Winter Hibernation

I'm really tired. Please wake me in April. Good night. Winter hibernation starts now.

Winter Sky in Inverness

I just wrote the title of today's blog - Winter Hibernation. I'll see how this write up goes and decide whether today is that day to go to sleep for a few months. 

I am in Inverness. I rode my bike out this afternoon. Kind of a hard 44 mile ride, because I rode 45 miles or so yesterday. I took it a bit slower. Beth went to visit her sister Gail this afternoon and I did not want to sit around at home waiting for her. So, I rode to Inverness. Will meet Thomas for dinner somewhere.

Got here, turned the heat up and got directly into a hot bath. Ahhh.

Drove to Fairfax to meet Thomas. Listened to a great show on the local radio station KWMR - Bakersfield and Beyond. Stopped to shop for groceries at Good Earth. My favorite hippy grocery store.

Dinner at Sorella. One of our Marin County go to restaurants. We ate here often when we lived on the ranch in Nicasio. Simple Italian cafe run by two sisters. I had not been there for five years. They bring over a wheel of parmesan when you sit down and carve out a small hunk for each person at the table. I ordered a glass or Sangiovese and waited for Thomas while I did the NYT crossword. 

We enjoyed Caesar salad and Grilled Branzino. Great food. Great service. We had so much fun reminiscing about Nashville and discussing country music. We have had an ongoing discussion, including Meyer and others for the last month or so. Here is what I said yesterday. "I want to go back in time and have this discussion including my dad". I'll just have to speak for him.

Driving home from dinner made me appreciate the country. Not a soul on the road. Two lane country roads. Cold. Quiet. Dark. What a contrast to San Francisco. 

More local radio on KWMR on the way home. You don't get local radio in the city. Very homespun. Non commercial. 

I got out of Hell Bitch and looked up at the sky. Here's what I saw.

Not ready to hibernate quite yet. I so appreciate all the things about the country. Solitude. Quiet. Stars. Local radio. Slow pace. Nature. Peace. 

A Miracle Happened Today

This was supposed to be the post where I announced Bear's winter hibernation until April. I felt like nothing was happening worthy of discussion.  And then, shit happened.

I took a nice 45 mile bike ride today with Nadav. We did the Paradise Loop from SF over the Golden Gate Bridge around the Tiburon Peninsula and back, with a stop for coffee in Tiburon. 

Saw some folks fishing from a pier in Tiburon. Catching mostly perch. This guy had the longest pole I have ever seen. It worked. I saw him catch a perch. Amusingly, it was hard for him to put the fish down on the pier because the pole was so long.

I need to get a "Real ID", whatever that is. I think it is just the Trump administration's attempt to limit the rights of undocumented immigrants [who live, contribute and participate in American society]. I can't find my social security card, which I need to get my "right to travel" card. Those without a social security number will be barred from flying after 1/1/2020. We might see an uptick in bus travel. I hope Greyhound stays in business.

I needed to go to the social security office. They are making it very hard. You cannot get a replacement SS card on line. I have seen the long lines at the SS office. I decided to make an appointment. NO! you cannot make an appointment on line; you have to call them. I found the phone number and everything was going great. I got thru their phone tree. I would get the next available operator! [In one hour and 14 minutes.] I don't think so.

It was about 3 P.M. How long can the wait be? I'll walk to the SS office on Kearny Street, near Chinatown. Worst case scenario - I'll sit there until 5 p.m.

Here's the miracle: I get to the SS Office. It looks closed. A COMPLETELY EMPTY waiting room. Nope, they are open. They make me get a number. The very second I have the number, a clerk waves me to her window. Five minutes later, request approved - they'll mail me a new SS card. What are the odds of going to the SS office and NOT waiting a second? A miracle.

On the walk home, I remembered that Beth asked me to find the SF Examiner because Meyer had the cover story today. Hard to find a newspaper these days. 

I finally find a bank of newspaper boxes that has something in it. As I try to find the Examiner, a houseless dude grabs every single issue of the Examiner. He neatly removed the insert from each one and packed them up to travel. Examiner hoarding! I could only speculate why he wanted them. Most likely, he stuffed them in his clothes to stay warm.

I found some.

