was exhausted, so I can only imagine how tired the dogs must have been , but their energies never flagged, they were so filled with joie de vivre and bounce! All the way back to the car, where i have learned my lesson: bring towels to wipe them off with, and get as much sand off their wet bodies as possible before we get back in the car! This much is true, however: once they did get home, they COLLAPSED onto the bed and slept like the dead ! Cyrano was so exhausted, he didn't even wake up when I moved him so I could have room on the bed! He just lay there like the tired lump of love he was and let me move him where i needed him to be!
This doggies-on-the-each thing? Wonderful. And we will do a lot if it, especially since it's great exercise for us as well!
THEN: as if things aren't already so great i can hardly stand it: we received the perfect holiday gift yesterday: membership - actually multiple memberships -in some of SF's greatest museums: the Asian Art Museum (Peters favorite of all), and the extraordinary DeYoung Museum of Art, both in Golden Gate Park and it's Legion of Honor Museum as well! I mean: there is no more perfect gift for us, as much as we adore good museums, and have missed going to them for several years now. And since Stephen and Paul also have family memberships to these, we can all go and enjoy them together!
In fact, on December 31st - 9:00 AM for Members, and 11:00 for non-Members - there is a ringing of ancient Japanese Bells (16h Century ancient), and we all hope to go to that unique celebration: each guest can actually put hands on one of the ancient bells and ring it for good luck! Well...i mean, come on! Such a SF way to ring out the old year and ring in the new! The very thought of it gives me goosebumps. AS does our plan to spend New Year's Eve up at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and celebrate in the special ways they have planned! We 'd even discussed doing the Eve at the San
Francisco Symphony Gala Celebration...but decided we needed something less formal, so SPirit Rock was our choice...we will spend it with Paul and Stephen , of course. All four of us feel very grateful that our dear little family can spend this turn of 2010/11 together, with our major move having been accomplished...so we can all be together for days to come! This is a blessed time for all of us, and we all feel the special-ness of it. New Year's eve at Spirit Rock will be a time of celebration and thanks-giving.
What a wonderful time this is.
Labels: San Francisco life
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Our First Christmas in San Francisco Song!
We're Giving Ourselves The GIft of San Francisco, This Christmas! is the title of the song Peter and I wrote on Saturday, and sang that evening at the Christmas party thrown by dear friends at their home in Noe Valley! All guests were asked to perform something, and this is what our contribution was, as rough as it was...a little gift for all....and it goes like this:
We knew from the first, when we came here together
And sat down on a beach right by the Bay
That this was a place we want to live together
And that we would be moving here one day.
We are taking time out from our unpacking
The hundreds of boxes that contain our life,
To sing a song to tell you how we’re feeling now,
Ev: Played by my husband
Peter: and sung by my wife (Ev: Though he’ll join in)
Chorus:
WE’re giving ourselves the gift of San Francisco this Christmas,
With all its beauties, sunny or in fog!
With all its ups and downs, we’re glad we live in
This town that clearly glorifies the dog!
We’re giving ourselves the gift of San Francisco this Christmas,
It’s filled with dearest family , friends and art.
WE’re so happy to be opening new horizons
In this town where Tony Bennett left his heart!
It’s true we’re out of shape and nearly perish
Each time we climb a hill , yet hope survives!
For every time we reach the top of Lombard Street
WE see that gorgeous Bay and we are grateful for our lives!
For, you see we’ve given ourselves this lovely present
A gift we know will last our whole life long!
We’ve given ourselves the gift of San Francisco this very Christmas
And want to tell you thank you in this song.
(and want to say we’re grateful in this song)
The guests were delighted, mostly by the charming way we were so obviously embarrassed..i mean, we had just written it...and had not actually quite finished it...so we fumbled and failed a lot, but it was such a warm congenial evening, it was all part of the fun. A terrific evening altogether, at a charming Noe Valley home, hosted by two superbly gifted men, professionals in business and healing arts, yet one is deeply accomplished pianist (so good, it made me want to sing!) and the other a video artist in his spare time...i mean, this town is filled with these sorts of souls: complex, interesting, involved...another thing to be grateful for: the diversity and fascination in the people who live here.
