Post-Christmas City Outing with Ann

The Sheraton Palace Dining Room

Don’t you just love big cities during the holidays? I know they’re crowded and chaotic, but they are so sparkling and magical, it’s worth it. There is nothing like the enchanting window scenes at Macys and the giant tree at Union Square to keep me in the spirit of the season.

Gloria told me about some really fun things she and her husband, Jack, enjoyed in the city this year; including the Fairmount Hotel lobby and the gingerbread house (people were actually eating it!), riding up California Street toward Nob Hill amidst the festive city lights of San Francisco and the waterfall of lights in the lobby of the Hyatt Hotel at the Embarcadero. I just had to see that one!

Cascade of Lights Hyatt Emarcadero

It was an easy BART ride from Oakland’s Rockridge Station to the Embarcadero and I was so excited that my fellow flaneur, Ann Cromey, was up for it. As I entered the lobby of the Hyatt Hotel, I spotted those lights and I literally gasped with delight. There are literally thousands of tiny white lights cascading down from the tall ceiling; all of it surrounding an enchanting Santa’s Village, (see the Golden Gate bridge). I have tried to capture it in a photograph for you, but alas you have to be there! Go stand under those lights and I guarantee you that your heart will soar with the awe of light. Thank you, Thomas Edison!

Santa's Village Hyatt Embarcadero - Golden Gate Bridge

The next stop was the Sheraton Palace and we were greeted by the ??? Society, (I promise I will get the name for you after asking Ann!) men and women dressed up in turn of the century, old world attire, corsets and dresses with velvet ruffles and lace, big, fancy hats with feather plumes and the gentlemen attired in smart suits and top hats, all milling around the lobby entrance to the magnificent dining room. There is such a romance to that time that transports me to another era.

  Our last stop was the tree at Union Square and dodging mad shoppers at the after-Christmas sales at Macys. We went way up to the top floor to Christmas Alley and watched the ice skaters from up high; such a different world! Note the palm trees in the distance. Christmas in California - 70 degrees and bright sunshine.  Gotta love it!

Santa’s Water Sleigh!

Christ the Light Catholic Cathedral

We could hear the Christmas music piped in loud and pure as we walked toward the Boat House at Lake Merritt. We were going on Santa’s Water Sleigh to sing Christmas carols! The night was clear and bright (and cold!) and I was bundled in my ski parka and hat from last year.

Nineteen of us filed into the water taxi hovering on the dark water, greeted by Todd’s rendition of Gilligan’s Island  . . . a three-hour tour. I couldn’t stop laughing at that one.  Clever boy!

Our fearless skipper handed out flashlights and songbooks (and life jackets for anyone who wanted them - - on Lake Merritt?  Really?!?), and away we went, launching immediately into O Christmas Tree as we began our sojourn around the lake, motoring past the lights of Oakland.

I have been around that lake so many times in every season, but can you believe that I’ve never been on the water! It gives a completely different viewpoint of our wonderful city; the Scottish Rite Temple and Christ the Light shone brightly in all their magnificence under a full moon.

We belted out all the crowd pleasers; Joy to the World, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Jingle Bell Rock, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Here we Come a Wassailing, O Come All Ye Faithful, but the hushed Silent Night, nestled back into my good husband’s arms was the peak moment of the evening for me.

God bless you Rob – I raise my glass to many more Christmases with you my love!

And God bless the good Todd and Michael for arranging this fun and festive outing – we will go every year and make it a tradition!

The Messiah

Happy Birthday to Me!

We go every year. It is one of our Christmas/Birthday traditions. We have been to many different interpretations over the years; the sing it yourself (with Leslie this year), a soulful rendition at the Paramount Theater in Oakland (not recommended) and several times to the light, lilting American Bach Soloists version. But there is nothing like the extravagant Davies Symphony Hall, especially the last couple of years, springing for sound-perfect loge seating.

