Aloha and the Sunset at Ocean Beach

I took a walk to the ocean at sunset on Monday--the day I learned that Eileen Gertz had died--partly to say "Aloha" to Jeri Gertz in Hawaii--from my side of the Pacific to hers. 

I wanted to see the ocean at sunset anyway, but of course it's a metaphor for death, that setting sun.  The words to the song from "Fiddler on the Roof" come to mind.

Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly fly the years
One season following another
Laden with happiness and tears

Even without metaphors (and today is the day that Eileen Gertz will be buried) I have become a sun-worshiper in a different way. Instead of lying in the sand (very cold in SF) to get my skin a darker hue, I'm just awed by the beauty of it all. In the first photo it looks as if the sun is parting the ocean--or doing a deep-sea dive.

Mission District Hard Hit

The Mission District of San Francisco has been hard-hit by the virus, according to today's SF Chronicle.  Here are two paragraphs directly from the report:

The zip code with the highest number of cases is 94110, which is located in the Mission District. Even though Latinos make up just 15 percent of the city's population, 25 percent of the city's positive coronavirus cases are among Latinos.

Additionally, Latinos make up 80 percent of coronavirus patients at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, a sharp increase from the regular 30 percent Latino hospital population.

 Now people are going to worry about the shelters and Navigation Centers infecting them.

All Baby Zoomers Have Got It--except for Me

The other Baby Zoomers who make up Chew and View were doing just fine yesterday when we had our distance meeting, thanks to Bill's initiative. But I had major technical difficulties after having had a very successful Facetime with Jonathan on Saturday. At the end of the two-hour meeting (without any of our usual delicious food and drink), they kindly tried to get me on Facetime, and this was the result.

Forest Bathing in Stern Grove, at Mountain Lake an Illustration of what Wsther Mobley Has to Say.

Yesterday I went Forest Bathing in Stern Grove and at Mountain Lake, but I didn't realize that's what I was doing until I read Esther Mobley 's piece in the Sunday Chronicle.''

One Shelf of the Pantry and I Rediscover Chipotles and Artichoke Hearts

One Shelf of the Pantry and I Rediscover Chipotles and Artichoke Hearts

Peter Pan Peanut Butter--the kind I never use--oats, chunky apple sauce, 2 bottles of Karo corn syrup, 2 cans of baby food prunes, spiced cranberries from December 217, two cans of Pizza sauce, pasta sauce, tomato sauce, tomato paste, sundried tomatoes, ginger chutney, Harissa, chipotle (5 cans) green salsa, two jars of dill relish, honey, tapenade, bottle of chimichurri, dried pimentos, red pepper spread, nuts with fruits and honey, canned mushrooms, 2 jars of Kalamata olives, dolmas, artichoke stems, vegetable broth in can, pumpkin, !-1 Tabasco sauce, Carolina gold barbecue sauce, 2 30-z cans and 2 16-oz cans of refried beans, black beans, can of sliced ripe olives.  a 17 oz and a 14-oz can of diced green olives.  Better than Bouillon vegetable base.  2 cans of jackfruit in syrup, 4 cans of artichoke hearts, 2 cans of corn, 1 can of yams, 2 packages of Noras dried red peppers, red quinoa, green lentils, couscous, farro, fruit and walnut honey. 2 packages of morel mushrooms, one can of garbanzo beans.    That's one shelf of my pantry.  Just 5 more to go! 

Safeway's Turn to Plastic

Oh, dear!  I went to Safeway before 6:00 am today (more on that in a different post), and I was disappointed to see that they've moved from paper to plastic.  That's in spite of the fact that the virus can stay on plastic for up to 3 days, about 3 times as long as on cardboard. 

It's also ironic that the bags say "re-usable" since we're not allowed to re-use them.

The Better-than-mine Letter to the Editor on John King's "City's automobiles seen in new light."

John King Seems To Disparage the Fewer Cars Model

I submitted this online at 12:37 pm. on Tuesday, April 14, 2020.  The SF Chronicle didn't use it, but they printed a better one today.

I kept my bio really short:  I'm a member of Mothers Out Front, an environmental organization.

I wanted to bring in more than just John King's article.  I wanted to praise Steve Rubenstein.