This entire evening was a panoply San Francisco-style family and love: men who'd once shared lives, the women they also loved and had children with, enriched by the presences of these amazing kids, as well as the new lovers sharing life with them all! I mean, as I formulate the ideas for my book about my family of friends and lovers, these new friends so deepen my experience of the entire topic: family in the 21st century and its potential to heal and teach us all how to truly love....
Every day I have spent here so far - in this new city we call home - the more i learn and appreciate what it has to teach me. Each walk is an art exhibition...each sitting on a bench to breathe it in, a meditation session....each errand-run , an amazing discovery of new delights....and the people we meet are all so very friendly, warm and helpful, as if they are delighted to share their love of their city with us newcomers. There is indeed a gentleness in the air here, even the December air, and whatever the cause of it is: this feels like a City of Love, as the hippies used to extol....The old phrase about "Hope Springing Eternal"? I feel it whenever I walk out into the fresh soft air of San Francisco, because there is such moderation in it, such soft promise and ...well, again I say: gentleness. It's always surprising NOT to be hit with sharp cold, knowing as my mind does that it is indeed December...instead, we see palm trees and feel that Hope i mentioned above....not the deadness of Winter, but the Life of possibilities ahead. .....every time I leave a store or a restaurant, or come outside to walk the dogs, there it is: this soft shock of soft air and the inviting caress of breezes off the Bay.
What a blessed time this is.
Labels: San Francisco life
Wednesday, December 08, 2010
Polk Street
We started our day on Polk Street, with a colossally delicious breakfast bagel at the Bagelry, and yet two more cups of utterly perfect coffee. They put sprouts and fresh veggies on everything out here in the West, and this fabulous breakfast sandwich was no exception: the crisp crunch of the cucumbers with the salty taste of the ham and the warm egg was sublime, all inside a toasted, perfect freshly baked sesame bagel? Yum. We sat outside, read our NY Times and SF Chronicle, and enjoyed the parade of people leisurely walking by. Perfect.
We'd been told that a few steps up our Lombard Street hill, right at Polk Street (our place is between Polk and Van Ness), all we had to do was walk two blocks to the right (to the left is merely that fabulous Bay!!!) where we would come up "our" neighborhood stores, conveniences, eateries, coffee places,etc. and that we would be glad for what we find there, between, say Green and Broadway on Polk.
Well, yet again, local advice proved right, and we spent our morning exploring our "nabe": it couldn't be more perfect for us! Cole's Hardware, flagship store of the neighborhood, filled with useful things, packed to its walls with them in fact, has fragrant evergreens, wreaths, trees, holiday plants out front, and anything we might possibly need piled high inside. Run by the most efficient, fascinating group of clearly capable women, who pridefully wear t-shirts that say "crew" on them, and , again useful, aprons with lots of pockets. I've never been in a hardware store run by women, and maybe that's why i felt so quickly at home! But, to be fair, the men we met there, one of whom had the proprietary nature of an owner, help run it so well, and were welcoming, warm and cheerful. Cole's Hardware: great store to have nearby.
There's an essential Real Food grocery anchoring another block - a smaller version of the store I've shopped near Paul and Stephen's - and I could spend hours in there, the foods they carry are so interesting, healthy, organic and delicious-looking. The meat counter looks wonderful, as do the rare cheeses laid out in a refrigerated area -and each shelf has stuff with labels I've never seen before, colorful, detailed, naming goods I so want to try: so many flavors, so many new local brands to discover...we received our Preferred Customer cards, so I anticipate spending time and money in our local Real Foods. Not your ordinary Safeway (though there's one of those near us as well, but that's another stroll.) So glad for Real Foods: I may finally begin to know what real vegetables and fruits are actually supposed to taste like, since they're grown nearby!
La Boulangerie - we ate lunch there the day before - is perched like a bountiful French matron, on the corner of yet another block, and from what I could tell of the baked goods in their front display counters, I could easily do some serious damage there! Flaky, sweet, chocolate-ty, fresh, crunchy, creamy, delicate, melt-in-your-mouth, are just a few of the adjectives that come to mind, as I stand there, ordering my fresh salad (so many healthful lettuces), while my mouth waters to taste each baked item....if I order another salad, maybe, one day soon, i can also have one of their confections for dessert: I can only imagine what their coffees must taste like, especially accompanied by that little piece of heaven over there in the corner of the display shelf! Complex breads, fresh greens, a great place: La Boulangerie.
