I had a weekend that was a combination of time outdoors, walking, hiking, and volunteering, and time indoors, one day very social at the CCCBA gala and one day very antisocial, just hanging out with Winston.
On Friday morning, I took my morning walk through the Markham Nature Preserve and enjoying everything in spring bloom, especially the cherry blossoms that were hanging lusciously over in the Japanese section. Later that morning I did a hot yoga class with a friend. It was intense and I had to take a couple of breaks when I got too hot, but afterwards I felt so relaxed. I need to get back to a daily yoga practice, my body always feels better when I’m stretching it regularly. In the afternoon I got my haircut and had a wonderful time catching up with Vilda my hairdresser. That evening Winston and I watched some of the Ripley miniseries on Netflix. Even though it’s based on the same book as the 1999 movie The Talented Mr. Ripley, it has a very different feel. I do love that it was filmed all in black-and-white, definitely adds to the tension and sense of impending disaster. It’s weird to see someone other than Jude Law in the role of Dickie Greenleaf, he was just so perfect. Andrew Scott is a very chilling Tom Ripley, definitely more believable than Matt Damon was.
I was up early on Saturday as I was volunteering for the Bay Area Ridge Trail’s Ridge to Bridge event. Saturday ended up being the one day all week where it was rainy and windy, which made set up in the dark at Fort Baker at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge a very interesting experience! Luckily the Ridge Trail staff were very organized and had planned ahead. I was in charge of putting together all of the snacks for the three different waves of hikers in the morning. Having had plenty of experience in that role volunteering for different hiking and running organizations as well as for events for my kids schools, I got it set up quickly, and had time to chat with staff and other volunteers. It’s a fantastic group of people and I definitely plan to volunteer for more events in the future. The weather cycled through waves of rain and wind and then calm. When it got windy, it was really windy and everybody had to help hold down the easy up shelters, as even with sandbags to hold them down, they had a tendency to move with the big gusts. When we got the last group of hikers settled into the buses that were shuttling them to the start of their 6-mile hike, I was released from my duties so I could join them and do the hike as well!
It was fun traveling in a little yellow school bus like the one my mom used to drive when she worked for the Marin County Office of Education and the Dixie School District. We were dropped off at Tennessee Valley, I got some lunch and made my way up the trail. Luckily the rain and most of the wind had stopped at this point, and I was able to enjoy a beautiful and relatively unmuddy hike back to Fort Baker. I ran into a friend from high school that I had not seen since our last reunion back in 2016, it was good to catch up with her. While I managed to avoid any rain on my hike, my feet were tired so I was happy to get back to my car, change into dry shoes and head home.
Winston and I got out for a short walk then chilled out on the couch until it was time for me to get ready to head to the Blackhawk Museum for the CCCBA 90th anniversary Gala. There was a beautiful rainbow just outside the venue. By the time I got there, things were in full swing and I spent most of my time greeting old friends, getting lots of hugs and kisses and hearing what everybody was up to. It was so much fun to see everyone in their fancy clothes – they joked that it’s a lawyer prom. I co-presented awards to two of the longtime employees of the Bar Association. It was wonderful to get to honor them publicly. It was also fantastic to go to a wonderful event where I knew a lot of people, but I did not have to organize it! By 10:30 my tired feet were ready to go home and rest.
Winston and I spent Sunday at home for the most part, getting out for a couple of walks, but mainly taking it easy and letting my body recover from a very active day.
