Hope is an action, something that you do with your friends.
I have had a fantastic week. On Thursday I had to go to Concord for work. Afterwards Emmy and I hung out at her place then stopped by Eagle Peak Montessori, my kids elementary school. We caught up with some of her former teachers and other friends. It was cool to see how things have changed and stayed the same there. Emmy couldn’t get over how small the school was-she remembered it as being much bigger. The school is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year- Emmy started there in its second year.
On Friday I took a break from work to check out an art exhibit at Sausalito Center for the Arts. As it was a beautiful, warm day, I also walked along the waterfront.
On Saturday I helped out with food distribution at a local community center. I gave out onions while the woman next to me with her two daughters gave out purple potatoes and carrots. Many people had never seen purple potatoes before and were hesitant to take them at first. It was lively 80s and 90s music playing, it was quite a festive spot. Everyone was really friendly, and I did my best to make people feel at ease. It reminded me so much of my time at VCRC. I was impressed with how quickly and efficiently everything got broken down – everybody worked together so easily, which mages sense as it was mainly women. 😝 Because we got done so quickly, I had enough time to catch the first showing of a movie I’ve been wanting to see – It Was Just an Accident. It was an intense movie, but also funny in some parts. I learned quite a bit about Iranian culture.
It was really cloudy in the morning, but once I got out of the theater, the sun had come out. I went for a hike in the nearby hills, parking on a side street winding my way up on a little trail. I found a lovely spot that was very private and sat in the sun reading the latest issue of The Sun magazine. I have such a great life.
On Sunday morning, I headed into San Francisco, parked in the Castro and took Muni by myself for the first time. It was clean and uncrowded, and enjoyable ride. I arrived at my destination early, so had time to read my book State of Wonder by Anne Patchett and work on my knitting. I was there because I was volunteering for a Bay Area Ridge Trail fundraiser. I was the sweep for a 5 mile hike that went from West Portal Muni up and over Twin Peaks and wound around ending at Castro Muni. I met some wonderful folks on the hike including a dog named Joan Jett and a nine-year-old named Thelonious. There was a young researcher from Italy, a woman from Estonia and folks from all over the Bay Area. Bob Siegel, the originator of the Crosstown Trail, led the hike dispensing all kinds of interesting historical information as we walked. I challenged myself to hike up both of the hills at Twin Peaks so I got a good workout on a beautiful day.
After the hike, I went on a date at the deYoung Museum. We had a lovely afternoon looking at and discussing art and getting to know each other better. She’s got a lot going on in the next couple of weeks and then I’m going to be out of town for all of March, so not sure when or if we’ll see each other next, but it was a fun, enjoyable afternoon.
I continued my string of lovely days on Monday. First I stopped at the county civic center building to check out an art exhibit on aging. I loved that the art was made by people of all ages and was interspersed with information about ageism’s impact.
Next I met up with my friend Wendy and her husband in Saint Helena. Wendy and I have been friends for over 20 years since she taught two of my kids in elementary school. We’ve caught up via text and phone over the last few years, but haven’t seen each other in person since I visited her in Park City in 2022. We had a fabulous day going for a hike at Bothe-Napa State Park, then back to their hotel for snacks around the fire pit before going wine tasting at J. Later we played bocce – I haven’t played bocce in probably 15 years, and we had so much fun! We ended the day with dinner at Farmstead. I was impressed with the portion sizes at Farmstead, it definitely country sized! It was wonderful spending time with both of them, catching up with each other, discussing kids, politics, aging and life in general. I need to make plans to get out there and visit them soon. Plus, I would love to explore the area around Park City some more.
Since I knew we had rain in the forecast on Tuesday morning, I got up early to hike the Laurel Trail up to the ridge for sunrise. I didn’t see much of a sunrise, though the lighting around the clouds was spectacular, a fantastic way to start the day.
Wednesday’s trip was with my mom and one of my sisters to visit my mom‘s best friend who’s in a care home in Lafayette. It was so touching to see the two of them together, Ann-Annie as we call her is still hanging on which is just amazing considering every time we see her she seems to have shrunk more and more. Her eyes lit up when she saw mom and they had a good chat with each other, both cracking jokes. It’s so heartwarming to see a long time friendship like theirs.