Russian Hill Book Store: i mean come ON....imagine your favorite ideas about a bookstore, all contained within the walls of a couple of storefronts with a wall knocked down between them, so the place seems to go on and on, filled , packed to the walls, with used books of every description -ones you've either always wanted to read, or have recently gotten rid of and want others to read - but also salted throughout with new items for sale, like odd notecards, calendars, games - they have a vintage board game section that is a walk down the History of Games - ornate datebooks for 2011 (you must know how hard that was for me to pass by, but I've got mine already, and how many can a 2011 datebooks can a girl have?), clever book bags, toys, water bottles for those readers who must stop along the way to quench several thirsts - more note papers, stationary, pens, enticing blank journals, and all those stunningly interesting books brought in by others for your delight. This store looks old,well-worn and genteel-y shabby, yet clean and totally engaging. No Barnes and Nobel this...oh no...and absolutely no danger of ever being put out of business by one - this Russian Hill Book Store? Well....they even have Shakespeare Quotation Chewing Gum!!!! Need I say one word more?
AN ever-useful Walgreen's, at Broadway and Polk - marking the end point of the several blocks we will probably walk many times on errands - where we registered with the pharmacy. When you walk in the door, there's a rack of pamphlets filled with the week's bargains, and we've already saved money there, thanks to them. It also helps that the friendly and helpful staff remind you of the bargains, in case you are at the checkout counter with a certain item, and you failed to notice you could have gotten one more of the same for free, with that special coupon in the booklet (that happened to us yesterday: a lovely woman at the checkout area leaned over and whispered to tell us that if we go back to where we got those Foster-Grant reading glasses , three-to-a-pack, we could take one more pack of them for free, since that was one of their specials this week! So, thanks to this helpful employee, we got 6 pairs of reading glasses for under $15.00! You know I"ll return to that drugstore!) The pharmacy folks also text message you when your prescription is ready! Nice.
This is just the tip of the Polk Street ice berg, as there are also many lovely nail/hair/facial salons, an outstanding cigar and new stand with papers from all over the place, and countless magazines of interest,
antique stores and gift shops, one particularly interesting clothing store with unique stuff, sandwich shops, a rice pudding shop (!!!), bakeries and one brilliant place called BowWow/MeeOw: a doggie and feline heaven! But I think I'll have to spend an entire blog entry on that place! I've not even dared to enter it yet, because i think it will joyfully consume me for an hour at least! We're told "everyone" buys their pet food there, to support the nice local owners. And we probably will too!
This was just our first real pass through this delightful neighborhood, with many more to come, so there'll be more blogging about it as well, I'm sure. For now: onward to more unpacking and settling.
Will the boxes never end?? Still, having this much of our familiar stuff with us (amazing, considering how much we sold or gave away before we left Virginia), makes us feel more comfortable and at home more quickly, so, though I complain, it's good to open these boxes and be reminded of what we have.
Here. In our new home.
We'd been told that a few steps up our Lombard Street hill, right at Polk Street (our place is between Polk and Van Ness), all we had to do was walk two blocks to the right (to the left is merely that fabulous Bay!!!) where we would come up "our" neighborhood stores, conveniences, eateries, coffee places,etc. and that we would be glad for what we find there, between, say Green and Broadway on Polk.
Well, yet again, local advice proved right, and we spent our morning exploring our "nabe": it couldn't be more perfect for us! Cole's Hardware, flagship store of the neighborhood, filled with useful things, packed to its walls with them in fact, has fragrant evergreens, wreaths, trees, holiday plants out front, and anything we might possibly need piled high inside. Run by the most efficient, fascinating group of clearly capable women, who pridefully wear t-shirts that say "crew" on them, and , again useful, aprons with lots of pockets. I've never been in a hardware store run by women, and maybe that's why i felt so quickly at home! But, to be fair, the men we met there, one of whom had the proprietary nature of an owner, help run it so well, and were welcoming, warm and cheerful. Cole's Hardware: great store to have nearby.
