Life of Wry

Went down to SF today…. (always a treat, you know? I mean… it’s a really beautiful, quirky, human, unique place and every time I’m there, I’m reminded that it’s a real treasure)….

At a stop light….

If it hadn’t been raining, I might have stopped a couple times to capture a neighborhood street scene or two… I love the colors of the houses, the trees and parks, the hills, the corner cafes, the street art, the rainbow flags, the feelings of social justice that seem to permeate everything. I hope they turn their humanity on the homeless challenges they face… if anyone can.. I hope it’s San Francisco.

Anyway.

I went down to hear Maria give a talk. Here’s how she described it on a Facebook post this evening:

Today I had a “fireside chat” with Sean Kana, music director for Hippest Trip – The Soul Train Musical and Associate Director of Administration & Communication at UCSF Facilities Services. This was part of UCSF’s annual Facilities conference.

We talked about building resilience: through creativity and the arts, resources and practices (like therapy, community, and gratitude), and mindfully leaning into grief. We shared video moments with David, and I spoke about his life devoted to compassion. I felt like we shared the stage together.

It was worth the four hours in the car (which ordinarily wouldn’t have been anywhere near four hours, but the atmospheric river that hit northern California today slowed down traffic and the time spent trying to find a parking spot added more time).

It was nice to spend some time with David, too. Here are some pics:

It was really moving to see David so large, and to hear his voice.

Maria was really good. I hope she’ll find a way to become a compassion speaker. It would be a fantastic way to further his life’s work.

Got a very cool birthday gift in the mail today from Claire and Lisa… two of my most favorites. T’was such a pleasant surprise.

Penzys is my kind of spice company.. 

The Penzys shipment: a little box (decorated with a peace symbol, yay) filled with 4 tiny jars of spices (I’ll get to those in a sec), a couple bumper stickers that say “I will vote 11.5.24 Remember January 6,” two strips of stickers that say the same, and four recipe cards to accompany the spices. Additionally, there is a fifth card that talks about how “insurrections have their consequences.” It talks about how the peaceful transition of power is a bedrock of our democracy and how the republicans have let us down. Then, it talks to me directly (or whoever has received the package) as a cook. It suggests that I put the some kindness and compassion into efforts to hold my republican friends accountable as I put into my cooking. How about that! A bold ask with a lot of assumptions, but they pretty much nailed it.

The spices I received in this package are 1) cinnamon, 2) seasoned salt, 3) justice, 4) outrage. Justice is a mix of various herbs and seasonings, same with outrage, but different ones. All go with fish or chicken, or sprinkled on avo toast or salads…. you know, your basic herbs and spices. Oh.. and I also got a bonus packet of minced garlic.

So happy to receive. Look forward to giving a similar gift to someone in the future!

I remember when Teri and I were in Pittsburgh this past summer, we had a couple hours to spare on our final day and explored the historic Strip District. We came upon a Penzys store which was such an incredible treat… the store is heavenly scented and very attractive and we each bought bunches of spices. So happy to patronize.

This is a tree a couple blocks from our house, corner of University and Russell. It lost a branch last winter and in its place, there is this huge mushroom. I would say, “weird looking mushroom,” but that’s redundant.

I’d estimate it’s 10-12″ in diameter-ish, or so. Ridgy, furry-looking, bulby, spongy. This one was taken the other night…

These were taken this morning:

And don’t worry, even if you said it was edible, I wouldn’t.

I didn’t do much today, but I did do this….

…. a wee bit of gardening. 

Mostly I walked around the garden in flip flops with my garden gloves on and a pair of clippers and removed skeletons (what remained of last summer’s spent vegetable plants). Weeded a bit, even. That was fun. And then I just wandered around looking at things. It was so nice.. warm, gently sunny, moist.

Everything’s been dormant, but the weeds are definitely popping up and color’s coming back. It’s supposed to rain later this week and the temps are supposed to drop back down to normal (40s and 50s). Very glad I got to enjoy the garden today.

A few shots…

From the deck:

The neighbor’s citrus trees are dense with fruit and the climbing rose vines are thinking about setting some buds. That rosemary’s super thriving:

This was after I weeded this particular box… gone are tomatoes, eggplants and peppers skeletons, I left the strawberries:

This was just before weeding and old plant removal; the soil’s so wet and soft.. everything came right up:

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I also think I achieved my PB (personal best) in football viewing this year… having watched, I believe, three (maybe three and a half) football games. I probably shattered my previous football-watching-in-a- single-season record signifcantly. Two of the games I watched this season were college games: the U of Michigan Wolverines starred in both (yay, UM won the title of #1 college football team). About one and a half of the games I watched were NFL matchups… specifically games featuring the Detroit Lions. I saw part of last week’s game and all of today’s against the SF 49ers. I was rooting for Detroit because: Michigan. Fanism is transactional.. this time having everything to do with Peter living in Ann Arbor. Of course.

Unfortunately, after starting today’s game very impressively and leading San Francisco 24-7 at half-time, the Lions lost their mojo in the second half, losing in the end 31-34. Aww, too bad! Close, but no cigar (Super Bowl). I’ll be in Guatemala during the Super Bowl, so I can confidently say my PB tops out at 3 1/2 games.

Let’s hope the comeuppances keep on coming up

I mean seriously, republican women? This is your guy, your hero, your savior.. the one sent by god? Hate ta tell ya… you been duped.

Roses are cool.

Have I blogged the Swedish birthday song before?

Ja, må hon leva!
Ja, må hon leva!
Ja, må hon leva uti hundrade år!
Javisst ska hon leva!
Javisst ska hon leva!
Javisst ska hon leva uti hundrade år!

