Plum Blog

A tourists afternoon... before our tourists day

Our day of museums was preceded by an afternoon spent with the seals on Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf. The sun beamed off of their felty coats and their loud yelps of talking are always fun to substitute with english speaking thoughts. Their basking is so simple and so happy. That is how they spend their days, their lives. I wondered if I could stand the same? Our lives have become so busily induced, we think lying under the sky of sun is lazy. We think quiet is boring. Our ears are stuffed with buds that have wires leading to battery powered entertainment. Keeping us from the sounds of the buses and birds and wind around us. I know how hard it is to face the thoughts that swirl and complicate and plague our minds. I recently took a yoga class. I was preparing to go in and a girl in the locker room had just finished her hour and a half class. Her subject with her classmate was how a "crazy" on match.com was stalking her, blah blah blah. Sweat was dripping from her, her body loose, her mind - complicated. My mind - judgmental. Good thing I was just heading in. Perhaps my judgement was not that at all, perhaps just observant. You see, I have been watching the patterns of the mind in these quiet days off of work. We just keep thinking about the insignificant, all the while, convincing ourselves of its importance. Who did what to me when, how I could have been better, what should I do tomorrow - next week, I am fat, I am short, I wish I had, I wish I was... The seals are fat and not so pretty, yet they possess great beauty. They don't wish to be better sun bathers. Instead, in their minds (and I am assuming here), they simply feel the sun, they eat when they are hungry, they love each other and snarl when feeling crowded to let their family and friends know to scoot. And they scoot or they don't scoot and feel solid in the decision either way. No spending the day feeling bad because they scooted too far or not enough. It is sunny today. That is what I am going to spend the day with. I suppose I am not saying anything new and maybe only reminding myself but maybe, just maybe, your sun will be a bit brighter for you today too. 

A tourists life for the lovebirds of San Francisco

Who wants to spend the day at Golden Gate Park in the museums, raise your hand! A full day of discovery is often what we human beings long for in the mundane of showers and tea and a work commute. Though I must say, those routines can be full of charm if you allow them to be, but I know all too well how repetitive bag lunch making in the mornings can be so, raised my hand I did and off to the California Academy of Sciences I ventured, holding the hand of my favorite San Franciscan. The Academy of Sciences is magnificent just at its vast entrance and pulls you right into its earthly enchantment. We started in the Aquarium to discover all kinds of sea creatures - snail eating snails, a highly venomous fish that looks like a sea rock - sluggish but deadly. Chad pet a Starfish and I stood trancelike above the flowy velvet of the sting rays' bodies. Then off to the Planetarium where they provided a very nice sky of stars and soothing narration, a perfect environment for learning about the universe, and as it turns out, for an afternoon nap. The living roof smelled of an array of plants and the cafe was filled with fresh organics (never have I seen a museum full of such kinds of lunching and snacking! Hooray, I am a Californian!). My favorite was the time spent in the Rainforest. It was warm and humid and surrounded with singing birds and geckos and frogs and gobs of butterflies. Butterflies have become so cliche in our culture but are really quite beautiful swirling around in nature (even man made replicated nature)... and in gobs! What a great creature to be a cliche. Several landed on my shoulder and clothing. I was like a laughing little girl, running with my handheld net and white country floral dress, bare feet and long hair flowing... I think it was ok to be barefoot at the museum?

We took a short sunny walk through the Music Concourse in the Park and walked through the copper doors of the DeYoung Museum, promptly heading to the top for a view of the Park and the City. I suppose it is comparable to our rooftop view (imagine my nose is quite high at this statement). Fun Fact - the DeYoung building is made of copper which means that it will oxidize into green one day. I wonder if I will still be living in SF then. We saw a Synagogue, a Mosque and a Cathedral all made from Guns and Bullets, poignant and fascinating. After our visit to the MOMA over the weekend, I found the art at the DeYoung much more appealing to my taste. 

We came home for a snack and headed back out for a chilly walk to hot yoga. We both had yoga accomplishments in our 116 degree classroom and headed down Haight Street for an after class celebratory snack stop at the market. Then, the two of us curled up on the sofa to watch dvd's of our current fav - Six Feet Under. It's a life to be enjoyed, not just because there are fun things to do but also because there is great love being shared and given and in the spirit of spirit, all is well.

Side Note: We now have a membership to both places so come and visit and you can have a day just like it, even the curling up on the sofa!