Davies is truly a majestic place; its glorious expanse of space makes me feel big inside. The Christmas trees in the lobby are so festive and the towering ceiling of the performance hall makes me feel elegant and graceful. Place inspires. And when place is combined with a highly precise orchestra and choir performing perhaps the most glorious ode to Jesus Christ ever written, it transports to another dimension; a dimension where my heart touches God.

The trumpeter was flawless.

And we shall be changed.

I am changed hearing it performed with that kind of mastery. I am inspired to be all I can be; to be the whole of what God created.

And we shall be changed.

The process of life changes me at my core and brings me closer to home; to the Kingdom of God inside of me.

I hear the Amen chorus and I almost think it would be ok to die right then and there; to be lifted out of this world on that magnificent high “A”. I hope God plays the Amen chorus of The Messiah for me when it really is my time.

Thank you, good husband for such an enchanting birthday. And thank you thank you to all of you for your birthday wishes on Facebook, E-mail, texts, phone calls - - - you have all made me feel very loved. And I love you back!

The Birthday Girl, December 20th at Davies Symphony Hall

 Cirque du Soleil and a Windstorm

The twilight was enchanting in San Francisco last night, following a surreal day in the aftermath of the fierce windstorm that swept the Bay Area the night before.

I woke up to a chainsaw cutting the branches of a huge tree that had fallen on top of a house I could see from our balcony 200 feet as the crow flies. I stood out there in the early morning, watching a surefooted tree-worker walking along the slanted roof, cutting branches and throwing them off, seemingly unaware of the danger he was in, maneuvering that angled surface high above the ground. I sure hope those guys are paid well.

Later my friend, Lisa and I walked Lake Merritt, and to my horror, we came upon a gigantic fallen Eucalyptus, laying dead on its side, thick roots exposed above a huge, gaping hole. How did this being, so proud and tall for over 70 years, get completely uprooted like that? I felt unspeakably sad, standing in the small crowd, taking its picture with our cell phones. I feel kind of guilty about that, but I wanted you to see it. That wind swept a lot of life away in its destruction last night, including two unfortunate people and thousands of power lines.

I have loved that tree. I have delighted in its fresh, minty smell and its towering height over the Lake Chalet and the Campbell House. I have admired it for thirteen years of sojourns around the lake. And now it is gone.

Ok, change in emotion - -

Cirque du Soleil was truly wondrous. Thank you to Edie and Kevin’s generosity and Rob’s 50th birthday, (18 months ago!); I am so grateful I had the opportunity to see that incredible art performance in my life. I don't know if I ever would have gone had Rob not wanted to go. It is truly amazing what the human body is capable of doing and we had good enough seats to really notice the expression on their faces and how intensely they focus. It was especially interesting to watch the spotter's faces - oh my goodness, they work hard! They may look like they're just standing there, but they are intensely aware of the danger their colleagues are risking. There was one rather sudden, hard landing that I don't think went as planned - - the young man came down off of this see saw thing, plummeting from very high in the air, with a scary thud and then, something happened very quickly with the spotters to make it all ok.

I felt so much intensity the whole night - I was so nervous someone was going to get hurt. I enjoyed it, yes, but felt kind of guilty about it at the same time - here these young healthy people were going through incredibly dangerous movements, where one slip could paralyze them for the rest of their lives, just for my entertainment.

These young folks are fancy, (and hopefully, well paid) “tree-workers”, too, I’ll tell you that!

The music was perfect; raunchy rock and roll, with lots of primitive beats and edgy lead guitar; the singer’s eerie howling reflecting the danger and intensity of the performances. It was especially cool at the end when the musicians took their bows and we realized they were all women! Wild women!

Believe it or not, although the dangerous airborne acts were thrilling, I think my favorite part was this slightly overweight, sexy older woman, (most of the performers were in their early 20s and perfectly fit), who picked up these long branch-like sticks with her toes and balanced them perfectly on top of each another, while continuing to lean over ever so carefully to pick up the next one with her curled toes. It was interesting how the whole thing started; quiet, ominous music with this rather nondescript woman picking up sticks off the floor. Then, you were gradually lured in and it became more and more focused and intense, until by the end she had, I can’t even tell you how many branches, balanced on top of each other in a vast circular array all around her. The music had completely stopped and you could hear a pin drop among the 2,000 + people under that tent. Edie called it a holy moment. I am telling you, I was so completely entranced and nervous they were all going to drop, that I almost wished the silly, slapstick clowns would come back out to relieve the tension. (My least favorite part.)