So proud of Meyer. He is doing an internship at the Examiner. Here are his articles from the paper today: Yuet Lee; Miss Chinatown.

Winter hibernation is just around the corner for this sleepy bear.

Bachelor Weekend

Sunday/Monday. Life without Beth who was in LA.

I discovered a song that I can't stop listening to: 

Everybody Knows by the Jayhawks. My latest earworm.

Sunday, I got up late. I didn't get home til after one a.m the night before. I had an easy morning in Inverness, reading, taking a hot bath to stay warm and working on my jigsaw puzzle. Before I knew it, it was time to go watch the playoff game.

Thomas graciously got me invited to Adrian Gordon's to watch the 49er game. I like football but do not follow it regularly. I have too many hobbies and other interests. I would much rather be out on the water than home watching sports. Plus, the 49ers have been so bad for the last five years or so. I used to be a serious fan in the 80's. I remember going to 49er games in 1981, with my dad. He bought a bunch of tickets the first year they went to the super bowl. Tickets were easy to get that year. Not afterward.

Adrian put out a good spread. The Niners delivered. Great time with Thomas, Pete(r), Adrian and Keith. On to the super bowl.

I wanted to see my mom and Mike for dinner in Berkeley after the game. Mom was sick. I met Mike and Alana for Japanese at Kamado. 

I know I look a lot like Mike. I am the one with the giant white sake cup. They offered us a choice of cups. One was ginormous. I decided to go big - live large.

Back home to SF last night. Meyer slept over. He went to meet with Jeff Brand for breakfast today. I speculate that he is considering law school and wanted to discuss with Jeff. Meyer likes to keep his cards close to his vest. 

I picked up the Sunday NYT again. [Full disclosure - my neighbor moved out and the paper still shows up every Sunday.]

I spent all morning reading the paper in my pajamas, listening to music. Everybody Knows on a loop; and some classical music.

I went to a competitive spin class over the lunch hour. Sparsely attended. No one to compete with. Still fun and good exercise. 

I came home and read the NYT some more. Tired of that, I got out my book, Moving On by Larry McMurtry and laid down on the couch to read. Next thing I knew I was asleep. I got up just in time to go to the airport to pick up Beth

There was a book review in the NYT. A personal finance book. This made me laugh out loud: "Money can’t buy you happiness, but it is still better to cry in a Bentley than on a bus".

Until next time.

Barry's Ride

Sorry for the delay. I did not get home last night til after 1 a.m. This covers a couple of days.

Friday I dropped Beth at the airport. She flew to Los Angeles tovisit Bill and Peg and Cooper. Meyer is writing an article for the SF Examiner about Yuet Lee, a well known Chinese restaurant at Stockton and Broadway. They fed him well. He and I finished off the leftovers. Meyer spent the night. 

Saturday morning I Got up early and drove to Inverness. After I passed big rock, on Lucas Valley Road, the temperature hit 37°. It’s really winter.

I put snowflake in sport mode. It’s fun to push her once in a while on  windy country roads with no 

traffic.  I don’t get to do it with Beth in the car.

I made it to Inverness in just over an hour including a stop at the bovine bakery for coffee 

and a fancy scone (so big I couldn’t finish it) and a stop to take a picture by Tomales Bay.

Beautiful clear cold day. 44° in the house at Inverness. Work to do!. 

I’m going to do my usual bike ride from Inverness. Longer than I have ridden in a while. Out to Tomales where I get a second bakery stop.  

I am so comfy sitting in front of the fire with a cup of coffee and my scone. 

Very tempting not to ride on this cold cold day. However, I am determined.

I warmed my socks over the stove. Dressed for winter cycling. Go Bear go! (Yes – I am loving life).

49°. Heading out. I don’t like to ride alone. I am bringing you, the reader along with me on this ride.

Easy start - flat five miles to Pt. Reyes Station. Feeling strong. Feeling good. We take Mesa Road to Highway One. North on Highway One. Lots of rolling hills, along the shore of Tomales Bay, toward Marshall. Singing melodies in my head. I see a hawk on a power line. I decide to keep track of the birds I see. I start singing “I’m a bird watcher” in my head (to the tune of “I’m a girl watcher”). I’ll keep an eye out. Still feeling very strong. I see lots of cormorants on rocks, piers, etc. I have heard there is a herring spawn going on in Tomales Bay. They heard too.