DMV

I'm confused, wait... where do I go? Where do I get a number? Does anyone have a pen? Ok... ok, I got it. I am sitting at the DMV. I have a small receipt with bright blue letters yelling B108. The screen above reads B089. Oh good, not too bad. I have meditative music to mask the automated woman announcing the next lucky number. She is relentless and diligent at her job. The numbers range through G so she is a busy woman. Two seats away from me sits a silent but not inanimate rock-er out-er... apparently his headphones are creating a different DMV experience for him than mine are for me. A worker behind the counter is lingering his eyes on mine whenever he can catch my glance. He seems nice enough but I am happily enamored elsewhere. In fact, that enamor is the very reason I am parking it at the DMV (pun definitely intended). There are two government employees thumbing through a box of chocolates trying to perk up the day with the perfect chocolaty fillings. One woman is absent minded as she administers the eye exam, probably wondering what's for lunch. Her comrades are having beef stew. There is a framed photograph of Arnold Schwarzenegger propped on a back wall filing cabinet. His hands are neatly folded in front of his professionally, gray suited self and he sits ahead of an American flag backdrop. It's funny to sit here looking at the officiality of this photo. There is something about it that is more of a parody than reality. Like he is going to tear off his gray double-breasted ensemble, with pre-set ripping seems, and reveal his shiny gold speedo and well oiled muscular physique. His governing abilities second to what is really important in California. The best part of this entire scene is that his politically coifed hair has remained perfectly in place, as has his black nylon socks made-up nd wing tips. All the while, Maria is clapping just a few feet away, a little embarrassed, but proud and supportive all the way. Just like I am of my man. Ooohp... there's my number!

iChad

It is a wonderful thing to have a loved one be so technologically advanced. If you live with one such person, those benefits trickle into your lap by default if not by knowledge. Fortunately for me, I am a quick learner and while I will not ever be able to discover the latest and greatest, I will be able to learn from my sweet love just how it all works. Currently, I am using our flat screen television that has been connected to Chad's computer (I don't know how) as the household iPod. It is much better than wearing around earplugs all day and truthfully, I tapped out my music supply during the long drive out here. Chad's iTunes finds are a welcomed media for my nesting days and as background entertainment goes,his playlists have been hilarious interludes between tape and carboard. Yesterday, I found "Mixes Made for People" where I found titles of old flames. My name was at the top of the list and I really feel like it isn't just because my gifted playlists are his most recent. Today, I just discovered an artist called "Chad Woodford." Curiosity caught me immediately and I found a podcast made by mine truly. As I have been listening (it's playing in the background even still), I am delighting that my boyfriend has me laughing out loud, toppling over my belly even. He is so quirky and bizarre and hilarious and I have been marveling at how wonderful he is. As we start this life of cohabitation, I am so happily discovering the man that I am so grateful to be sharing a life and world with. I only wish the same for all people. Someone who makes them laugh and smile and someone who inspires them. Someone who you look at and you see all the good that is within you. Thank you iChad.

The Discovery of the Ordinary-Extra

The loveliest of moments is happening for this girl, sitting in my new apartment in my new life. The window is open, the city behind me and the breeze swirling through as I sit among my boxes and curtain fabric and containers, even the chair I am sitting on is filled so I am at its tip. I am eating fresh dried mango from the corner market and my only company are the wilting plum colored flowers Chad had waiting for me for my homecoming. I've just went for my first alone run to Golden Gate Park and decided to take a different route than my live in tour guide took me on yesterday. I wanted to see if I could get a bit lost and find my way out. And I did. Too easily so tomorrow I will make a greater effort to plant myself in the middle of nowhere I've ever been. The weather is unseasonably warm and sunny as can be. It is the best welcoming I could have asked for. Yesterday, Chad and I ventured together on a run through the park. Families and tourists and people were everywhere and my favorite was a curly haired little girl with her stem of pink crystaled sugar. She was eagerly working her way to the bottom of the stem but she had a ways to go. We had a rest at a duck pond. Today, I ran through the section where the hippies lie on the lawn and I thought perhaps the contact high that would come if I would just spend several minutes may interfere with my ambitious run so I kept going. I found my way to the market and took a long quiet time to discover what my new grocery had as finds. No carob, sad... but there is some not too far from here. Tonight, I will spend time in my one finished room, the kitchen, making dinner for my love who will come home from work to my days progress. I am hoping he will be impressed. I will be impressed when a handy man comes and builds my much needed closet. I will tackle most things but this is one for a professional person with large tools. Meanwhile, boxes... oh boxes...