Then she was finished; balancing the entire array of branches on the tip of the very last branch she picked up carefully and erected vertically by its narrow point on the ground. (I imagined the veins popping out of her aforehead with concentration.) She waited a moment while we reveled in the glory of it all; and slowly removed the smallest branch and the whole thing came crashing down. Kind of like how I imagined the grand Eucalyptus at Lake Merritt.

Walking back, over the Lefty O’Doul drawbridge, water gleaming below, reflected by the light of the perfectly shaped half moon, palm trees swaying, still downright balmy, the very air amplified by fresh ions, shadows and light, in surreal contrast to the fierce 65 mph winds of the night before; I’m telling you it was a magical, almost eerie, unforgettable evening in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Toby’s Angel

Toby went to the vet last Thursday. He had a hacking cough, his nose dripped and he snarfled while purring and eating his food. He was put on a two week round of antibiotics and told to come back for a check-up. Everything went well, thank you, God, the cough and the snarfling were both gone and he even lost a pound. (The vet suspects that weight may be the culprit of many of his troubles).

Toby and his mummy drove home, happy that he was well and even a bit thinner. Little did we know the worst was yet to come. Arriving at home, I greeted Vivian, our neighbor, in the garage as I hefted Toby in his carrier (still quite heavy) and began to transport him from the garage to the lobby.  Poor guy had already suffered a trip to the vet, interminable poking and prodding, two sets of X-rays, and a sanitary shave, and he thought he was finished with the morning’s indignities when suddenly the top of the carrier broke lose and down he went on the hard cement with a loud thud! Poor thing just sat there, stunned on his towel. But then as I went to gingerly lift him out of the bottom half of the carrier he suddenly leaped out of my arms and all 16.5 pounds of fiercely wriggling cat went streaking toward the grocery carts. Vivian grabbed the carrier and I ran to the carts in quick pursuit but he was already gone. I spotted the small opening underneath the mesh of the garage door and I panicked. He has never been outside. He would be gone forever. Our sweet Toby!

Then I heard Vivian’s voice from the voice from the lobby, “I have her, I have her in here!” (Toby is so pretty everyone thinks “he” is a “she”.)

I ran to the lobby, scooping him up, grateful that no one chose to open the front door to the lobby that very moment. Together, Vivian and I carried Toby, decapitated carrier and furry towel up the elevator and she followed me all the way to our front door. As can only be imagined he headed straight for the closet, (opened the door; Lena still marvels about that) and there he stayed for the duration of the morning. Later that evening when Rob put the carrier back together and declared it secure, Toby darted at the very sound of it, huddling nervous and anxious behind the couch. My heart went out to him as I spooned out extra wet food. Poor thing, he had a very traumatic day!

Thank you God for our good neighbor, Vivian. What would I have done without her? Would Toby be roaming the streets of Oakland, wet and scared? How we all need each other! I love living in community. How grateful I am for generous Vivian, Toby’s (and my) angel.

Relaxed Once Again!

Vacation at Home

Make Your Home Like a Hotel

crisp cotton linens, down comforters, scented soaps, breakfast in bed, snacks in the fridge, lots of pillows, plump couches, comfortable reading nooks, good light, great food, setting a lovely table 

I yearn for beauty. Beauty has such power over my emotions. Part of living on vacation at home is creating and living amidst beauty in our home. It pleases my eye and lifts my heart.

One of the special parts of vacation away is a lovely hotel room. I think it’s worth splurging and really treating yourself to the luxury of a fancy hotel. The lobby makes you feel a sense of grandeur with lots of places to just sit and relax, and the restaurant is open and inviting. (Think the Ahwahnee in Yosemite). When the porter opens the door to your room you feel a surge of surprise and delight. Why not create that atmosphere in your home? Here are some ideas . . .

