Life of Wry

When Bill was in Nepal, serving in the Peace Corps–nearly fifty years ago–he befriended a young boy, Hari. They worked together for the next three years, as Bill worked on getting water to his, and surrounding, villages. Hari cooked for Bill and his fellow workers and learned a lot about best agriculture practices.

Hari went on to a long and successful professional life in agriculture.

They stayed in touch.

When I was in Nepal five years ago, I met Hari. He and his wife Sanu hosted three of us for a wonderful lunch following our two weeks of trekking in the mountains around Everest. They were generous and amazingly kind.

Hari and his wife Sanu are in Northern California visiting Bill (and two others of his Peace Corps friends from the way back). Interestingly, their son is working on his masters at the University of Oregon.. also in the field of agriculture.

Such a great story.

Sabrina, Jim and I decided on a more-or-less typical American dinner…

Jim made veggie and chicken kabobs to grill…

I made a green salad with lots of fresh local stuff… (to be tossed, of course):

Sabrina made a killer potato salad with all kinds of veggies and expertly seasoned. No pics.

For dessert, Sabrina made an apple crisp and we baked chocolate chip cookies. So, so good.

Here we are:

Namaste.

First college break.. Peter’s coming home!

He figured out he could get a jump on the Thanksgiving break–by missing just one day of classes, he could expand his vacation from four days to nine days. This seemed like a great idea, plus, more days for golf! 

He just couldn’t cope with the prospect of lugging a duffle bag for clothes, a computer bag, a backpack and a set of golf clubs through bus terminals, train stations or airports and opted to look into renting a car.

Renting a car gets complicated for anyone under the age of 25, but he found a company that had an under-25 option, E-Z Rent-A-Car!  There would be a small surcharge, some restrictions on pick up and drop off, but all things considered, it seemed like a very manageable option.

Now, I have a lot of faith in Peter’s driving, but I have to say I was kind of a wreck… there were just a LOT of hoops to jump through to carry this off successfully, and I knew I wasn’t going to relax until I saw him walk through the front door.

He finished his last class on Friday at 2:00 and took first a bus and then a trolly to the San Diego airport. A lot of haggling and hitches later (having to do with insurance plans and debit card payments…both issues involving numerous texts back and forth with Jim), he left E-Z with a nice VW Passat. He drove back to La Jolla for all his stuff, then hit the road (I-5) pretty much at the peak of rush hour. He had to get through the Friday evening, pre-holiday gridlock of San Diego County, Orange County, then the traffic nightmare of LA and the Valley. It took hours and hours just to get to the Grapevine. There, he stopped for coffee and called us to let us know he was looking at a 2:00-3:00am ETA.

And, at 2:20am, he rolled right in, totally chipper and pleased with himself. And SO happy to be home!

We were ecstatic (though conveyed confident coolness). Many hugs were exchanged.

I was even ready with my camera. Not bad given the wee hour.

We had lots to talk about, and did.. and then went to bed… Peter wanted to get up by 6:00am to get the car back to San Francisco (the only place in Northern California  where E-Z has an office!) and get back to Davis in time to play some afternoon golf. (Really.)

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Except a storm came in.

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At 6:00am, it was just too rainy and wet to play golf, so thankfully there was no reason to get up with the crows. Instead, he slept in a bit, and we headed to San Francisco late this morning.

It rained and splashed and sprayed the whole way. Peter said today’s leg of the journey was far more stressful than last night’s drive.

Finding E-Z was anything but. It was not with all the other rental outfits.. located instead down in Burlingame. But the check in was quick.

Hmmm.. now what? We decided to go to a place in Daly City for a late lunch that Peter found a few months ago when playing Harding Park with Ray and Dylan. It was fun to follow his lead on this..

The place was a 60’s vintage lounge called the Boulevard Cafe:

We had a couple of standards — a Club (Peter) and a Reuben (me):

Both completely perfect.

Peter then offered to give me a tour of the nearby famous golf courses. We drove by the Olympic Club and then decided to get a closer look at Harding Park…

Lots of Cypress trees, lush fairways, extremely manicured greens.. and a whole bunch of wandering raccoons!

The drive home was long… as the rain and traffic continued… but so very lovely to have so much time to spend with the boy.

Went to Matt’s book signing tonight. Got his book. Got it signed. Just the way it’s supposed to go.

