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

INTERTWINING FRIENDSHIPS

House in Noe Valley by Christy Myers

The Painted Ladies that grace Steiner Street in San Francisco tell part of the story of the City. They are beautifully maintained and are famous around the world. Since living in San Francisco, we continue to find neighborhoods filled with many more Victorians. They are common in areas frequented by tourists and locals. They are found on Webster Street near Japan Town, on Fell and Oak near Golden Gate Park, and flourish on Bush and Sutter Streets heading away from downtown.

Like so many other larger cities, San Francisco is divided into districts, such as China Basin, Richmond, North Beach, and the Presidio. In some of these districts, the Victorians have disappeared, replaced by modern skyscrapers or transformed with plain concrete edifices. We are exploring other districts that are not on familiar tourist lists. We had dinner at L'Ardoise on Noe Street in the Dubose area and at Pacific Catch on the edge of the Sunset District. I met a friend for lunch at a cafe in Bernal Heights. Last weekend, we ventured with Christy and Ken, long-time friends, to Noe Valley to the south of the Mission District. With Ken as our driver, we went through the neighborhood, and discovered that none of us, including Christy, a native San Franciscan, had ever been in Noe Valley.

We met the Myers a long time ago before our son was born. Their son was our son's first baby sitter. We have shared many adventures. Christy has a touch of magic with children, setting a bowl of whipped cream in front of my son at the end of a meal, singing old camp songs in the car, or building sandcastles together at the beach. Christy is also an artist and interior designer. When the two of us visit museums in the City with another good friend, she can point to houses in Sea Cliff and in the Panhandle that she decorated. Her family's history in San Francisco goes back to her great-grandparents who came to the City as immigrants. Her grandfather built houses in various districts after the 1906 earthquake and fire. For a couple of years, our son may have lived in one of his houses on Lyon Street. These are Christy's stories to tell and make our trips more fun in the process.

by Martha Slavin

We were delighted by the streets in Noe Valley and Ken stopped to let us out of the car to quickly photograph Victorian after Victorian. We marveled how painters had emphasized the ornate decorations on the exteriors and the stained glass windows that brightened the interiors. At the end of our day, Christy suggested a Victorian Challenge for us to either draw or paint what we had seen on our adventure through Noe Valley. Within a few short days, we came up with differing views of a quiet part of San Francisco.

 

Two Friends by Bill Slavin (his answer to the Victorian Challenge)

FULL MOON KING TIDES

 

    This week the moon rose above the East Bay hills, large as a balloon, shining brightly against the sky. The Earth reacted with King Tides; tides that run extremely low to extremely high. Good surfing time, surfers flock to the Mavericks near Half Moon Bay to dare the power of the water.

Someone once said it's important to take risks throughout your life and continue learning. I haven't tried surfing, but we are taking a risk by downsizing, moving from the suburbs to a city, changing the patterns of our lives, and meeting new people.

We drove through Danville last weekend. Our trip was a reminder of the area's vibrant autumn leaves that we hadn't seen in San Francisco. Instead, we see the moon rising at the horizon, the tides along Mission Creek, and the seabirds that react to the flow of water.

We thought of all the places we have stayed in the last year and a half from extended-stay hotels, a beach house, VRBOs, and two apartments in the same complex. Now we are gradually moving to our condo a few blocks away. We look forward to our permanent move but we don't expect to be living there till after the holidays.

We took the first delivery of our stored goods, which included the furniture that would fit in a smaller space and the essentials for everyday living. Boxes spread across the floor full of clothing, kitchen equipment, house management files not on the computer, and bedding, all that had been packed away for a year and a half waiting for our next move. Finally, I had my cutting boards (both for the kitchen and my art space, which is no longer an art room, but good enough), good knives, egg slicer, and pencil sharpener. I unwrapped the bowls I used to hold rice and vegetables. I looked at the baking sheets and pans and wondered if I would ever make cookies or cupcakes again. We unearthed the espresso machine and looked around for a place to put it. I had hoped to use a cabinet with shelves for cups but it is too narrow and we could see the whole thing being flipped over onto the floor with one accidental bump.

We still have more boxes to come: my art supplies other than the basics I have had with me, Bill's office accouterments, and our books. Still, as we started the unpacking process, unwrapping each precious object from three sheets of blank newsprint paper, I was reminded of a year in my childhood, when I stole into my parents' bedroom at Christmas, peeked under the bed, and discovered all the contents of my presents. When we unwrapped our gifts on Christmas Eve, I was disappointed to find nothing else for me under the tree. I never looked for gifts ahead of time again. I felt that same sense of disappointment as I unwrapped each item from the boxes. Each time we took a bundle, we would peel off the sheet only to discover a familiar object - one glass of a large set, one plate, one cup with many more to come. All that paper grew into high stacks in our living room. 

Unwrapping each bundle, I started a stack of items to give away. I asked myself questions. Do we need eight of these or will four do fine? Or do we need them at all? Would we have parties in our new place? Probably not. Our life has changed again. We enjoy small get-togethers with one or two couples instead, usually at a restaurant nearby.

If you have ever packed up to move, you know that before you move you go through your old place and discard and donate anything you know you will no longer need. When you arrive at your new destination, especially after a long time, and open the first boxes, you have the same feeling as when you pull out the drawer everyone seems to have filled with the detritus of life. In the same way, I looked into our boxes with astonishment/bewilderment as to why these things came with us. Even though we had eliminated a lot from our previous home, we still had too much stuff for a life that we had simplified, no longer needing all those old possessions.

