summer in the city

It was just a normal, crazy summer Sunday in San Francisco. Today was the Haight Street Fair and the aura, and the aromas, were straight out of the 60’s. Most of the folks had not been born in that era, but the medical tent was staffed by folks who had been around a long time! It was a bit down memory lane, except for a young folk group attempting “The Night They Drove Ol' Dixie Down”. I am sure they had no idea that it was sung by Joan Baez a couple of blocks down in Golden Gate Park…a classic rendition. The line for Destiny Reading was huge. There were probably 10 tables with “readers” and dozens of people waiting to find out the future. Wish I could have done that….well, maybe not today, but it would have been helpful in 1968. I could not resist taking a picture of the "no pictures" Stylish Hat booth. Probably the only rule I broke today.

On the light rail coming home within hearing distance of where I sat you could determine 5 languages….Spanish, Vietnamese, French, German and another lilting Slavic that I did not recognize. Not one word of English. I simply loved every minute! What a day.

life's mysteries

So many things seem to be mysterious in my life. Why things happen, how events unfold and how the lives around me progress….all have elements that are simply unknown to me. It doesn’t mean they are unknowable, I feel. Yet, there is an element of incomprehension. Does it mean paying more attention? Or, is it best to redirect attention to what is knowable. I can balance out the priorities and, yet, there is that challenge that I think sometimes drives me forward. Or, do I really know anything as absolutely certain?

How about seeing the ordinary in a way that makes it kind of unknowable at first sight? It was fun to take the most mundane objects and try to photograph them as unknown or unknowable. 

The photo is of my spoon after eating cereal for breakfast....the sun is shining from across the room.

common ancestry

Each year the Carnaval parade wends its way through the Mission District for several hours on the last Sunday in May. Other than the joy of the participants and spectators, the awareness that I take away each is year is the devotion to heritage. This amazing “warrior” had already walked more than a mile barefoot in the ceremonial dress of his people. My heritage is less colorful, but our common ancestry crosses all cultures and I am glad to be reminded….and included.

take the time to look

When thinking about loss and death, it seems equally important to identify with life. In my small garden this morning I saw a Cabbage Moth, my regular tiny Painted Lady, our local Julia (the photo) and surprisingly, a Large Yellow Sulfur butterfly. Additionally, four kinds of song birds and a noisy pigeon couple were brief visitors. One squirrel and many varieties of insects clamored in the old Italian Cypress. All living and reproducing and changing form in and around my potted plants. I don’t have to search far for renewal, but the lesson is that I must take the time to look.

a long walk on the shore

Walking along the shore, listening to the unending and sometimes gentle pounding of the surf at low tide, breathing the constantly refreshed sea air has been a refuge for me for many years. The long thoughts that seem to be natural to the long views are comforting and help to put the highs and lows of my life in perspective. We are dealing with the second major loss in my family in one month. I am somewhat peripheral to it….physical distance and the impact of time. A long and solitary walk, nothing man-made in the view and time to absorb the chill of the air is much like my internal processing of loss and grief. I gained both awareness and comfort. But, the long walk must continue.

a neighbor with a black mask

Nature has so many aspects here in the center of San Francisco. I have been a minor bird watcher for many years and thought I knew most of the permanent residents and many of the transients. Yet, walking in the park near my home, I saw an amazing red bird with a black mask that I had never seen before. I spent a whole lot of time trying to identify it. Finally, got it…only to discover that hooded orioles are common in palm trees in our area….and the next street and the park are lined with palms...in fact, famous for them. I have lived in this area since the 60’s and had never paused to identify this beautiful little permanent resident.

The photo is not very good, taken with the lens zoomed way out and it was dusk.

the ordinary

A long walk yesterday through the City with various appointments and a little shopping seemed to be pretty much the ordinary. A brief and blessed little downpour made it very much like Spring, though. I passed a gardener’s truck with some plants on their way to a new home and saw for the first time since my childhood a beautiful type of woodbine--the sort without flowers. Then, a bit of cheerful noise from a playground and a nursery school’s children were running through the wet grass, frolicking with a dog who seemed to be part of their entourage. And, finally, I was stopped by a lovely little front garden with blooming iris. I did not have my camera, so I am substituting this beautiful Iris that I saw earlier this month at the SF Botanical Garden. Sometimes it is enough to just get out into your world!