EXPERIMENTS

Winter. We notice winter in California because of the darkness in the morning, the rainstorms we hope for, and temperatures hovering between 30 and 50. Not the tough weather that happens in other parts of the country. We still feel the sense of winter, wanting to curl up by a fire with a good book, and having hearty meals to warm our bodies. I'm reading The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate right now. Her writing is powerful and lyrical. The first sentence of the novel drew me in.

Besides reading, I'm back to my watercolor class. I immediately noticed that my lack of daily practice over the holidays showed up on the page. I tried painting a scene of the north side of Mt. Diablo, a mountain peak in the East Bay. I almost put the painting in my cut-up and repurpose file, but I persevered to see if I could improve it. I find that art and cooking have similar trial-and-error episodes.

A couple of days ago, I tried a new recipe, a pasta dish without meat, but with caramelized onions and mushrooms as its base added to broth and penne pasta. It sounded good. When I put in the ingredients in the amount specified by the recipe, my mind nudged me that there was too much broth. Those little nudges I get occasionally that tell me "watch out, stop, go back, think again" are important to me, but something I ignore too often. That nudge was right. Too much broth left the meal pretty bland.

I didn't want to waste all the food I had prepared so I thought of ways to change the recipe. I remembered a Mostaccioli recipe, another pasta dish similar to lasagna. I poured off most of the broth and stirred in sauteed crumbled hamburger and my homemade tomato sauce into the mushroom and onions. In another bowl, I combined ricotta with an egg, parmesan cheese, oregano, salt and pepper. I placed half of the pasta and meat sauce in a greased pan and topped the mixture with the ricotta cheese, to which I added another layer of pasta, meat sauce, and ricotta. I topped it all with mozzarella, covered the dish with foil, and baked it for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees. I removed the foil and baked it for another 5 to 10 minutes until the sauce bubbled on the edges. I ran it under the broiler to brown the top a little.

When I served this refreshed dish, Bill and I took our first bites and smiled at each other. All those flavors added up to a hearty winter meal. This pasta dish will help us get through a chilly winter. Now, if I can do the same with my recent watercolor painting by adding a variety of values and shapes, I might end up with a painting I'm pleased with.

Unfinished watercolor with possibilities for improvement

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Ann B. Miller, a San Francisco artist, teacher, and calligrapher, wrote a recent post about mistakes titled The Order of the Black Chrysanthemum. Good read!

Ann B. Miller and Getting Inky post:

https://substack.com/home/post/p-154404892 

FULL OF WORDS

 Do you make resolutions in January, pick a word of the year, or list aspirations? I've noticed that writers of blogs and personal essays find a word that resonates with them to use as a theme throughout the year. Like resolutions, these ideas often fade away as life presents other interesting ideas. I don't usually make resolutions or pick a theme word, but this year the word, time, keeps cropping up for me. This past year has been one of recognizing how short time can be. Our moves around the Bay Area have heightened the number of projects we have to do. We think, "It was just the first of January and suddenly it's a week later or a month later or...." We look around at what we have to do and remind ourselves one thing at a time.

 Like a year about ten years ago, several people I knew passed away. They had been people from my childhood or early adulthood but we hadn't stayed connected throughout our lives. Their deaths surprised me and left me with a sorrowful feeling. Though we knew each other briefly early in our lives, their passing means I have no way now to learn from them or to say goodbye.

Other words have popped up this year. I am curious about the difference between hope and optimism. Several writers offered essays favoring one over the other. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines hope as "to cherish a desire with the expectation of fulfillment; to want something to happen or be true." Optimism is defined as "an inclination to put the most favorable construction upon actions and events or to anticipate the best possible outcome." A slight, but important, difference between the two.