There's an essential Real Food grocery anchoring another block - a smaller version of the store I've shopped near Paul and Stephen's - and I could spend hours in there, the foods they carry are so interesting, healthy, organic and delicious-looking. The meat counter looks wonderful, as do the rare cheeses laid out in a refrigerated area -and each shelf has stuff with labels I've never seen before, colorful, detailed, naming goods I so want to try: so many flavors, so many new local brands to discover...we received our Preferred Customer cards, so I anticipate spending time and money in our local Real Foods. Not your ordinary Safeway (though there's one of those near us as well, but that's another stroll.) So glad for Real Foods: I may finally begin to know what real vegetables and fruits are actually supposed to taste like, since they're grown nearby!
La Boulangerie - we ate lunch there the day before - is perched like a bountiful French matron, on the corner of yet another block, and from what I could tell of the baked goods in their front display counters, I could easily do some serious damage there! Flaky, sweet, chocolate-ty, fresh, crunchy, creamy, delicate, melt-in-your-mouth, are just a few of the adjectives that come to mind, as I stand there, ordering my fresh salad (so many healthful lettuces), while my mouth waters to taste each baked item....if I order another salad, maybe, one day soon, i can also have one of their confections for dessert: I can only imagine what their coffees must taste like, especially accompanied by that little piece of heaven over there in the corner of the display shelf! Complex breads, fresh greens, a great place: La Boulangerie.
Russian Hill Book Store: i mean come ON....imagine your favorite ideas about a bookstore, all contained within the walls of a couple of storefronts with a wall knocked down between them, so the place seems to go on and on, filled , packed to the walls, with used books of every description -ones you've either always wanted to read, or have recently gotten rid of and want others to read - but also salted throughout with new items for sale, like odd notecards, calendars, games - they have a vintage board game section that is a walk down the History of Games - ornate datebooks for 2011 (you must know how hard that was for me to pass by, but I've got mine already, and how many can a 2011 datebooks can a girl have?), clever book bags, toys, water bottles for those readers who must stop along the way to quench several thirsts - more note papers, stationary, pens, enticing blank journals, and all those stunningly interesting books brought in by others for your delight. This store looks old,well-worn and genteel-y shabby, yet clean and totally engaging. No Barnes and Nobel this...oh no...and absolutely no danger of ever being put out of business by one - this Russian Hill Book Store? Well....they even have Shakespeare Quotation Chewing Gum!!!! Need I say one word more?
AN ever-useful Walgreen's, at Broadway and Polk - marking the end point of the several blocks we will probably walk many times on errands - where we registered with the pharmacy. When you walk in the door, there's a rack of pamphlets filled with the week's bargains, and we've already saved money there, thanks to them. It also helps that the friendly and helpful staff remind you of the bargains, in case you are at the checkout counter with a certain item, and you failed to notice you could have gotten one more of the same for free, with that special coupon in the booklet (that happened to us yesterday: a lovely woman at the checkout area leaned over and whispered to tell us that if we go back to where we got those Foster-Grant reading glasses , three-to-a-pack, we could take one more pack of them for free, since that was one of their specials this week! So, thanks to this helpful employee, we got 6 pairs of reading glasses for under $15.00! You know I"ll return to that drugstore!) The pharmacy folks also text message you when your prescription is ready! Nice.
This is just the tip of the Polk Street ice berg, as there are also many lovely nail/hair/facial salons, an outstanding cigar and new stand with papers from all over the place, and countless magazines of interest,
antique stores and gift shops, one particularly interesting clothing store with unique stuff, sandwich shops, a rice pudding shop (!!!), bakeries and one brilliant place called BowWow/MeeOw: a doggie and feline heaven! But I think I'll have to spend an entire blog entry on that place! I've not even dared to enter it yet, because i think it will joyfully consume me for an hour at least! We're told "everyone" buys their pet food there, to support the nice local owners. And we probably will too!
This was just our first real pass through this delightful neighborhood, with many more to come, so there'll be more blogging about it as well, I'm sure. For now: onward to more unpacking and settling.
Will the boxes never end?? Still, having this much of our familiar stuff with us (amazing, considering how much we sold or gave away before we left Virginia), makes us feel more comfortable and at home more quickly, so, though I complain, it's good to open these boxes and be reminded of what we have.
Here. In our new home.
