Dazzled with glittery splendidness, I headed to 19th Avenue to start the trip home. As I sped through the retro tunnel on Park Presidio, I tried (and failed) to remember the last time I had approached the Golden Gate Bridge this way. It was fun to take a different route, though it was sad to […]

View from the Legion of Honor, January 28 With my trunk full of pizza, I headed west, young lady. West to the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, to give it its proper (long) name. It’s one of my favorite places in San Francisco, perched in a beautiful setting overlooking the Marin headlands (and […]

When I first moved to San Francisco many years ago, I found an apartment in Russian Hill (not coincidentally, the same ‘hood featured in my beloved Tales of the City series). It was in a pre-1906 Quake building, and on the top floor, reached by a spiral staircase. When I think about the clawfoot tub, […]

By the time I escaped from the conference, the skies had cleared. Sun! I didn’t even mind taking public transit for the second time that day, even though it’s now $2 each way. Still not as much of a fan as John Waters apparently is (who knew?). I got off the bus a few stops […]

Last night, I was sure that my dreams of the city would be washed away in the rain that pounded away at my roof as I prepared for a possible power outage and anxiously scanned the National Weather Service advisories. When I went to bed, the power was still on, and the rain had stopped. […]

Yesterday, Megan, Rob and I braved the wind and rain to attend the Fourth Sunday Breakfast at the Caspar Community Center. We met up with Lu, still limping from her recent ankle injury at work (she’s an EMT), and her boyfriend Rick. Despite the pain, Lu couldn’t resist the book sale across the hall from […]

Yesterday, we had a break from the week of storms. I almost didn’t recognize my old friend the sun when she peeped shyly from the spectacular clouds. I went over to Megan’s and said, “Quick! Before it rains again!” We bundled Miss Schatzi into the car and took off for Mendocino. Needless to say, the […]

Exhibit A Thursday night is my turn to make dinner. Megan finishes her three, 12 hour night shifts on Thursday morning, so she’s too tired to dream up or whip up dinner. I have to say I’m really glad to take that small burden from her. I usually start thinking about what to make on […]

Just as Megan left for work last night, another thunderstorm started. I’ve lost track by now, but I think that makes around 9,000 of them over the past week. I’ve endured more thunderstorms here in the past few days than I ever did in all the years that I lived in the Bay Area. It’s […]

Good morning! Silence. I woke up at 5:30 yesterday morning. Not because of the Audrometer, who was adorably cuddled up to her big sister June, but because of the silence. And darkness. Yes, the depths of the country are pitch-black at night, and almost oppressively silent, but I still sport my Marilyn Monroe sleep mask […]

It wasn’t the Audrometer that woke me up this morning, though at first I thought it was. It turned out to be rain pounding on the roof. Audrey was innocently asleep on my pillows. It’s still so dark that I have the light on. I hate having lights on during the daytime. It looks so…sordid, […]

Lately, I’ve been feeling like the house is ganging up on me, with things that either don’t work, or sort of work. Can a gas stove actually gaslight you? Things that sort of work in my house: The porch light. It won’t stay on unless you jam a piece of paper in beside the switch. […]

Well, my new year’s resolutions, like so many people’s, didn’t last long. This morning, I tripped over June, who was milling around under my sleepy feet as I came downstairs. This is June’s way of reminding me that she’s ready for breakfast, even if it’s an hour or more before the appointed hour of 9:00, […]

The Audrometer failed to go off this morning. It was confusing to wake up in daylight, at the civilized hour of 8:30, without the usual 4:30 wake-up call. June followed me downstairs, and Henry Etta was peacefully ensconced in her nest on the couch (until I put up the heat and she abandoned the couch […]

The other day, I went to unite my compost with my sister’s, and discovered that there’s no room at the inn. Hmm. It seems that two’s company, and three’s a crowd when it comes to compost, too. So I’ll have to come up with an alternative arrangement. Like either getting old or dying (incredibly, our […]

There was a thunderstorm last night. I hate thunderstorms. Fortunately, we don’t get them very often, and when we do, they don’t have the verve and ferocity of East Coast storms. I still remember the storms we had during the summers in Maine when I was a kid: lightning smashing a tree in half right […]

Whoever set the Audrometer to go off at 4:30 – enough already! This seems to be her favorite time to get up in the morning, even though it’s pitch black out and makes me really crabby. Now I don’t even bother to put on my glasses. I just lurch out of bed, open the door, […]

In the night garden On Friday night, Megan made her famous Chicken Makhani (Indian butter chicken) and naan (finally using the pizza stone). If you want Indian food up here, you have to make it yourself, and Megan has it down pat. I helped her as best I could, but I mostly got in the […]

There was an earthquake about half an hour ago. It lasted about half a minute, which seems like a really long time when you’re listening to the characteristic rumble and watching your house shake around you. I have to admit that I have more safety concerns in my hippie hovel than I did in my […]

Schatzi takes the air Yesterday morning started out with the sudden death of my adorable little coffee cup and skittered rapidly downhill in a landslide of work and financial problems. Note to New Year: if you don’t start getting it together pretty soon, you’re going to be in the same class as 2009, and that’s […]