Of the two words, I favor optimism because to me it implies an understanding of past events and with the knowledge gained, to look to the future with a willingness to weather challenges that will always come our way. I look back to fictional characters who I admired: Jane Eyre, Mary Poppins, Anne of Green Gables, and others who exhibited the traits that I value and hope I have acquired. The last couple of weeks I've often thought of former President Jimmy Carter, who showed us that optimism and hope go hand in hand. His work to build better lives for people, to end diseases that threaten us, and his work for peace reminds us that with his positive attitude and self-confidence, he could accomplish much in the time he had.

ALIVE AND HEALTHY

One page from a daily sketchbook

One year I wrote one sentence in a gratitude journal each day. At first, the ideas came easily. I tried to concentrate on small things: a cup of coffee handed to me by my husband Bill, the cat poking my face to wake me up, the joy of meeting a friend for a walk. After a while, I had to dig deeper to find something different that impacted my day. At the end of the year, I read through my statements and surprised myself by feeling better about the world I lived in.

Gratitude, sometimes an overworked word at this time of year, came slowly during that year. Writing down my thoughts helped me realize what mattered. This year, I didn't find the time to write in a gratitude book, but one human endeavor kept popping into my head. I turned to gratitude and found science. Two discoveries made a difference in my lifetime: antibiotics against infections and the development of vaccines. 

I was told that as a toddler, I had mumps. If you've ever held a baby with an earache, you must wonder how awful mumps, which can last for days, would be at that age. Luckily, I don't remember being sick except that I continued to have painful earaches throughout my childhood. The triple vaccine for whooping cough, diphtheria, and tetanus was already available and with the herd immunity essential for vaccines, I was never exposed to any of these. During my childhood, I had chicken pox and suffered through high fever and painfully itchy skin. I contracted rubella and measles from a friend as a teenager. With measles, I spent two weeks in bed with red rashes all over my body including down my throat. I had a hard time swallowing any food, but I was lucky not to develop deafness nor blindness nor some of the worst secondary conditions that can result from a case of measles. It wasn't until a few years later that vaccines were introduced to prevent those childhood diseases.

In the first year of elementary school, we all lined up to receive the new polio vaccines. We were well aware of the consequences of that disease. We had all seen photos of the rows of iron lungs, breathing for the people inside them, but we also had a personal experience. A friend contracted polio before the vaccines were available. She continued to walk with the assistance of crutches and braces on her legs. Her life was changed forever by polio. 

My dad was the only person I knew who didn't have the round scar on his arm from the smallpox vaccine. I was told that he had had smallpox and survived. Because of the smallpox vaccine, smallpox has been eradicated around the world.

In our turbulent world, there is much pain, suffering, joy, and pleasure. We now have vaccines for flu, pneumonia, RSV, and COVID. We can be a healthier world because of the work of scientists. Today, I want to thank scientists for developing these life-saving preventions that continue to significantly improve our lives. What a difference they have made. 

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Check out this article in VOX about the importance of herd immunity:

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/386215/trump-rfk-jr-vaccines-health-measles-chart

If you are a nurse and agree about the importance of vaccines, you can support the Nurses for America petition here:

https://nursesforamerica.net 

View from my window December 2024

FOG DREAMS

Sights in San Francisco:
Mural outside a Duboce Triangle cafe in San Francisco

The mournful blare of a foghorn woke me at 2 A.M. recently. I listened for each deep resonating boom and imagined I could see the ship moving under the two bridges on the Bay towards the Pacific Ocean. The sound grew fainter with each blast until suddenly a deep silence filled the space of the horn. Now that I was awake I thought of other times when I woke up at 1 A.M. to find our street peaceful, unusual for a city street. No car noises, no street cars, no garbage trucks, no people talking late into the night. By two o'clock, the city is stirring. The ship, releasing its anchor and sounding its horn, became the first indicator of a new day. An airplane takes off every day at that same hour. I thought of all the people already busy with their day as I pulled the covers closer.

  

On a street in San Francisco

The ship seemed to disappear when distance silenced its horn. The ship had passed under both bridges, then avoided the Potato Patch just beyond the Golden Gate. The Potato Patch is a spot where the waves churn in a rolling, rocking motion because of the shallowness of the area. (This is the only time I've felt seasick while sailing.) The name may have come from the potatoes found floating in the ocean after potato boats capsized in the Patch back when sailing ships were the norm.