First, create a sweet little nook in your home and keep everything you need close by, like you would in a hotel room; pen, paper, note cards, books, chocolate, a hot or cool drink, the TV remote, phone, lotion, clock, soft throw blanket, lots of pillows. One of the most crucial items is a carafe and a small creamer. Oh, you must have a good carafe that keeps coffee really hot! It is so luxurious to pour myself another cup of steaming coffee in the morning from my meditation nook.

Make sure that you are surrounded by books. I can see my favorites from my reading nook. It makes me happy to see all the books I have collected on Paris, mountain climbing, astrology and spiritual growth. I have collected most of my favorite novels in hard cover and I read them again and again. I love looking at their beautiful spines, grouped by my favorite authors; Edith Wharton, Henry James, Chaim Potok, Jane Austin, Michael Chabon, Wallace Stegner, Somerset Maugham, Fitzgerald. . .

Make sure you have a really comfortable place to read in your home with good light that’s easy to turn off. You wouldn’t believe all the places I’ve stayed where you have to get out of bed to turn the reading light off. Perhaps the most luxurious thing I do all day is read myself to sleep . . . just like I do on vacation in a good hotel.

Invest in heavy blinds or drapes so that you can keep your bedroom really dark. Isn’t it great to sleep in with absolutely no light or sound entering your sanctuary? Like a hotel!

Keep your fridge and pantry stocked with easy things to prepare, lots of fun nibbles and an assortment of cold drinks. Get fancy take-out on your way home from work for “room service” later with your movie.

Keep everything really white and clean; towels, bathroom rugs, the inside of the microwave.  Hire a housekeeper and keep it picked up in between. Take the time to vacuum the small rugs to keep them fluffy. Always make your bed.

Buy fresh flowers and put them in every room, even the bathroom. Flowers are inexpensive at Farmer’s Markets and Trader Joes, even Whole Foods now days. Buy a huge bunch of them and arrange them in colorful vases to match every room.

Make sure stuff works; the drains, sliding glass door screens, coffee maker, blow dryer – when you stay in a nice hotel you expect things to work beautifully, to glide; take the time to fix those little irritations at home.

Give yourself extra time in the morning to leave the house picked up and tidy just like when you come back from a long day of sight seeing to your fresh, beautifully made bed in a nice hotel with vacuumed carpets and clean towels.

Make sure you have a sumptuous bathrobe and put it on as soon as you get home from work. Every man, woman and child needs a soft, plush bathrobe. Throw away your tattered one and go out and get one right now! While you’re at it, pick up lots of comfortable, pretty loungewear. And replace your old pillows, too!

Invest in really good sheets; 100% cotton in the summer, preferably snow white, and thick flannel in the winter, (I favor LL Bean’s ticking stripe sheets). Make the bed every morning. Take the time to tuck in the sheets and pull them tight, maybe even slip a piece of chocolate under your sweetie’s pillow.

Take an afternoon nap in those clean, fresh sheets and settle in with the fancy take-out dinner you just have to pop in the microwave, arrange everything you need on your “room service” tray, put on your bathrobe for the evening and settle in with the cats and a movie.

I’d love to hear your ideas. What are your favorite parts about staying in a nice hotel? How do you make your home like a hotel?

Vacation at Home

Hidden Walks in the Bay Area

Piedmont

This book I’m balancing on my lap, Hidden Walks in the Bay Area, by Stephen Altschuler, has brought me so much joy over the years we have lived in the Bay Area. Altschuler has created several one to four mile walks in Berkeley, Oakland, Piedmont, Kensington, Albany, Mill Valley, Sausalito, San Anselmo, Fairfax and Belvedere. (Note that he leaves San Francisco to the plethora of other writers.) I think I have walked all of them in the years we’ve lived here.

