flying home

I’m ready for hearth, hills, routines and my Annabelle. The highlight yesterday was a visit to the Mutter Medical Museum filled with skeletons and disgusting body parts in jars. Nurse Carlini loved it. Later I walked over to the river past Bookbinders famous restaurant.

Brunch at Marathon and dinner at P&O, a plant based very vegan spot on Locust Street. This has been such a good trip for me and will help me plan for Chicago in June. Tomorrow I will bombard you with photos.

everybody out

The sidewalk cafes were packed with happy natives who endured the rough winter. We spent two marvelous hours at the Barnes and that was such a treat. I showed Carlini the ins and outs and bathrooms so he could return. All that art can cause a brain to explode. We walked down to Chinatown to the Dim Sum Garden - very reasonable and popular with great food and service. 

I had never heard of the Reading Terminal Market but now I will never forget. A huge space teeming with customers - a bit claustrophobic for me but an unbelievable hodgepodge of butchers, bakers, ice cream shops, fresh vegetables, crafts, candy - all under the train station. Wow.

We called it a night while the sun was still out both needing some solo time I believe. I head back to his place on Rittrnhouse Square after I finish my coffee here at this excellent hotel.

My Annabelle is doing fine I’m happy to report.

Home tomorrow already!

very full Friday

I walked and walked yesterday and enjoyed myself every moment. Visited the tiny home of Betsy Ross and continued on down to South Street area for lunch at the Fitzwater Cafe a local spot I could tell. Then after a Starbucks break I thoroughly enjoyed the Magic Gardens created by an artist (now 80) from strange objects he found on the streets. Of course I have tons of pictures for later because I can’t figure out how to post them with the new iPad.

     Dinner with Carlini at Tintos last night - fabulous. Then we missed the concert because  we were late but that’s ok as I would have dozed and he was tired from work. So coffee and dessert and then we  called it a night. 

       Sunshine today and more walking and we

have tickets to the Barnes when it opens today at 11am. Like SF this is a young person’s city or maybe they all are? Vibrant, easy to navigate, filled with unexpected delights just around the next corner. This trip was such a great idea! 

Almost like Europe

Missing cat and laptop but everything else is quite wonderful and I had a lovely dinner at Parc with Carlini last night. Free day now to figure out blog stuff then go sightseeing and weather is okay = dry. Staying at Morris House Hotel with a fireplace in every room. 

cats galore

The Black Cat

John Kemp's wife was in Disneyland with some grands so he invited me
to the Black Cat to hear some jazz. I got the best deal, even though I don't
have an ear for music. We had dinner and early music and left at 8pm
and it was fun, something sort of out of the 50's.

I'm up early and ready to go to Philadelphia. Carlini writes that it is still
chilly but they are expecting a sunny weekend. My cat Annabelle is
sensing that her world will change and that the young women next door
will be coming in to feed her. She is pesky and loving this morning.

Expect brief iPad-only updates from Philly. Excited.

Fair's my brother

A secret language develops when people live together for eons. We
picked up an expression (from someone we disliked) that went like this:
Spouse #1 ~ "That is not Fair"
Spouse #2 ~ "Fair's my Brother"
I know it makes no sense.
Anyway, for years Bill worked to get our lemon tree to produce. He
would even take a leaf to the garden store where they would say
either too much water or not enough water. He added vitamins
and proteins to the soil There was a celebration when a lemon appeared.
Now look at this year and the beauties I just picked.
This is simply NOT Fair, brother or no.

way to go!

From the Blogmaid's email this morning:
RR is taking apart her PC because it’s not working and she looked up 
how to fix it online and she’s just going for it. I had to help unscrew a 
few of the tighter screws, but her bravery and problem-solving are inspiring.

I use YouTube now too to help me with major projects. For instance,
if you hammer a thumb tack into the top of a bottle cap it will dismantle
the impossible-to-open child safety feature which I have grown to hate
so very much.