Here’s Matt reading excerpts:

This is the book:

Anxious to read it. About a year ago, I’d read a handful of chapters from an early draft he’d posted on an author’s website for input. I understand this final version represents many additional polishings.

Here’s the back cover:

Matt signed my book: “To my most favorite reader!”

How nice!

Two take aways from tonight:

1. I wanna write a book
2. Get recipe for those green olive-stuffed cheese biscuits.

It was a bit of a momentous project day. I didn’t really realize how much so until I finished this one thing that’s been on my list for a very long time.

The two sentence backstory is this: I save, cull, sort, and binderize Peter’s school work. Have done it since day care days.

I was actually a year behind, so 11th and 12th grade were both on the list.  AND… today I finished those. Here they are on the shelves..

And here’s the shelf below, which dates back to kindergarten…

… and I also have preschool, daycare and even a box of birth stuff.

Below this shelf are large portfolios full of the best of Peter’s art.

Here’s what the inside of a binder looks like:

You are reading the comments of someone very pleased that this project can be checked off the list! It’s one of the more tedious things I’ve ever done as a hyper-documenting, obsessive-compulsive mom. And I’ve done some pretty hyper-documenting, obsessive-compulsive things, let me tell you.

Here’s what makes it worthwhile: 1) the binders contain a lot–though not ALL– of Peter’s work over the years so when/if he looks through all this stuff years from now, he’ll have a pretty good sense of the academic side of his school life; 2) it was tedious and time consuming, but it’s done; and 3) Peter actually really appreciates it (he’s looked through a few of the binders over the years when he needed some info). He told me college will be a lot easier to do (!), to which I replied, “dude…” (though, if he really wants me to, I’ll probably do it).

If you saw the condition of the raw material, you’d be a lot more impressed!

But here’s the thing: this represents a phenomenal body of work. HIS, not mine! From pre-school to 12th grade…it is a LOT of learning. The distance these kids travel from their earliest efforts to draw a stick figure or form the letter A, to solving a problem in AP physics or composing an inspiring, well-crafted college essay… is so mind blowing.

And the journey is pretty much all contained on those two shelves.

Anyway… one day I imagine it’ll all be recycled, or perhaps he’ll recycle most, but keep a few of his favorite things, who knows. It’ll totally be his choice…. I did this part… the rest is his.

And now, cuz I’m singing it…..

Gonna take a sentimental journey
Gonna set my heart at ease
Gonna make a sentimental journey
To renew old memories

I got my bag, i got my reservation
Spent each dime i could afford
Like a child in wild anticipation
I long to hear that: “all aboard!”

Seven, that’s the time we leave – at seven
I’ll be waiting up for heaven
Counting every mile of railroad track – that moves me back

I never though my heart could be so yearny
Why did i decide to roam
Gotta take a sentimental journey
Sentimental journey home

Written by Benjamin Homer, Bud Green, Jacques (f) Plante, Les Brown • Copyright © The Songwriters Guild Of America, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc

We’ve given to organizations fighting for common sense gun laws for years and years. I’ve been a member of the ACLU since 1989. We’re longtime members of NPR. We’ve given on and off to the Sierra Club and Planned Parenthood.

That’s just a quick inventory off the top of my head..  there are many more.

But thanks to our new President, sensible gun laws, civil liberties, a free and open press, the environment and women’s rights are all at serious risk.

So in addition to the above, today we made a donation to ProPublica — journalism and investigative reporting in the public interest (Pulitzer Prizes in 2010, 2011, 2016)….

And to the Natural Resources Defense Council….

There will be work to do, as well, but donating money is a good place to start.

You thought the news couldn’t get worse?

My favorite little candy indulgence, Gustaf’s Double Salt Licorice…

… is not available at Newsbeat anymore. In fact the funny fellow behind the counter told me that it is not available anywhere in California because it was found to contain lead in a quantity of parts per million that exceeded some allowable, safe standard.

I’m like wha….?

(I love saying, “I’m like wha….?” )

I did a little research and found this to be absolutely TRUE. Traces of lead were found in certain kinds of licorice. As a result, there’s a ban in California. Not other states.. but health-minded California, yes.

If desperate, I could get it on Amazon… but who wants to eat lead?

Here’s how Amazon deals with the FDA warning. You have to click on the California residents link to get the full Prop 65 warning.