Loosely translated:

Happy birthday to you! (Literally translated, Yes, may she live)
Happy birthday to you!
Yes, may she live a hundred years!
Of course she will live!
Of course she will live!
Yes, she will live to be a hundred years old!

Wasn’t that fun?

Anyway.. it’s my birthday. My 68th one!

Loved today… a walk to coffee with Vicki (and some great political conversation); a gorgeous walk this afternoon down by the creek with me; dinner out with Jim (Seasons with its new chef), and back home for a lovely, tangy lemon cake that Jim made for dessert. Plus a great conversation with Peter, another with Matt, missed calls from several others, lots of texts, emails, cards, and, of course Facebook messages galore. Sweet day. Very nice to be remembered by so many. Thanks, nice people.

Some photos on the day… (and boy was it nice to be taking long walks in the sunshine and having the time and space to stop, take it all in, take some pics (whilst listening to a fab — and hilarious — podcast).

A wet branch smooshed into the sidewalk, the water leaching out to create the effect of a leaf outline:

Matt sent flowers…

Bunches down by the creek:

I love these next two….

In the redwood grove..

A birthday self portrait… note hat protecting super sensitive peely face, and a jacket tied around my waist because it’s so warm (like, low 50s)!

A buncha guys I came across on the track.. row boys!

Jim’s beautiful lemon cake…. (I’m three)…

The sun sets (actually, the full moon rises) on my birthday..

On this drippy, rainy day, I thought it was a good time to check out a photo exhibit installed at Logos, a local (quite cool) used bookstore. Hard for me, because the subjects of the photos were bugs.. and worse, beetles. Beetles, gorgeous as they are to entomologists, are repulsive to me. It’s just one of my phobias.. hard-shelled insects. Not sure why that fear imbedded in me, but.. there you go. My old buddy Larry (whom I met when he tuned my beloved (inherited) baby grand piano over thirty years ago) sent me an invite and I felt somewhat obligated to attend. He’s a skilled photographer and I knew it would be a thoughtful, worthy exhibit, but, you know: beetles.

I steeled myself and attended. There were 40 enlarged photos mounted on the walls high above the bookshelves. Safe. I was grateful there were all kinds of non-beetle insects! I think, out of the 40 photos, only 3 had beetles. One was even kind of cool… a bright, iridescent blue beetle face, but I didn’t spend too much time on him anyway. Definitely another couple that were cringe-worthy.. but the majority were flies, bees, wasps… things like that.

Here were a couple faves… this dragonfly wing:

And these two little sleeping bees:

Funny you can see books, and even me, in the reflection. I hadn’t noticed that… so meta.. me photographing a photograph. And I’m sure in that process, esp as my camera is an iphone, a lot of resolution is lost. But trust me, these photos are remarkably crisp and detailed in person.

Tonight was the 2024 campaign season kickoff for a wonderful organization — the Bay Area Coalition — an informal consortium of progressive grassroots political action orgs in the greater Bay Area (including Davis). BAC helps coordinate the work of I-don’t-even-know-how-many orgs, so that there is a sharing of knowledge, resources and effort. Sister District Yolo and Indivisible Yolo are both members and we all benefit from the connection and networking.

The zoom meeting tonight had nearly a thousand attendees. A THOUSAND ATTENDEES! We are all volunteers working with our various orgs, all committed to a favorable outcome in the upcoming presidential election (and some key downstream elections, as well). The guest speaker was Professor Heather Cox Richardson (Boston College) and she was as clear, informative and inspiring as always, (tonight in zoom-person, rather then in email newsletter form)! I was SO inspired. SO glad to have attended (even as I had to put the coverage of the New Hampshire primary on hold for a whole hour).

Since about 2017, I think, I’ve been reading Heather’s nightly commentary on the day’s political events. I’ve shared some of her pieces here. They consistently offer incredible clarity and very helpful perspective on our daily dose of crazy. Most useful is her comprehensive summary — always so articulate — and her reality check on the unrelenting hysteria we are subjected to with a lunatic seemingly always in the news, and a news media that can’t seem to see the forest for the trees. She cuts through all the noise. As an historian, she also places the events of the day into historical context, letting us know our times are not uniquely dire.

Well, except now. These are uniquely dire days and the election later this year really will have a bearing on the viability of our noble experiment in democracy.

Deep breath.

Anyway… here’s a screen shot:

I could write lengthily about her comments, I took lots of notes .. but I gotta turn in. I will say, if anyone reading this wants to listen to her presentation, BAC has a youtube channel and I imagine tonight’s meeting will show up there soon (it’s not there just yet, but I know it was recorded).

Coincidentally, fennel was one of the words on today’s NYT Spelling Bee. I was one word, ONE WORD, away from Queen Bee… I got fennel and 32 of the other words, but missed flannel. Sad.

But this blog is about the soup I made tonight that made use of all parts of the fennel — the bulb, the stalks and the fronds. If fennel is on a recipe’s ingredient list, I usually (always) skip it because I don’t know how to cook with fennel. Tonight I overcame my fennel aversion. Brave.

Not as challenging as celeriac, I admit, but intimidating nonetheless.

Actually.. not hard at all. Gave it a quick wash, then commenced to cut… divided into its three parts…

Coarsely chopped the bulb, thinly sliced the stalks and finely chopped the fronds. Then gathered the other ingredients: andouille sausage, olive oil, chic broth, garlic, s/p, spinach. Tortellini will be added toward the end and parmesan will be sprinkled atop.

Looks amazing, huh?

It was!

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Note: I made this on Monday, but posting it on Tuesday because I couldn’t blog last night because I has such a raging stomach ache. No idea what caused it.. my beautiful soup?? I can’t believe that, but hoo boy I was hurting. We have leftovers, so I’ll see if it happens again on round two.