Labels: San Francisco life
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
The Hills Are Alive...And Are Out To Get Me
The young housewives of Pacific Heights and Russian Hill spend their days walking around SF in spandex work-out clothing, hair in shiny ponytails, and expensive sports shoes, and now I know why: this city IS a health club, and without paying an extra penny, all who live here are active members, whether we intend to be or not!
Yes, I am a woman "of a certain age", and yes, i've spent the last three years driving everywhere, no matter how close the destination. And yes, the only walking I've done, in an attempt to keep in some semblance of shape, has been on flat land. However, walk as I might around the mighty track of the Coomes Recreation Center, I was not prepared for how my body now feels after only 4 days of walking from Pierce Street to Lombard Street and back (if we could make it back...we've even taken our first Frisco cab, we've been so whupped by the end of a walking day here!). I mean: I AM SORE! If I sit too long in one position, my body freezes, and I feel like the rusted Tin Man from Wizard of Oz when I attempt to move. I ache in places I'd forgotten I had places! My toes and feet a speaking back to me in pinched tones, asking: "what the hell are you trying to do to us??" and I have been painfully reminded of the pure physics of this statement: "That which goes down, inevitably goes waaaaay back up again!". Great... I never did like physics. The first time I glimpsed the periodic table written on a black board, I walked right out of the class and never went back. Or is that chemistry? Well, whatever science governs the Law I am experiencing, (Pain equals gain, but meanwhile it HURTS!), the mean truth is: ouch!
So, letting this astonishingly delightful city discipline me back into working order ? Dues I am glad to pay, in exchange for the obvious other delights that way outweigh the pains:
* The pleasure of walking our dogs on sidewalks again, a ritual they are happily familiar with from their earlier days as New York City dogs. The pleasures this sidewalk regimen affords Cyrano and Sally are many, but the best is : they get to use their doggie noses again, to appreciate, sniff, assess, judge, nasally revel in the world around them. SO much to smell, such a rich culture of odors from other dogs and interesting garbage, created by both the dogs and their many owners. (Did I mention that SF is a world-class DOG city, with doggie boutiques, doggie beauty salons, doggie health food stores, doggie bakeries and doggie massage parlors all over Chestnut and Union Streets? I swear to God: doggie bakeries!)
* The edgy thrill of seeing so many people like me, as I walk, or who, at least, look like I perceive myself to be: intellectual, interestingly attired , thinking as they walk, scarves jauntily thrown over one shoulder or another (even the men), good haircuts, well-kept skin and teeth, many wearing reading glasses perched on the ends of their noses, even as they walk their dogs, nice but extremely comfortable clothing made of real fabrics like cotton and linen and soft wool, colorful, letting themselves go silvery-grey, or making expensive attempts at not...in short: people I would like to meet and know. Also they sound the way I have missed people sounding: in one day here, I've heard more varying accents than i've heard in the past three years: Haitian, British, French (our upstairs neighbor , the lovely Valerie), Moroccan, Korean, Chinese, Russian, and good old Middle-American! It's an audio smorgasbord! My ears are so happy.
* Also - and this actually made me weep, the first night Paul took us to a local swell cafe - there are Jews here! And this made me cry. Couldn't help it: I was born and raised in a liberal, smart, cultural Jewish household in the South, and though I am now a practicing Buddhist (a "Jew-Bu", as has been coined), I still think of Jews as "my people", and always will...and why not? Where there is true complex and varied arts and culture, there will be Jews, because Jews - my bias, I know - are people of the heart and the head combined: we read and cry at the same time! And this - again my bias - is a good way to be, a good way to embrace the world: understand it as best you can, then feel for it, because it is so impossible to truly understand! San Francisco is many things, but one of the things it is is a Jewish city! My Momma would be so glad I live here.