Duboce Triangle mural

Hearing the foghorn disappear into the fog reminded me of a writer friend, who has spent the last eight years sailing between continents. She, her husband, a small crew, and their cat are returning from the Mediterranean across the Atlantic to the Caribbean where they will catch a plane home to California. She has posted videos on Facebook each day of their journey. Watching them, I recall the first European explorers who set out to cross oceans, not knowing what to expect to find, looking at nothing but water across the far horizon, waves slapping against the sides of their boat, no thought of rescue. Luckily for Gemeaux and her crew, the days have been sunny, they have a store of fresh produce and catches from the sea for provisions, and they can chart their progress on digital instruments.

As I thought about these images, sleep came back. My day won't start for several hours. I am glad we live on a quiet street in the City.

You can follow Sheira's journey back home here:

https://gemeaux.us 

Rest in Peace, President Carter. A good man to a great man of kindness and vision for a better tomorrow.

GIFTS

 

Before the Christmas holidays, my sister and I spent much of the time making decorations for our family's home. We cut out snowflakes to decorate the front windows. We sprayed sycamore seedpods with gold and folded paper into intricate balls to hang on the tree.

I still feel the nudge each winter holiday season to make decorations. In the past, I've created holiday cards using bits of wrapping paper and card stock to make simple trees.

This year is a little different. I gave away most of our Christmas decorations which were perfect for a big family home but would not fit into our city apartment. When we sorted out our belongings at the moving company, we gave the decorations and other goods to one of the crew whose church helps provide for families in need. His offer to take our unneeded stuff was a gift to us.

We kept a small artificial tree that I decorated with ornaments that we received from students, family, and friends. The tree sat on our kitchen counter for many years and will be our Christmas tree from now on. Each ornament tells a story of someone's special connection with our family. It is packed with ornaments and has no room for another, so I've had to look for other ways to express my holiday creativity.

Inspired by a Suzie Beringer class using a circle as a design device, I've continued to make designs inside circles. Cutting paper into circles is always a challenge even with the help of circle cutters and punches. I discovered that Hahnemuhle, a German paper company, offers a box of circles made from their 140 lb cold press watercolor paper. The paper is contained within a round metal box with a lovely illustration on the top. The 5-inch paper is just the right size to fit inside a 5-inch by 7-inch envelope.

Once I decided to use the paper for holiday cards, I needed to find the center of the circles. I set aside one piece to be my guide for all of the other circles.

Here's an easy way to find the center of a circle:

I lightly drew three lines across the circle. Each line needed to be easily divisible by two so that I could find the middle of each line quickly. I marked the middle of each line. With a 90-degree triangle ruler, I drew a light line from the center of each line across the paper. The three lines intersect at the center of the paper.

Once I had the center, I could use a compass to draw light lines around the circle for lettering. I've decorated each card with a different design. The first was a simple one with just the leaves of a fir tree. I've continued to make more complicated ones, but now I'm ready to return to quick and simple.

Hahnemuhle watercolor paper in circles:   https://www.fineartstore.com/p-17047-hahnemuhle-expressions-watercolor-round-paper-tin-set.aspx

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On a rainy afternoon recently, we visited the Amy Sherald exhibit at San Francisco's MOMA and felt awed by the stunning portraits she has painted and the volume of work she has produced. Most of the paintings were hung at a lower level than normal so that the eyes of the people in the portraits look directly at the viewer. Staring at them, I felt like I was connected to their souls. Sherald's portrait of Michele Obama covered most of the wall in a separate room and towered over us.

The museum was filled with people wandering through this exhibit, around the sculptures by Kara E-Walker and the interactive rooms by Yayoi Kusama. We stopped for a treat at Steps Cafe before we boarded the T line to go home. Through the streetcar's windows, we watched as numerous Santas flocked the streets on their way to SantaCon at Union Square. Seeing so many people wandering downtown and through the museum was heartening. Another step in our city's renewal.