Next I'll be fixing my computer. Not. But I so love that Ryan is doing this.

our poetic Sunday with party

Poet Will Walker

Poet Karen Hildebrand

Cake!

Poetry books from my friends

What a fine day we had. The poetry reading was at the book-stuffed Bird
and Beckett bookstore on Chenery Avenue in Glen Park. I love that little
neighborhood. Then folks gathered at my home which sparkled due to
intense cleaning and I provided pizza, Chef Sarah brought green treats,
Blaze and her stuffed eggs and Suzy with the cake to honor Karen who
is here from NY. The poetry was delightful and Will dedicated a poem to
my Bill Stein who always loved his work. Sweet.

through the glass brightly

Annabelle is still in training and if allowed in the dining room there
would be chaos and unwanted drama. She loves flowers in vases,
but thinks they should be on the floor, not the table. So we work
around this by tricking her as I prepare for my writer friends to
gather this afternoon after a poetry reading. Pizza will be delivered
and guests will bring side dishes, wine, etc. And no rain so far today...

who said it was easy?

Marriage, that is. The final season #4 of Catastrophe included a
tasteful funeral for Carrie Fisher who played Rob's mother in
this British comedy. Then a surprise appearance by Chris Noth
and many wonderful and touching scenes. I'm sorry Husbando
missed the ending of this series which we had enjoyed heretofore.

a hush all over the City

I found this old newspaper amongst Bill's memories. Here is the
poem and the why/when/where at the end. So beautiful. Thank you,
Mr. Ferlinghetti:

An Elegy to Dispel Gloom

Let us not sit upon the ground and talk

of the death of sanity.

That two sweet men are dead

is all that need be said.

Two so sentient beings

two humans made of flesh

are meshed in death

and no more need be said.

It is pure vanity to think that all humanity

is bathed in red

because one young mad man

one so bad man

lost his head.

The force that thru the red fuze

drove the bullet

does not drive everyone

thru the City of Saint Francis

where there’s a breathless hush

in the air today

a hush at City Hall

and a hush at the Hall of Justice

a hush in Saint Francis Wood

where no bird sings

nor tries his wings

a hush on the Great Highway

and in the great harbor

on the great ships

and on the Embarcadero

from the Eagle Cafe

to the Mission Rock Resort

a hush on the 

great red bridge

and on the great gray bridge

a hush in the Mission

and at Hunters Point

a hush at a hot potato stand on Pier 39

and a hush at the Peoples Temple

where no bird sings

a hush and a weeping 

at the Convent of the Sacred Heart

on Upper Broadway

a hush upon the fleshpots 

of Lower Broadway

a hush in the punk rock

at Mabuhay Gardens

and among the cafes and bookstores

of old North Beach

a hush upon the landscape

of the still Wild West

where two sweet dudes are dead

and no more need be said.

Do not sit upon the ground and talk

of the death of things beyond

these sad sad happenings.

Such men as these do rise above

our worst imaginings.

~ Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Published in the San Francisco Chronicle on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 1978.

after Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk were murdered

by Supervisor Dan White. 

inspiration from a stranger

Wayne from Maine

Kimono inspired fashion

Yesterday I met Ginger at the Asian Art Museum so we could take in the
Kimono Exhibit which was different than I expected because the emphasis
was on how European and American designers were influenced by the
Japanese kimono fashion. Fabulous, really. While having coffee we were
joined by Wayne who is traveling across the country by train, stopping in
all the cities he hadn't visited before. His wife does not like to travel, so
he is doing this alone (for sixty days!) and having a great time. We are
now Facebook friends because he posts everyday and has 500 plus
followers ~ many of us are people he has met along the way. Wayne
was an HR director before he retired and he is a stained glass artist
and man, he really has a zest for life.