* And speaking of food: except for a tired and starving poor choice made one evening to order from a Chinese place called Ricky's, I've not had one mouthful of poorly prepared food in this city yet. (Note to self: make sure, like in NYC, that the words "Empire" or "Pagoda" appear in the take-out menu). A signal example of just how good this city's food is : walking to our apartment on Lombard Street the first day we were here, we needed to stop for a quick something to fuel us, and , almost to 1320, we saw a sign for "Viking Subs", outside a hole-in-the-wall joint, but we decided to try it. Turns out, this Korean-owned sandwich shop does some voodoo magic that turns ordinary submarine sandwich concoctions into thoroughly addictive culinary encounters, and we've been back three times already! Some sort of yummy mayonnaise sauce - not just mayonnaise, but a sauce made with it - slathered all over these mounds of meats and cheeses, then TOASTED to a tender crisp on a well-used grill. My first bite into their Tuna Garden sub was ecstatic, and as it dripped on my fingers, and crunched under my grateful teeth, my taste buds immediately knew they were in great company. So, if this tiny oasis of edible delights is any indication, San Francisco knows how to cook. Of course, there's the best vegetarian restaurant found anywhere : Green's, on the Bay. And countless places we've yet to discover. Something tells me the exploration will usually be worth it. We are back in food country!
So, if the hills of San Francisco pain me, I am consoled by the above reasons to be here anyway, and am comforted by the knowledge that if I am laid up from shin splints, back aches and pure fatigue, I can cuddle in bed with content dogs, nibbling on great local food delivered by interesting and culturally diverse people, some of whom may be MY people! Not a bad way to recover...not bad at all. I think I'll stay a while.
Yes, I am a woman "of a certain age", and yes, i've spent the last three years driving everywhere, no matter how close the destination. And yes, the only walking I've done, in an attempt to keep in some semblance of shape, has been on flat land. However, walk as I might around the mighty track of the Coomes Recreation Center, I was not prepared for how my body now feels after only 4 days of walking from Pierce Street to Lombard Street and back (if we could make it back...we've even taken our first Frisco cab, we've been so whupped by the end of a walking day here!). I mean: I AM SORE! If I sit too long in one position, my body freezes, and I feel like the rusted Tin Man from Wizard of Oz when I attempt to move. I ache in places I'd forgotten I had places! My toes and feet a speaking back to me in pinched tones, asking: "what the hell are you trying to do to us??" and I have been painfully reminded of the pure physics of this statement: "That which goes down, inevitably goes waaaaay back up again!". Great... I never did like physics. The first time I glimpsed the periodic table written on a black board, I walked right out of the class and never went back. Or is that chemistry? Well, whatever science governs the Law I am experiencing, (Pain equals gain, but meanwhile it HURTS!), the mean truth is: ouch!
So, letting this astonishingly delightful city discipline me back into working order ? Dues I am glad to pay, in exchange for the obvious other delights that way outweigh the pains:
* The pleasure of walking our dogs on sidewalks again, a ritual they are happily familiar with from their earlier days as New York City dogs. The pleasures this sidewalk regimen affords Cyrano and Sally are many, but the best is : they get to use their doggie noses again, to appreciate, sniff, assess, judge, nasally revel in the world around them. SO much to smell, such a rich culture of odors from other dogs and interesting garbage, created by both the dogs and their many owners. (Did I mention that SF is a world-class DOG city, with doggie boutiques, doggie beauty salons, doggie health food stores, doggie bakeries and doggie massage parlors all over Chestnut and Union Streets? I swear to God: doggie bakeries!)
* The edgy thrill of seeing so many people like me, as I walk, or who, at least, look like I perceive myself to be: intellectual, interestingly attired , thinking as they walk, scarves jauntily thrown over one shoulder or another (even the men), good haircuts, well-kept skin and teeth, many wearing reading glasses perched on the ends of their noses, even as they walk their dogs, nice but extremely comfortable clothing made of real fabrics like cotton and linen and soft wool, colorful, letting themselves go silvery-grey, or making expensive attempts at not...in short: people I would like to meet and know. Also they sound the way I have missed people sounding: in one day here, I've heard more varying accents than i've heard in the past three years: Haitian, British, French (our upstairs neighbor , the lovely Valerie), Moroccan, Korean, Chinese, Russian, and good old Middle-American! It's an audio smorgasbord! My ears are so happy.
* Also - and this actually made me weep, the first night Paul took us to a local swell cafe - there are Jews here! And this made me cry. Couldn't help it: I was born and raised in a liberal, smart, cultural Jewish household in the South, and though I am now a practicing Buddhist (a "Jew-Bu", as has been coined), I still think of Jews as "my people", and always will...and why not? Where there is true complex and varied arts and culture, there will be Jews, because Jews - my bias, I know - are people of the heart and the head combined: we read and cry at the same time! And this - again my bias - is a good way to be, a good way to embrace the world: understand it as best you can, then feel for it, because it is so impossible to truly understand! San Francisco is many things, but one of the things it is is a Jewish city! My Momma would be so glad I live here.