And I have to say, I’m pretty glad for two things:  1) a proposition system that lead to the codification of a brand new 2) regulation, a regulation designed to protect consumers.

So there. Two annoying things…  but things, nonetheless, there for our benefit.

I learned a whole new skill last Saturday.

Thanks to Wes who organized, and the UC Davis’ Confucius Institute, a group of us got together at Wes and Margie’s house and learned the art of bao making. The institute is a partnership between UCD and Jiangnan University in China and their purpose is to promote understanding of Chinese food and beverages. They have a community service component, so, Saturday, we got to be that community. Staff and volunteers from the institute came by and basically walked us through the entire, fairly involved, process.

Here are four of the five who served as our instructors, lecturers and coaches:

The prep involved a TON of chopping (mushrooms, bamboo shoots, chicken, green onions, ginger, etc) and measuring/mixing (broths, oils, soy sauce, sugar, sherry, seasonings, etc).. chicken had to be boiled, egg had to be scrambled, pepper ground… and of course dough made.

The dough also had to rise, which gave us time for a very interesting talk on the history of baos, the customs around their consumption, etc.

After a couple-three hours, it was time to actually construct the baos… which, actually, is where the real art is. The dough was rolled into tubes, and cut into pieces about the size of jumbo marshmallows. We learned how to roll those into small pancakes then stuff and seal them.

Our novice group formed a few dozen baos, awkwardly, then we were shooed away and the experts finished the remaining zillions.

This is a tray of baos prepared by our instructors.  I’d wandered back into the kitchen hell bent on perfecting my technique. I didn’t perfect anything, as you can see….

Definitely not as easy as it looks.

After rising again, they were then steamed for 12-15 minutes. This steaming process is also a complex undertaking, one they didn’t put in our hands. But we did get to sample the final product and they tasted fantastic. The dough is more bread-like than I expected, which gave them an unexpectedly wonderful texture.

Different parts of China have different customs around the preparation, as well as the ingredients, how/when they’re eaten, etc. It was all fascinating.

Turned out to be a really worthwhile way to spend an afternoon.

Photos courtesy of Wes.

How’s about some pretty fall foliage? These were taken from our relatively early morning walk to Farmer’s Market yesterday, but could easily have been from today’s early morning walk to brunch. So I’m sharing them…

Russell Boulevard, between A and B..

Walking south on University Ave…

The market yesterday was super sparkly and bright… not to mention unseasonably warm (70s again)…

I got a new thing… it’s mocha and chocolate on the inside, cocoa and sugar artfully applied to the outside, and so, so, SO good (though I felt a wee bit sick a little later… too much sugary, fat goodness on a Saturday morning…not to say I won’t buy it again).

And absolutely NO SYMBOLISM here… even though my blog’s title suggests otherwise.

Though… heck… why don’t we look at it symbolically anyway… my nod to trying to move forward in these pukily horrible times:

The other thing I find enormously helpful in troubled times: look at the sky. Just do it. Look up, clear your head, take in the moment. Don’t think about yesterday or tomorrow or Trump. Just the beautiful sky, as viewed from our miracle of a planet, at this precious moment in time.

Da balm.

There are rallies, demonstrations, marches and vigils happening all over the country. Day four of them, in fact. Some are angry anti-Trump rallies, some are peaceful gatherings of people in pain. Some are violent, some are tear-filled. Some are a combo.

So people are showing up in solidarity to say not all of us feel the way our new president does.

Tonight, Davis held a candlelight vigil, “Holding the Light.” The crowd was estimated at over 700 people. It was 100% about love and support for people, groups and issues trashed by Trump and his supporters during his nasty, hate-filled campaign. Trump is now our president, which, in the eyes and hearts of those targeted, is a very scary reality. One thing is clear: Trump’s election has created a lot of unrest. His dangerous, careless campaign rhetoric has lead to a lot of fear and tension among numerous now-vulnerable communities. Thankful I live in a community that cares about all of its residents. So grateful for our city leaders for their courage and humanity.

People showed up to say not all of us feel the way our new president does. I was so glad to have a place to go to hang with others who are feeling the same way.

I don’t recall Trump’s name coming up more than a couple of times last night.. as in, this was not an anti-Trump rally. His hateful rhetoric was the subject. Davis’ response: we denounce the hateful rhetoric; we stand by all of our brothers and sisters; we offer, in Davis, a safe refuge for people; we will resist any move by the Trump administration that goes against our values as a community.