Last night I took pizza up to Neti's and we chatted about life and
death and she got through the nasty one year anniversary of Frank's
passing. She has helped me so much, friends are the BEST.

oh, what a year

Our dear Frank died one year ago today. This will be a rough one for Neti
and I hope to see her tonight. When Pat called with the bad news last
year Bill and I clung to each other, both crying. We four had been friends
FOREVER and Frank used to pop over and trim our trees and he and Bill
would go to ball games sometimes and what a gentle man he was. And
greatly missed so very much. Sweet memories. RIP dear friend.

more from Lawrence

The Changing Light

The changing light
                 at San Francisco
       is none of your East Coast light
                none of your
                            pearly light of Paris
The light of San Francisco
                        is a sea light
                                       an island light
And the light of fog
                   blanketing the hills
          drifting in at night
                      through the Golden Gate
                                       to lie on the city at dawn
And then the halcyon late mornings
       after the fog burns off
            and the sun paints white houses
                                    with the sea light of Greece
                 with sharp clean shadows 
                       making the town look like
                                it had just been painted

But the wind comes up at four o'clock
                                     sweeping the hills

And then the veil of light of early evening

And then another scrim
                  when the new night fog
                                        floats in
And in that vale of light
                      the city drifts
                                    anchorless upon the ocean

~ Lawrence Ferlinghetti 2000

poetry and a platterfull

poet, artist, publisher and founder of City Lights

Neti's kitchen

My plate ~ delicious

SF poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti will be 100 years old. One of the reasons
I love this city is because it was SRO yesterday at the Main Library
auditorium as poets gathered to read their work and tell their favorite
Ferlinghetti stories. It was a delightful two hour event as we all
soaked in the words. As I clean out Bill's office I run into poems he
saved including a few from Lawrence. I will post some in the future.
This poet so loves our city too despite the fact that people nowadays are
"arriving with bags of money and no manners."

Then to Neti's for St. Pat's corned beef and cabbage prepared by
another Pat, another widow. Excellent. I made Bill's white sauce and
brought a mint ice cream cake from Mitchell's. A fine evening on
this holiday that Husbando loved ~ for the food, of course.

get thee to the swamp

I'm liking this bestseller, Where the Crawdads Sing which is set
in North Carolina and is an easy, almost predictable story of a
girl who loves her rough surroundings and also a boy or two.
She traveled with me on my LindaKindle4 during my city walk
yesterday. The weather is finally gorgeous here. Hooray.

back to Lovejoy's

tea and more tea

Yesterday Jennie and I had a fine lunch of sandwiches
and scones. We had the window table, very nice.

with sliced cucumbers

I realize this looks like a seedy Florida-type Trump kind of spa, but
inside it is spotlessly clean and features two pools and three different
saunas. Imperial is a Korean establishment and the 1.5 hour massage was
probably the best I've ever had, but of course it has been a few years.
The masseuse even shampooed my hair and covered my face with freshly
sliced cucumbers and milk. A wonderful experience at a reasonable
price and it is already in my calendar for a visit in May.

rays on the bay

Ferry Plaza ~ interior

Ferry Plaza ~ exterior

Farmshop stock photo ~ it was packed yesterday

All six women met for Book Club yesterday at Farmshop Restaurant in
Larkspur Landing. Two of us needed the sunshine and fresh air so we
took the ferry to/fro. Such a treat after so many rainy days here. We
sat outside and talked of many things, including books. Bill loved
walking along the Embarcadero and sitting in the sun for lunch and
he was in my heart yesterday. Not unusual, that.

back to Monday

I accepted a spontaneous dinner invitation to The Great Plotnik's on
Monday night ~ was that not generous of me? Check out their garden
after all the rain. Those are daffodils. I have weeds in my little back
yard and moss on the concrete. Roast pork carnitas with all the trimmings
including just right warm, soft tortillas and even pomegranate seeds.
But always the best part is being with loving friends and catching up on our
sometimes less than perfect lives. A wonderful evening, apu.