I recently took myself on the Piedmont Hi-Lines walk last Thursday. I am so sorry that I forgot my new I-Phone, (a pretty aqua 5C, I may say!), so I don’t have any pictures to show you. Darn it! But listen to this great day on vacation at home!

It was just a perfect day, starting with a morning of lots of coffee and rotating the closet, bringing out the fall clothes and the boots and the browns and rusts and putting away the sandals and sundresses and sleeveless tops to the other side of the closet. (Of course it’s still over 80 degrees in the Bay Area autumn, but never mind, I like to get it done!)

Then, I packed the cooler and my bag full of books and lawn chair and headed to pretty Piedmont Park. I pulled out Hidden Walks in the Bay Area and began my sojourn through the Piedmont Hills, high above the Bay. Another reason this is so meaningful for me, is it is the first time I’ve been on one of these walks since the vertigo. It filled me with the same joy of adventure that it gave me when we first moved here seventeen years ago and I was discovering my new environment. It was like it was new again! Like I am new again! Healing and good memories flooded through my cells.

The views were staggeringly (is that a word?) gorgeous; a full panorama of the bay, including my beloved Lake Merritt, (is that the top of our condo building?), squares of green  and parks amidst stately buildings and the new Bay Bridge spiraling in the sunlight. I walked under the burnt blue sky and towering trees of this established neighborhood and skipped down hidden stairways between houses and labored up them, too (Happiness Project Resolution: take the stairs). 

I wandered along Bellevue Avenue, with its elegant homes and leaded glass windows, fountains and statues and manicured lawns, (Who lives in these homes? I heard one of them has a bowling alley!) I finished the walk on tiny Poplar Way, marked by a perfect redwood tree in the very middle of the road, (ah, how I wish I had my camera for you!) and its basketball hoop right in the middle of the street. I imagined it open to all the people living in the sweet homes surrounding it.

Then it was back to Piedmont Park, and the delicious laying out of the colorful scarf, upon which went the lawn chair, cooler, book bag and me; all settling in for a wonderful afternoon of it, two miles at most from our neighborhood. Vacation at home indeed!

Friends, this is a perfect time to get out there in the sun. The sky is blue, the colors are vibrant and the air feels so good on your skin. You can sit right in the sun without being hot. Now that is a perfect day. I bet there are similar books written about the area you live; documenting walks and libraries and museums, and pretty neighborhoods and cafes, all within a few miles of your house. I encourage you to find all of the jewels you can savor in your own home town.

My Happiness Project - Thank you, Gretchen Rubin! Part 5 – My Resolutions Chart

I’m ready to construct my Resolutions Chart! I’m excited! I’ve reread and reflected on what makes me feel good, what makes me feel bad, and what makes me feel right in an atmosphere of growth. And I’ve tried to construct a list of concrete, measureable actions and attitudes that will accomplish my resolutions and thus make me happier.

Rubin suggests that we review our resolutions often. And that we find some way to measure our progress. (I wonder if I should go get some gold stars? Create a daily chart? Hmmm. . . I’ll have to think about that one. Any ideas?)

She also suggests getting rid of a resolution if you continually break it. I like that.  Why force it too hard if it’s just not working?

I noticed that some of my resolutions could be grouped together. For example, I seem to have a real thing with time. Is there enough time? How best do I spend my time? I always want more time!

I have plenty of time for things that are important to me.

So here it is. It may not be perfect, but I can add/subtract from it as I live it.

 (I’ve italicized Rubin’s.)

My Resolutions Chart

Choose the bigger life

Resolutions on Time

·      

Start getting ready 15 minutes earlier. For everything; work in the morning, going out to dinner, getting ready for a trip; everything. (This addresses the peskiest item on my what makes me feel bad list – being in a hurry!)

·      Get in bed one half hour earlier. I get up at 5:30 am so that I have lots of unstructured morning time. This means I need to get in bed earlier. I need more sleep! (9:30 – really?)

·      Do one thing at a time.

·      Do the next right thing.

·      Enjoy the process.

·      Do it now. Especially if it will only take a minute. (Rubin’s one-minute rule).

