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.