Mile 19 - town of Tomales. Slight hill into town. On the left I see two cute little white lambs with their mamas. We have earned a treat at the Tomales Bakery. I walk in and it  looks different. New fancy counters. Remodel in progress. 

Worse - new management. No longer called the Tomales Bakery. I commiserate with some fellow cyclists outside, (eating my olive tapenade and asiago twist).

Onward. East on the Petaluma-Marshall Road for about five miles. A little headwind. We can handle it. Just pedal and breathe. Right (Southeast) on Chileno Valley Road at mile 27. 

Beautiful bucolic verdant valley for about ten miles. Annoying headwind!

Mile 37, right (South) on Wilson Hill Road. The temp is up to 54 degrees but it feels cold and a bit cloudy. I'm wet from sweat, even my gloves. Big bad hill coming right up. Brace yourself. Eat an energy goo pack with caffeine. Get on the hill. Pretty steep. About 10% grade, average, with lots of 12%. Keep pedaling and breathing. Made it up. Fast short downhill to the Petaluma-Marshall Road heading West. Tailwind!! My favorite five mile stretch. Flat road, fast cadence (90-100 RPM), speed about 17 MPH. 

Mile 44 - one of the most well known climbs in Marin - The Marshall Wall. Motor up it. Longer than Wilson Hill but it has a short flat stretch 2/3 of the way up. First 2/3 about 10% grade;  A bit easier the last third. We make it up easy. This is a view of Inverness from the top of the Marshall Wall.

This is a view of Tomales Point, the mouth of Tomales Bay and Bodega Bay from top of Marshall Wall.

Heading west from the summit is a fast roller coaster of a downhill to Highway One (30 MPH+) right near the Hog Island Oyster Company.

Mile 50 - left (South) on Highway One. OK - were getting a bit tired. Back to the rollers between Marshall and Pt. Reyes Station. A hard slog. Feeling the miles. The last little climb by the winery is hard but a sense of relief at the end. I see my third hawk! Right on Mesa Road into Pt. Reyes Station at mile 60. Close to home.

Last four miles. Flat road. Feeling good again. 17-18 MPH. High cadence. 

Mile 64 - home. Average Speed 14.5 MPH.

Tally: 3 hawks; ducks; canadian geese; turkey vultures; cormorant; quail; three deer;

Road kill: three skunks; one deer; one raccoon.

Time for a hot bath, a little pasta with a red sauce and off to Roberts for  "Boys Night In" with Robert and Thomas.

Robert served us blanco tequila and a nice vegan meal of "beef" tacos, "chicken" nuggets and steamed veggies with chia pudding for dessert. 

Robert provided Thomas with information about dating sites and strategies. Thomas also got well needed advice about bachelor pads and man caves.

We watched "Get Shorty" in Robert's new home theater. I should have taken a photo. Very elaborate. The movie didn't end til after midnight. Long drive back to Inverness. I enjoyed the weekend here. 

Going to Adrian and Lynn's in Mill Valley with Thomas to watch the 49er's playoff game today.  

Uneventful Days

Relatively uneventful couple of days. This is going to be boring. OK to stop reading now. I warned you. Only Phyllis is required to read further.

Good spin classes with an instructor, Isabel, new to me. Lots of out of the saddle work. Good exercise.

Started the horrid task of getting all my tax documents in order.

Visited my mom and Mike Wednesday. Getting out of the city, it took 20 minutes to go 3 blocks at 1:30 pm. Traffic in SF is getting worse. I told my mom that I want to interview her about her parents and all the family history she can remember. When she reads this, it will remind her to start thinking about it. OK to take some notes... 

I would like to include all that in this blog.

I have been listening to Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass lately. I did not appreciate them until recently. 

Thursday (today). Beth and I meditated again for 15 minute this morning. It put me to sleep. I napped for an hour afterward. 

Started planning our April trip to New York. We have an apartment rented. Booked a flight today. Starting to think about plays, etc.