From our new place, we won't see the creek and the seabirds that live by it. Instead, we will have sunsets and a broad view of the cityscape. We look down at the Japanese maples at the front of the building, which still haven't turned from green to their autumn glory. Huge sycamore leaves drop onto the sidewalk until the wind picks them up and throws them into the air. As we walked out of our building, we watched as a young boy stood in amazement at the antics of the leaves and couldn't help but smile at his wonderment.

WINTER'S BOOKS

Since I can feel the chill in the air that leads to late fall and the beginnings of winter, I think of hearty soups, a cozy blanket, and historical fiction that allows me to imagine experiences that transcend time and place. A novel may show me a different culture, a different lifestyle, or patterns of behavior. Some of them show our slow progress to be better human beings and others remind me that we still have a lot of work to do to leave this world a better place than we found it.

Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See

See has written several books about women in China at different periods of history. In her latest book, she writes about Lady Tan, who lived during the 16th century and practiced medicine, an unusual occupation for an upper-class woman. The book opens up the sheltered world of upper-class women in China, who remained in patriarchal bondage and whose fortunes were determined by their husbands and family. The women were not able to leave the grounds of their family home, were subjected to foot binding to attract a suitable husband, and were never allowed to have a career other than as a mother.

See describes the painful process of foot binding in great detail, which begins when a girl is a toddler. The foot becomes shaped like an arrow with toes pulled under, bones broken, and infection a constant problem. As a reader, you question why this practice of foot binding lasted for over a thousand years. But then, we can look at our own choices of wearing 6-inch high heels with pointed toes, undergoing plastic surgery, and using weight-loss pills to acquire the elusive beauty we imagine we want.

Amy Chui's first novel, The Golden Gate, is set during WWII at the Claremont Hotel in Berkeley. A suspenseful detective story patterned after noir classics, the narrative revolves around the assassination of a presidential candidate staying at the hotel and the three beautiful sisters who may be involved. As I read the book, I could visualize the fedoras on men's heads, the pearls dripping off the shoulders of the women, and secrets hidden behind heavy hotel doors.

The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride is my favorite this year. The story revolves around families in a small Black and Jewish community and the grocery store that sustains them. The story is full of great characters such as Moshe and his wife Chona, who own the store, and Nate who works for them. The community comes together to defend itself against the stronger White group trying to displace the community to take over their land for development. The book touches on an important part of our history about White flight, the displacement of low-income communities for urban renewal, and our lack of reparations to those communities. In San Francisco in the 1960s and 1970s, the lively Fillmore District became an example of that saga. (Read On the Rooftop by Marian Wilkerson Sexton, set in the district in that era.)

Two other good books, Alibi by Joseph Kanon and All the Broken Places by John Boyne, are set in the aftermath of WWII. I have often wondered how a defeated nation recovers from war and how the people involved retrieve a place in a healthy society. These two books provide a window into that experience.

Don't miss So Many Ways to Be a Bird

A friend of mine, Constance Anderson, who is a writer and illustrator, has just published a children's book just in time for holiday gifting. It's a delight, filled with painted and collaged illustrations of birds.

 

TODAY AND TOMORROW

 The sun did come up on Wednesday the day I wrote this post. 

 Today.

Today I was going to publish a post about good reads for Winter.

That will have to wait for another day.

Today I continue to feel stunned by the election results.

Today I looked back to what I wrote in November 2016 when I felt shocked by that election news:

"I watched as my watercolor teacher painted a derelict shack. She said, "This is hard." Something she always says when she paints. I said back to her, "Especially today. I couldn't sleep last night." My friend next to me nodded in agreement, and then the rest of the members of the class chimed in with the same news. Some were full of hope, most of us felt shocked. I thought in our tiredness how we all let our vulnerability show. We came together whichever side we put ourselves on, and offered tentative healing words. One man in his 80s, said, "I've seen worse."

Today I realize that as an artist and a writer, I can continue to write and make art of the small things in life. I can write about sailing a boat as a beginner, about animals that have wandered across my path, about being a vagabond for a year, and how moving to a city has changed my life. I can continue to write about people I consider dear friends, family, and colleagues.

Tomorrow I am going to continue to support libraries and reproductive freedom and preserving the natural world.

Today I can make some good soup and pick up a book and a blanket and immerse myself in a story in the shelter of our apartment.

Today I can read the newsletters that give me hope.

Rebecca Solnit: https://x.com/RebeccaSolnit/status/1854179269003637000

KE Garland:  https://kwoted.wordpress.com/2024/11/06/the-day-trump-was-re-elected/

Pics and Posts:  https://iamchandralynn.com/2024/11/06/grieve-survive-resist-love/

Literally Letty:  https://golfoklahoma.org/literally-letty-the-golf-gypsy-will-rogers-and-clint-eastwood/

Americans of Conscience:  https://americansofconscience.com/11-08-2024/#goodnews

Reasons To Be Cheerful:  https://mailchi.mp/reasonstobecheerful.world/the-indian-state-that-went-100-organic-5372315?e=d492e63da7

And I will ask myself the question that Reasons To Be Cheerful asked of its readers:

What will you continue to do to make this a better world?