I also wanted to comment on the use of "strident" to describe the delivery of any new idea people feel threatened by.

I wish I had used disheartened rather than appalled.

This morning’s paper brought us the Bright Side (that Steve Rubenstein, the closest we have to Mark Twain, is now a regular columnist) and the dark:  John King’s confirming a great fear with his article “Cars may emerge with better image in S. F. after pandemic.”

  The bright side of this pandemic is that Earth was getting a rest, so  my heart sank when I saw that MUNI and BART were no longer considered safe and that re-usable bags were being shunned at checkout counters, but I still held hope that we could go back to the better practices we were starting when the pandemic began. 

I notice that John King used the word strident twice in describing talk and measures trying to create a more transit-friendly climate—the same word used against feminists who wanted an Equal Rights Amendment, mentioned in Jessica Zack’s  “A fierce fight over feminism” in the Datebook section. 

The letter to the editor page has a political cartoon by Tom Toles today too, with an elephant-chef announcing that the  “Assault on Climate” diner will reopen for business as usual by May. 

I’m appalled that this seems to be what John King is promoting in his article

 

Scapegoating with the World Health Organization

Trump drafted an executive order to decrease U.S. funding of international organizations by 40 percent Immediately after he took office in January 2017. I think that's a shameful act by the leader of the richest country in the world.

Now he's stopping payments to the World Health Organization.

I think the SF Chronicle is right in calling his attack on an organization that is guiding the global response "dangerous" and "disingenuous." How will the organization operate with this reduced budget? Bill Gates, whose organization is WHO's second most significant "donor," has criticized this move.

After WHO declared this "a public health emergency of international concern" at the end of January, Trump waited another six weeks before declaring a national emergency and turned down WHO's test in favor of domestic efforts that weren't sufficient. Now the USA, which has only 1/20th of the world's population, has 1/4 of the confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 1/5 of the global death toll.

(I credit the SF Chronicle as my source of plagiarism.)

Tightrope Artist in Stern Grove

My walk in Stern Grove on Tuesday, April 14 included the sighting of a tightrope artist.  I stayed within the 5-mile an hour speed limit and stayed off the rope to maintain the mandated social distancing.

Happy Easter

This year's Easter card has the bear in the window in both pictures.  It doesn't have the Easter Cornucopia, which deserves a separate post.

Did I explain why I have a bear in the window?

This past Monday I got a message from a neighbor and friend (and the director of Women's Environmental Network, Anya Deepak), asking whether I was home and had a bear I could put in the window because her son had heard that there were bears in windows and wanted to see one.  They live in the Grove just down the street from my house.  

I do have a bear because after my mother died, Kathy had four bears made from my mother's clothing, so she, Suzy, Jonathan, and I each got one.

In Mom's advanced care directive, she said that if she ever had to be put into a facility, she wanted to be outdoors as much as possible.  But when she went to Aegis, which had a beautiful garden, her Alzheimer's gave her a paranoia that made her afraid to go outside, so after her death, I put my bear in the corner of my bedroom looking out at my garden, and that's where she'd been until Anya and her little boy Bophi came by.  I left the bear there overnight, assuming it would fall off the sofa on its own, but it's been there ever since, and I think the change of scene is a good one!

An Easter Cornucopia

Doesn't he look like he's pondering this year's question? "I still haven't decided where I'm going to spend Easter--in the living room or in the dining room or maybe Puerto Backyarda?" 

This is what I call an Easter cornucopia. 

 A younger-than-I-am friend and neighbor (I'm 74, and she's only 73) said she over-shopped and left a lot of produce on my porch before ringing the doorbell and making her social-distance escape. It was such a sweet and funny gesture that I arranged her gift so it was overflowing from the bag in front of the tulips and Easter lilies. (Click on the picture or you won't see it.) 

You can see the bear in the background. 

Reviewing Jim Herlihy's Podcast San Francisco Experience

I finally found a way to review Jim Herlihy's podcast "The San Francisco Experience."