* And speaking of food: except for a tired and starving poor choice made one evening to order from a Chinese place called Ricky's, I've not had one mouthful of poorly prepared food in this city yet. (Note to self: make sure, like in NYC, that the words "Empire" or "Pagoda" appear in the take-out menu). A signal example of just how good this city's food is : walking to our apartment on Lombard Street the first day we were here, we needed to stop for a quick something to fuel us, and , almost to 1320, we saw a sign for "Viking Subs", outside a hole-in-the-wall joint, but we decided to try it. Turns out, this Korean-owned sandwich shop does some voodoo magic that turns ordinary submarine sandwich concoctions into thoroughly addictive culinary encounters, and we've been back three times already! Some sort of yummy mayonnaise sauce - not just mayonnaise, but a sauce made with it - slathered all over these mounds of meats and cheeses, then TOASTED to a tender crisp on a well-used grill. My first bite into their Tuna Garden sub was ecstatic, and as it dripped on my fingers, and crunched under my grateful teeth, my taste buds immediately knew they were in great company. So, if this tiny oasis of edible delights is any indication, San Francisco knows how to cook. Of course, there's the best vegetarian restaurant found anywhere : Green's, on the Bay. And countless places we've yet to discover. Something tells me the exploration will usually be worth it. We are back in food country!
So, if the hills of San Francisco pain me, I am consoled by the above reasons to be here anyway, and am comforted by the knowledge that if I am laid up from shin splints, back aches and pure fatigue, I can cuddle in bed with content dogs, nibbling on great local food delivered by interesting and culturally diverse people, some of whom may be MY people! Not a bad way to recover...not bad at all. I think I'll stay a while.
Labels: San Francisco life
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
My Deal With God: Getting the Piano to the Second Floor
Peter and I both seem to remember the baby grand fitting into the freight elevator at 890 West End, and that it was not much larger than the elevator at 1320 Lombard...but we could be wrong. If we are, then it's a mere two flights of windy stairs the poor moving men will have to climb with piano on aching shoulders to get it to our new home. I pray we are not wrong about the elevator. And in that prayer, I will make a deal with God: please let our grand piano fit into the elevator, then through our doorways, then into the new living room, and I will.....um...let's see...i will meditate for 20 minutes every day , no matter what! And in that meditation, I will consider You in every breath, and be grateful. I will also write for an hour every day, and in that writing, consider the mysteries of life as You present them. All in all, a good deal, so please grease the way for our grand piano. Thank you. (or I should say "Thank You") , love, Evalyn
Today will be an enormous and long day, but filled with joy by the end of it, if all goes well.
Today, at its end, will signify that we have indeed moved to San Francisco, because, if all goes well, i am NEVER moving that piano or packing boxes again, so whoever gets the apartment next, gets the piano with it! If we decide to move to another house, or an apartment in the same building with a view of Golden Gate Bridge, we will buy another piano and leave his one nestled where it will land: in our lovely , light-filled new living room.
The truck is set to arrive between 8 and 9 am.
I have not slept a single wink all night long, and am running on sheer adrenaline fueled fumes of energy. I am so excited, that I have no doubt these fumes will get me through.