·      Remember that a lot can get done in 15 minutes. I may not ever have that luxurious span of time before me. (Rubin finds 90-minute blocks are the best for writing).

·      Take breaks when I’m really busy. Don’t grind. Turning from one chore to another makes me feel trapped and drained.

·      Spend it out. Time and money are resources. Use the good stuff now. Buy the better quality. Replace stuff that has never quite worked. Open the new package. Use the great idea now; don’t save it for later.

·      Fix stuff. Take the time and patience to just do it.

·      Don’t always save the best for last. (read The Datebook first; go out in the sunny day, clean later!)

·      Take the extra time to make it nicer.

·      Be here now. (Thank you, Ram Dass). Appreciate the glory of the present moment. You could be snuffed out in a minute. You never know when it’s your time to go . . .

Resolutions for the Body

What you do every day matters more than what you do once in a while.

·      

Exercise at least 20 minutes every day. (Even when I’m tired. Even when it’s cold and rainy. Even when I really don’t want to.)

·      Do my 5-minute yoga stretches for my back and shoulders every day.

·      Spend at least 15 minutes outside every day, (Even when it’s cold and rainy. Can combine with the first one.)

·      Walk more, park farther away, take the stairs.

·      Wear comfortable shoes.

·      Dress warmly enough.

Resolutions on Things I Want To Do More Of

·      

Listen to more music. Put Pandora on at home. Listen to music in the car instead of ruminating.

·      Keep learning new things. Push through the resistance. The big one this year is learning the Mac. It’s just a better product.

·      Send my daily gratitude E-mail to my buddy. (I already do this one).

·      Try new groups. I have a good start with the Threshold Choir, the book group at the library and Heart and Soul Center of Light. Be fluid. Give it a fair trial but if it’s not working, try something else.

·      Do more of what I like; walking, reading, exploring, meditating and laughing.

·      Be comfortable with my preferences. Accept my likes and dislikes. You can choose what you do; you can’t choose what you like to do.

·      Try one new thing a week. New restaurant, café, route to work, hiking trail, new friend, all this counts.

·      Keep her suggested one-sentence journal. What happened today that I want to remember? When was I happiest today?

·      Keep an interest log. When something I read, see, hear, etc. engages me, write it down.

Resolutions on Reading and Writing

·      

Read even more! I love it, it is one of my very favorite parts about living, so why not do even more of it! Read at least one hour a day.

·      Reread stuff! Novels, sweet E-mails, inspirational books, Christmas cards, articles that engage me. I reread The Happiness Project cover to cover.

·      Finish psycho-spiritual/self help books that I like. I’m notorious for reading half of these kinds of books and starting another one.

·      Read more sweet books; Madeleine L’Engle, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Laura Ignalls Wilder, maybe even Nancy Drew!

·      Write for at least 15 minutes every day. This can include journaling and thoughtfully crafted E-mails.

Resolutions on How I Want to Act

·      Act the way I want to feel.  

·      Identify the problem.

·      Reframe complaints. Focus on what I do like, rather than what I don’t like. Don’t nag or gossip.

·      STOP when I start feeling, thinking or acting obsessively. Stop worrying. Think about something else. Do something else. Right then and there.

·      Let go; of my point, an argument, obsessing, picking lint off the carpet, feeling slighted.

·      Push through resistance when I know the end result will be good for me. Remember that happiness may be the fruit from something I don’t want to do.

·      Let there be some disorder, inefficiency, frustration, even chaos. Go off the path. (I’m nervous about the disruption of getting our home painted.

·    Be polite and friendly – to everyone.

Resolutions on Relationships

·      

Call my friends and family more often.

·      Be more generous; with my resources, with my heart. Let someone have a bad day. Listen more.

·      Focus on what I love about the people in my life.

·      Encourage, love, support.

·      Make new friends. Keep expanding the circle.

Thank you for your patience around my Happiness Project. I’m really excited about it. I’d love to hear if you have been inspired to make any resolutions of your own.

Signing out from the balcony on a glorious fall day at 295 Lenox