Beth's sister Carol came by in the afternoon. They shopped at Union Square while I took care of some errands. 

Beth went for a massage. I stayed home and drank tea with Carol. We listened to country music, discussing Social Security and Prada  shoes.

Beth Carol and I listened to some more music. We had a few drinks and appetizers.

Then, off to Tadich for dinner with Fergus.

Blue Heron

Nice start to the day. Meditation with Beth. 15 minutes of doing nothing. It went very fast. I can feel my heartbeat and the blood flowing thru my body when I meditate. Very relaxing.

I took a 40 mile bike with Nadav. SF to Larkspur and back. We stopped for coffee and pastry at Rulli.

On the way I saw this Blue Heron at Chrissy Field. She was kind enough to pose for me in front of the Golden Gate Bridge.

We took a detour up Hawk Hill

I got home from the ride and Beth and I rushed out of the house to go to UCSF to be with Thomas. He had just gotten off the vampire machine. He had a two hour break to see if they had harvested enough stem cells.

Just as we got on Muni, he called and told me not to come because they got enough cells. Beth and I decided to stay on Muni and go to the De Young Museum in Golden Gate Park and have dinner on 9th Avenue.

We viewed the Soul of a Nation Exhibit. 

It was okay. Did not blow my socks off. For African American stuff, I liked the exhibits at the Museum of the African Diaspora (on Mission) much better.

There was an art piece made of barbed wire and chain. You get the picture and meaning. It reminded me of an assignment in College that I never finished. On an archaeological dig, we found some old barbed wire. I was supposed to do some research and try to figure out how old it was. Never did it. Maybe admitting it now will help me not to feel guilty about it. 

It was not just that one assignment. I feel like had a history/pattern of not finishing what I started; or not doing what I was supposed to have done. I can't think of any more examples right now. The point is I remember feeling very badly about myself about these kind of things. Then, we would move or I would go to a new school or the year of school would end. I just moved on. I escaped. But I had that guilty feeling of not having finished what I was supposed to have done.

To a much lesser extent, I had similar feelings as a workers compensation attorney. It was a high volume practice. There was so much to do no one could possibly get it all done. I used to joke that every day I tried to put ten pounds of potatoes into a five pound sack. I have no regrets about my work as a workers compensation attorney. Despite this, I did a good job for all my clients. The overwhelming nature of the work was difficult and led to many sleepless nights.

Guess what? I finished my career. On my last day of work, I had finally caught up. What a good feeling!!!!!

Sorry for the long digression. I had a couple of notes and could not stop writing.

We left the Museum and passed the Japanese Tea Garden

I have such good childhood memories from the JTG. I remember sitting at the little cafe with Lynn and my mom, drinking tea and eating sweet cookies that had a little almond on top. Happy times. 

We walked around the park for a while. Then, back to 9th Avenue to my favorite Japanese restaurant in SF: Ebisu.

Great sushi and sake. I had to end with uni (sea urchin), the sushi lovers sushi. The highlight of the meal was the fried wild flounder. The whole fish deep fried and served in a bath of ponzuish sauce. Bill and Peg, I thought of you. If you are reading this, get ready. Next time you are here we are having FWF at Ebisu.

I blogged before about being Jewish and being a bit worried these days. Anti semitism is on the rise. There was a great article in the NYT today: When Being Jewish Means Being Afraid. About a man whose mother grew up in Iraq. She witnessed the slow persecution of all the Jews there. From being pillars of society to practical extinction. It could never happen in America right? I am sure they thought that in Iraq.

Everything's Working

Hard to know where to start today. One of those days. I'll just start at the beginning. 

I accompanied Thomas to day one of his week of medical procedures. He is undergoing stem cell harvesting. I got up and did an early 6:15 a.m. spin class. Then off to Corte Madera to pick him up. 

Awesome morning. Clear, crisp, cloudless. No pix because I was driving.

Thomas had hot steel cut oatmeal ready with Oatly oat milk. 

Has anyone else notice how Oatly has taken off like wildfire? I can understand why - it tastes delicious. Over the last few weeks, when I tried to buy it at several stores, the shelves were empty. Don't even get me started about their non ice cream strawberry whatever it is. This company is on to something. Beth is even considering giving up cows milk.