I will go to Real Food, around the block from Paul and Stephen's , where we are currently sleeping, and drink two cups of their organic and strong brewed coffee, eat a healthy bagel, order one for Peter, and wait for him to pick me up so we can begin our trek back to 1320 Lombard. Our Ford Escape is parked in our garage there, and we walked back to Paul and Stephen's yesterday, taking the route up to Polk Street (one block up the hill from us) , then turning right all the way to Union Street, where we took another right onto Union and walked it all the way back to Pierce. It was one of the best walks of my life, and here's why:
Union Street - busy, creative, bustling, diverse and exciting Union Street - reminded me that we are back in an urban environment I did not even know I was missing. Union Street, as we walked it those many blocks, presented us with interesting food and wine shops, specialty clothing boutiques, more doggie gift stores and grooming establishments than you can count, shoe stores with the latest styles, stationery and paper shops , each one like catnip to me, a MAC Cosmetics Shop, for cryin' out loud...i mean when was the last time I saw one of those??? Small delicatessens with prosaic as well as exotic goods, nail spas, hair salons, massage and wellness centers, workout workshops, with chic spandex outfits in their windows, Pilates centers galore, nutrition and heath food shops, more facial and hair shops than I could count, adorable children's clothing and gift stores (lots of young families with kids in this Pacific Heights/Russian Hill neighborhood - lots of families and LOTS of dogs!...SF is a DOGGIE town, if there ever was one!) Union Street, just beginning to be decked out for the Holidays, will be tremendous fun to shop, and I will buy a wreathe for our new front door, from a shop on Union Street! As well as small gifts for the parties we are already invited to! I mean: Union Street is without question, my kind of street, Coffee roaster places, with the best coffees in the world right there for us at any time, and there is even a swell store that sells nothing but whimsical, ingenious, made-of-all-sorts-of-materials FAIRIES! Flying from the ceiling, stuffed on glass shelves, coming at you from the walls..fairies and elves and goblins, other mythical,mystical creatures....perfect, right?
Because this is, after all, SAN FRANCISCO: the most magical of cities...and I have a feeling these sorts of astonishing creatures lurk around us, at every turn. I am ready - truly ready - to discover them!
Today will be an enormous and long day, but filled with joy by the end of it, if all goes well.
Today, at its end, will signify that we have indeed moved to San Francisco, because, if all goes well, i am NEVER moving that piano or packing boxes again, so whoever gets the apartment next, gets the piano with it! If we decide to move to another house, or an apartment in the same building with a view of Golden Gate Bridge, we will buy another piano and leave his one nestled where it will land: in our lovely , light-filled new living room.
The truck is set to arrive between 8 and 9 am.
I have not slept a single wink all night long, and am running on sheer adrenaline fueled fumes of energy. I am so excited, that I have no doubt these fumes will get me through.
I will go to Real Food, around the block from Paul and Stephen's , where we are currently sleeping, and drink two cups of their organic and strong brewed coffee, eat a healthy bagel, order one for Peter, and wait for him to pick me up so we can begin our trek back to 1320 Lombard. Our Ford Escape is parked in our garage there, and we walked back to Paul and Stephen's yesterday, taking the route up to Polk Street (one block up the hill from us) , then turning right all the way to Union Street, where we took another right onto Union and walked it all the way back to Pierce. It was one of the best walks of my life, and here's why:
Union Street - busy, creative, bustling, diverse and exciting Union Street - reminded me that we are back in an urban environment I did not even know I was missing. Union Street, as we walked it those many blocks, presented us with interesting food and wine shops, specialty clothing boutiques, more doggie gift stores and grooming establishments than you can count, shoe stores with the latest styles, stationery and paper shops , each one like catnip to me, a MAC Cosmetics Shop, for cryin' out loud...i mean when was the last time I saw one of those??? Small delicatessens with prosaic as well as exotic goods, nail spas, hair salons, massage and wellness centers, workout workshops, with chic spandex outfits in their windows, Pilates centers galore, nutrition and heath food shops, more facial and hair shops than I could count, adorable children's clothing and gift stores (lots of young families with kids in this Pacific Heights/Russian Hill neighborhood - lots of families and LOTS of dogs!...SF is a DOGGIE town, if there ever was one!) Union Street, just beginning to be decked out for the Holidays, will be tremendous fun to shop, and I will buy a wreathe for our new front door, from a shop on Union Street! As well as small gifts for the parties we are already invited to! I mean: Union Street is without question, my kind of street, Coffee roaster places, with the best coffees in the world right there for us at any time, and there is even a swell store that sells nothing but whimsical, ingenious, made-of-all-sorts-of-materials FAIRIES! Flying from the ceiling, stuffed on glass shelves, coming at you from the walls..fairies and elves and goblins, other mythical,mystical creatures....perfect, right?
Because this is, after all, SAN FRANCISCO: the most magical of cities...and I have a feeling these sorts of astonishing creatures lurk around us, at every turn. I am ready - truly ready - to discover them!
Labels: San Francisco life
