San Francisco, Day Four: Sunday, November 13, 2016

Sunday morning, and the fog rolled in as we met the day and made our way to Grace Cathedral on Nob Hill. This beautiful Episcopal cathedral is famed for a number of features, among these its stained glass windows, its large pair of doors called "Ghiberti doors" which are, according to Wikipedia, "reproductions of the doors of the Florence Baptistery by Lorenzo Ghiberti," and for two labyrinths. One of these labyrinths is laid out in the courtyard while the other is inside, and they are "based on the famous medieval labyrinth of Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Chartres." The online encyclopedia also claims that "it is said that if a visitor walks the pattern of the labyrinth it will bring them to a meditative state." I can certainly attest to feeling more grounded and having a strong sense of clarity after walking both of the labyrinths. Our thoughts were also on Kieran, my cousin's 19-year-old son who died the week before our trip, and on his grieving family back home. We lit two candles in his memory while in the peaceful space of the cathedral.

 

For Kieran.

We walked downhill to Union Square in order to eat at Sears Fine Food, where lengthy lines of people wait to enjoy their famous breakfast. While we did get to stand in the Sears line-up, it was but a brief experience and we were fortunate to get a table quickly and tuck into some great food before continuing on with our explorations of San Francisco for the day.

Our MUNI passes served us well on this day, as we traveled via public transit out to Golden Gate Park and the surrounding areas. As seemed to be the pattern of the days, the fog had long since lifted, and the gardens and lawns of the park were drenched in sunshine, blue skies once again our canopy. We spent most of our time in the beautiful Japanese Tea Garden, where we did, of course, enjoy cups of tea - sencha for me, jasmine for Mom - at the Tea House nestled in the centre of the Garden.

Next, we were on a mission to find a very special set of stairs: the 16th Avenue Tiled Steps. As per the website for the project, "The 16th Avenue Tiled Steps project has been a neighbourhood effort to create a beautiful mosaic running up the risers of the 163 steps located at 16th and Moraga in San Francisco." (http://www.tiledsteps.org/) The result is, indeed, gorgeous, and well worth the trek up the numerous hilly streets that it took for us to find them. At the top of the steps I continued upwards a bit further to reach a lovely lookout which afforded some bird's eye views of the city.

The Haight-Ashbury district was our next destination, a short bus ride away from the area where we'd just been. The neighbourhood around Haight and Ashbury streets is known for its psychedelic history, and its role as the centre of the hippie movement of the 1960s. We had a lot of fun wandering the streets, poking into a shop or two (of course one was a bookstore!), and taking an afternoon break for tea at 'Coffee to the People', a cozy neighbourhood cafe.

Our day wound its way down as we wound our way back to our hotel, and we made it an early evening as we were off on another tour on Monday, the following day, and needed to be ready for an early start. Details of our fantastic trip to Muir Woods and wine country to come soon!

My wonders: Public transit can be a true blessing when in another city, as we experienced with the MUNI in San Francisco. I've benefited from many other great transit systems over the years, including the Metro in Paris, the London Underground, the Subway in New York City, the TTC in Toronto, and Public Transit in Sydney. Do you make use of public transit systems when on vacation, or in your own home town? How would you rank various cities' systems?

November 2016 by the Numbers

Why 'By the Numbers'? 
While I'm much more concerned with quality as opposed to quantity, sometimes it's just fun to look back and reflect on what you've done in a specific window of time. Taking a look at what you've done often might be telling . . . here's to hoping that we engage in joyous activities regularly, and perhaps we can learn something from reflecting on how we've spent some of our time, and make changes if need be accordingly. The overall hope here is to celebrate the smaller joys in life, enjoying a measure of gratitude for the everyday and commonplace, as well as the rare and extraordinary.

November 2016 by the numbers:

- Seventy bulbs planted. I'm excited to see what blooms in our gardens in the spring!

- One of my favourite author's most recent book in my hot little hands!

 - One birthday luncheon at a quaint cafe celebrated with my dear friend S. And, borrowing the bucket list item from another friend, we've committed to "be in the pictures".

 - One amazing evening at a session of the Wild Writers Literary Festival where I was able to hear and meet my long-time favourite author, Guy Gavriel Kay, (he's even more brilliant than I'd imagined!), as well as listen to a wonderful interview between him, author Rosemary Sullivan, and host Craig Norris. A fantastic event! 

 - Four of us took shelter from the blinding sunlight by deeking into a theatre to see 'Trolls', a fun and colourful movie about optimism, positivity and working together.

- Two enjoyed a morning coffee date (my first coffee beverage since returning from my retreat last month!) after a lovely date night the eve before out at 'Berlin' (how spoiled we are, and how thankful to Gramma for having our girls over!).

- Five of us shared a gorgeous Autumn day, walking through the woods and getting 'that chickadee feeling' together.

- First signs of the festive season appear on my chai latte!

- Nineteen years for which I'm so grateful Kieran, my cousin's son, was here on this Earth, making it a better place. How sad we are to have lost him this month, and how our family misses him. 

- Countless letters, notes and lists written and left with love - and of course with the need to pass along my need to organize - before heading off to San Francisco.

- Seven wonderful days shared with Mom in San Francisco and the surrounding areas!

- Two pals share a day of favourite things and places. My heart sang being in their happy presence.

- Four of us were both moved and inspired by 'Queen of Katwe'.

- Eight years of E, our amazing, joyful, spirited, kind, determined and talented mighty mite were celebrated! And it may be at 25 years of service that you get a gold watch, but apparently 8 years is when the digital sport watch is most happily and proudly received!

- One plate of egg salad sandwiches, cut into squares, with no crusts, and toothpicks, specifically requested and made with love for the birthday girl's after-school snack.

- Two fantastic swim meets for H this month, and one for E, too!! How I love to watch them swim!

- Weekly visits over tea with friends, some near, some further; some with old friends, and some with newer. Feeling so fortunate to have this time :)

- First snow of the season arrived this month.

- 500 new tree lights bought and strung, and two little elves got busy decorating our Christmas tree!

- Oodles of noodles at our fave kitschy restaurant in London, 'Spageddy Eddy's' - E's choice for birthday-dinner-out :)

- Second field trip of the school year that I've had the good fortune to attend as a parent volunteer! E and I had a fantastic day with her classmates at Crawford Lake, where we explored the Wendat village and its longhouses and learned about the native Iroquois people who lived there 600 years ago.

- Over 25 years of friendship shared with my dear friend J and we celebrated her special day with sangria.

 - Only seven more days until H and I take off for New York City!! We're celebrating our birthdays together in the city that never sleeps, excited to soak up the sights and the festive spirit that will surely be in the air.