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"Know what you stand for and what you think is good." Carole Cadwalladr

SMALL MOMENTS

Our Christmas letter didn't develop this year. Instead, we sent a postcard with a selfie taken at San Francisco's City Hall where we went to pay our property taxes. On the other side of the card was our new address. That's all, no note about events, accomplishments, dead animals, or new cars that populate so many annual letters, including ours. Our life this year has been so full of moves (5), the resulting decisions needed, and many explorations of new places we are surprised that we are still speaking to each other. A busy time indeed. When we asked ourselves what we did last Christmas, we couldn't remember. We must have had dinner with Theo and Rose, our son and his long-time girlfriend. We must have met friends for a holiday get-together. We must have gone to holiday events, but they are all gone from our memories like snowflakes that pile into mounds of snow ready for someone to lie down and with sweeping arms and legs make a snow angel of them.

Our trip to City Hall was memorable, not just because of our tax payment. Under the rotunda at City Hall with its broad staircase leading to the second floor, we watched as a line of brides and grooms waited their turn to walk up the steps to the next floor. They would stop midway to take photos and continue up the stairs to the chamber where their marriage became official. What a treat for us to watch the couples, dressed in beautiful gowns and good suits accompanied by friends and family, a day full of promise for them. To celebrate the joy we felt as we watched the parade and remembered our own wedding, we placed our camera on the ground and snapped a selfie with the ornate ceiling as our backdrop. A day in a busy year to remember.

MAGIC MOMENTS

Puzzle box by Martha Slavin

Sometimes life comes with a bit of magic, or at least with a sense of humor. This past month with national news and being busy unpacking, rearranging, and waiting for deliveries to our new place, I needed to find some magic around me.

Each morning I take a photo of the view from our window. I capture the creek and the skyscrapers across the way. Looking down to the park below, I can watch a group perform Tai Chi. I hear the tinkling Chinese music as the group slowly moves through the prescribed motions. Usually, their movement is slow and constrained. Today I glanced down and to my surprise, disorder reined. With his back to the group as usual, the leader waved a wand with a red pompom on the end of a string instead of his sword. The pompom swayed faster through the movements than usual. Three others followed his lead. Behind them, a young woman bounced around with her own rhythm, following the movements but with a touch of rock and roll. Another woman with a stroller danced with her side facing the group at her own speed. I wondered what happened this morning that created such change? Were they looking for a little magic too?

An artist friend and I exchange postcards occasionally. Christine sent me her latest card, composed of 30 drawings of the fantastical art at Burning Man, the annual event held every year at Black Rock Desert. I've never been to the event because of the heat and the blowing sand. She drew 30 3-dimensional constructions she found there including an old VW bus painted in wild psychedelic colors and a dragon slinking through the sand. She showed me some of the magic of the place.

Burning Man postcard by Christine Brooks

Just before Thanksgiving, Bill and I went to Berkeley Bowl, a grocery store founded by the Yasuda family in 1977 as a place to find organic and natural products. Bill and I are on the opposite ends of the extrovert/introvert scale. He loves being in crowds and I like quiet. If he spends too much time in our apartment, he gets antsy and needs to go out for some sunshine and crowds. When I go to a grocery store during the holidays, I become an extrovert. I love being among the bustling shoppers. Almost always, I found the people more friendly and full of good cheer. I know that they, like me, are thinking of the good times ahead as they pick fresh produce, stand in line at the butcher counter, or select a special cheese for an appetizer. We are often more courteous with each other as we navigate around the aisles.

Bill has the opposite reaction in grocery stores and can hardly wait to leave, which reminded me of our shopping together in Paris markets. The customers were not always as courteous as those holiday shoppers and often bumped their carts against Bill as we stood in line at the checkout counter. The holidays changed their attitude and brought out smiles and well-wishes all around. A little magic we all need at the end of the year.

Window View for November by Martha Slavin