Busy medical day. UCSF Parnassus at 10 a.m. UCSF Mt. Zion at 3; UCSF Parnassus at 4 p.m. We'd have to squeeze in lunch.

Simple blood tests, etc in the morning at Parnassus. Nothing scary or painful (yet). Thomas has some very important analgesic cream called EMLA. So important that he wrote a song about how he would never forget EMLA. He forgot it this morning. 

Walking out of UCSF, I went to throw away my paper mask. Trash or compost? Thomas said, if in doubt, throw it in the trash because they have to take everything. A worker at UCSF, Janelle, overheard us. She added that they have to take everything, except dead bodies. Grim thought. We hustled over to Tadich Grill for lunch. 

Quick cuppa at Andytown on the way. The benefit of talking loud in public - Thomas was talking about our trip to Nashville. Crystal and Brady, tourists from Nashville, came over to chat.

To Tadich. You already know it is my favorite restaurant in SF.   Tadich opened 1849. 1849 is such a significant year for SF. I can't think of another place so closely associated with a date or event (the gold rush). I'll ask Ferg. He'll know one. I'll let you know.

We shared a Tadich appetizer plate and both had grilled petrale sole. Great waiter: Mati from Morocco.

Off to UCSF Mt. Zion. Big procedure. A surgeon inserted a port in his neck. 

They need to use the port tomorrow when they hook him up to the vampire machine that takes blood out, separates out the stem cells and puts it back in his body. I left him alone for that procedure. I walked up Divisadero and browsed a bit at Bi-rite Market. We finally got out of there close to 5 p.m. 

Back to UCSF Parnassus. Thomas had to have a big bad ugly shot of a drug that stimulated his stem cells to leave his bones so they could be harvested. Side effect: diarrhea. He'll be connected to the vampire machine for five and a half hours tomorrow. He has to take enough immodium that he does not shit the bed. I drove him home to Marin with one bathroom stop. TMI? yes.

I woke up in the middle of the night last night and made some notes. I was thinking about worries. Not that I was overly worried about anything. I wrote down, "it's all in your mind". When you think about it, all our worries are just creations in our own mind. If that makes sense, maybe we can look at worries that way and worry less?

I also wrote down my thoughts about how my mind works. I see patterns in things. It helps me solve puzzles. It helped me at work. I was able to solve problems in cases and put all the pieces of a case together to tell a compelling story.

OK, so I probably have you all worried about Thomas. It is not all in your mind this time. Before we left UCSF at the end of the day, the nurse took a history from him in preparation for the stem cell harvest to come. They discussed his treatment. He said, "everything's working".

Naches

I am finally well. I had a bad head cold since Wednesday. I did little more than lie on the couch watching TV for the last three days. Lots of Nat Geo stuff on Disney Plus.

Peg sent me some great pics of her and her new dog Cooper. Naches.

I was able to get back in the spin studio today. I was going to take it easy. I have a hard time doing that. I gave it my best effort. I survived. 

I took a walk this afternoon, intending to go to the hardware store and maybe the SF Museum of Modern art. I walked thru Salesforce Park.

The weather was cold and cloudy. I needed to get a bolt to fix my bike's back fender. I was unable to get it from the manufacturer. I would have to go to the hardware store and improvise.

It worked out fantastically. I got a wing nut and a washer to fix the problem for $1.50.

It was getting late so I skipped the museum. Instead, I went to Trader Joes and bought some groceries I don't usually get: canned sardines, canned herring, chocolate bars with hazelnuts.

Walking back thru Salesforce Park, the sun came out. 

Still listening to Muscle Shoals. I made my own Spotify playlist of my favorite 25 songs. 

I have also been listening to Jaime Wyatt. Country singer from LA. I recommend Wasco, Wishing Well and Misery and Gin.

Beth went out to dinner with our ex-sister in law Denise.

Left to my own devices, I had a horrible dinner. Sardines, herring and chocolate. Not such a good combo in my tummy. Time for some alka seltzer. 

Big travel plans for 2020. I deferred the Camino until this September. Beth and I rented an apartment in Manhattan for the month of April. After that, we'll spend three weeks in May in Portugal and Spain. Excited.