Here's what I wrote:

I'm grateful for Jim Herlihy's podcast "The San Francisco Experience" because I'd otherwise be in an uncomfortable stage of withdrawal during this pandemic.  For years at 5:00 am he has been on the treadmill on my right at the Stonestown Y, where I had the good fortune  to have two great conversationalists--Jerry on my left, and Jim on my right--a great way to begin the day.  I've always been amazed by the breadth of Jim's knowledge and interests and his incredible memory.    I was learning things from him as well as enjoying the conversations.  Now I can listen to his podcast, which is typical of him, delivered in an animated yet calm manner and covering a wide range of topics, and instead of getting my exercise from the treadmill, I can get it from taking some of those walks Jim has mentioned on his podcasts!   I just wish that Jerry had a podcast too.

Ruth Asawa Stamp to Be Issued Soon

A Ruth Asawa stamp will be issued soon according to what I read in today's SF Chronicle. 

We can order it online at www.usps.com/shopstamps  or call 800-782-6724.

The Post Office at West Portal, San Francisco

So Sad about the Nixing of Re-usable Bags

How sad for the environment!  Just when I thought one good thing about the pandemic was that Earth was getting a break, I found out that it wasn't just Safeway where the science was week.  There's now a six-county ordinance saying that we can't bring re-usable bags unless we pack them up ourselves outside the store!

I just sent the reporter an e-mail messages.

Dear Shawanika Narayan,

Thank you for your report on the 6-county ban of reusable bags, especially for pointing out that this is an unfortunate blow for the environment.  I'm glad you pointed out that the coronavirus can live on cardboard for up to 24 hours and up to three days on plastic but that its thoght to be passed mainly by respiratory droplets between people in close proximity.

Do you know how long it can live on canvas bags like the reusable kind?  

I'm worried that this ban is going to send a message that will last after the pandemic is over, and people will think that there's something dangerous about reusable bags.

Thank you!

Tina Martin

https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Six-Bay-Area-counties-ban-use-of-reusable-bags-at-15182959.php#

51 of MUNI's 68 Bus Lines Will Shut Down

I feel so sorry for people who are in the "essential" work and need a way to get there other than driving.  (I'm thinking of them and of the environment.)

In today's SF Chronicle it was reported that 51 of MUNI's 68 bus liens will close "as riders, operators stay home."

"Hello humankindness," said the bus I saw on my walk to Grandview Park a few days ago.

San Francisco Homeless to Be Sheltered in the Palace of Fine Arts

The Palace of Fine Arts will begin serving as a homeless shelter as early as at the end of this week, March 10, with 20-25 to come in and planning for a total of 162.

It was on Friday, April 2 that Governor Newsom of California said the state would use its thousands of hotel rooms to shelter people living on the streets.

The California homeless population numbers 150,000.   FEMA has helped California identify 15,000 hotel or motel rooms.

Because public libraries have closed, homeless people can't go there for clean water or to use the bathroom.

Moscone Center is being used to house the people in single room occupancies because they don't have their own bathroom or kitchen.

The Red Car through the Atrium and the Living Room

When I see the red car on 20th Avenue across the park from where I live, I think of "The Red Wheelbarrow" by William Carlos Williams.

so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens

I don't think he was talking about practical things--the way we use a wheelbarrow (when it's not parked beside those white chickens)--but about the beauty of it, glazed with rain water, beside white chickens.

When I look through my kitchen window I first see the plants in my atrium, which include 2 red poinsettias still going strong more than three months after Christmas, and then through the glass of the living room window, I can see the row of housing facing mine, and parked in front of one of the houses is a red car.  It's been there for several years now, and I love it.

A Sing-along that Mutes the Singers

I believe in CARA, California Alliance for Retired Americans, but I can't believe that they mute us for the sing-along!

The first one was on Friday at noon on March 27, when 186 people from all around California and even Canada tuned in to participate and found out that there was a lapse between the lead singer and the rest of us, so 186 of us had to be muted!

Because so many showed up virtually on March 27 (before being muted), CARA leaders decided to have this sing-along every Friday at noon for the month of April.

On April 3, thirty-five people showed up.

Notice the title Sing-A-Long Lyrics   That sounds like incorrect number agreement--a long lyrics?
But we know what they meant.

The lyrics are rousing ones like these to the tune of "God Bless America."

"We love our Medicare! Don't privatize!"  and "God bless pedestirans!  Drivers take care."

A Walk Along the Ocean

A Walk to Queen Wilhelmina's Tulip Garden