It was that last one that was particularly extraordinary. We will resist!

This resist movement (#resist), seems to be getting some legs. I’m wondering if it shows up as blatantly anywhere else in US presidential election history. Not to say there haven’t been unhappy campers following ANY presidential election in our 240-year history, but for high ranking officials across the land–some of the highest–to actively draw a line in the sand and threaten, you cross this line: we will resist your authority... has that happened?

It’s one thing to disagree politically with the party in power but yet accept and respect their authority. It is another altogether to say:  If you, Mr. President, put our country, its people, our principles and our planet at risk.. we will not compromise. We will resist.

It helps to have the rest of the free and sane world on our side. Not to mention weird (weird that it’s come down to Humanity V. Trump (choke, gag, our new president).

Governor Brown’s statement:

Today we saw the beginning of the transfer of power to the President-elect.

While the prerogatives of victory are clear, so also are the responsibilities to ensure a strong and unified America. As President Lincoln said, ‘A house divided against itself cannot stand.’ With the deep divisions in our country, it is incumbent on all of us – especially the new leadership in Washington – to take steps that heal those divisions, not deepen them. In California, we will do our part to find common ground whenever possible.

But as Californians, we will also stay true to our basic principles. We will protect the precious rights of our people and continue to confront the existential threat of our time – devastating climate change.

E PLURIBUS UNUM.
 

The California legislature’s statement:

Today, we woke up feeling like strangers in a foreign land, because yesterday Americans expressed their views on a pluralistic and democratic society that are clearly inconsistent with the values of the people of California.

We have never been more proud to be Californians.

By a margin in the millions, Californians overwhelmingly rejected politics fueled by resentment, bigotry, and misogyny.

The largest state of the union and the strongest driver of our nation’s economy has shown it has its surest conscience as well.

California is – and must always be – a refuge of justice and opportunity for people of all walks, talks, ages and aspirations – regardless of how you look, where you live, what language you speak, or who you love. 

California has long set an example for other states to follow. And California will defend its people and our progress. We are not going to allow one election to reverse generations of progress at the height of our historic diversity, scientific advancement, economic output, and sense of global responsibility.

We will be reaching out to federal, state and local officials to evaluate how a Trump Presidency will potentially impact federal funding of ongoing state programs, job-creating investments reliant on foreign trade, and federal enforcement of laws affecting the rights of people living in our state. We will maximize the time during the presidential transition to defend our accomplishments using every tool at our disposal.

While Donald Trump may have won the presidency, he hasn’t changed our values. America is greater than any one man or party. We will not be dragged back into the past. We will lead the resistance to any effort that would shred our social fabric or our Constitution.

California was not a part of this nation when its history began, but we are clearly now the keeper of its future.

Sigh. So we stand up and fight for justice in an uncertain time. We wear our safety pins in solidarity, reach out to those who are members of now-vulnerable groups; support and join organizations that are already fighting the good fight; stay vigilant, educated and engaged; call out injustice when we see it… and, when time, vote to turn things around.

A couple of photos:

This was taken at Farmer’s Market this morning…

And this at the vigil tonight…

I found this one on Facebook, taken by Amanda… it’s got me in it…

And this is why I love my community.

Whoa, it looks like they gave the Donald back his Twitter account.

[In case I forget when reading back on my blog years from now, this is what happened: Trump campaign officials, in the crucial final days before the election, forbade Donald from using his Twitter account because, well, his tweets had become a campaign liability and were damaging his chances of winning. This prompted Obama, who was out on the campaign trail himself, stumping for Hillary, to say something like, “…campaign aides have taken away Donald’s Twitter. In the last two days, they had so little confidence in his self-control, they said ‘We’re just gonna take away your Twitter.’ Now, if somebody can’t handle a Twitter account, they can’t handle the nuclear codes.”]

Anyway, now that the campaign’s over, they’re feeling a little bit more relaxed and don’t really care if he sticks his big ol’ foot in his mouth. Right out of the gate, he didn’t disappoint:

“Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!”

The grown up in me sure hopes our new president can do better than this going forward.

Just a couple of things: Professional protesters, incited by the media? No sir, these are real human beings, your constituents, the ones you talked about bringing together in your victory speech, the ones you trashed for the last seventeen months, who feel worried about legitimate things like their futures, based on what you said you’d do if elected.