SF: New things

I was worried about our trip to SF for winter break this year, because it was during this same trip last year that we got Dad’s diagnosis, and this would be the first time we stay anywhere other than Dad's house. But I'm so glad we stuck to our plan, because it’s been a great week. We enjoy traveling together. 



And there are all kinds of new things to enjoy. Staying with Jes and Deena is fun; we cook and laugh and go for walks and play games.



They live in a terrific neighborhood in a completely different part of the city – a sunny part of the city, for one thing. Here we are climbing to the top of Bernal Heights, an excellent walk with an unbeatable view at the top.

Living with Jes and Deena helps me experience this visit as the beginning of a new era, rather than brooding on loss and absence. We have found all kinds of interesting things to do that we’ve never done before. For example, in Sausalito, there is a working hydraulic scale model of the San Francisco Bay, which up until a few years ago was used for research. It’s enormous!



We went to a terrific Judaica store in Berkeley and chose Jordan’s bar mitzvah tallit. It is a present from Jes and Deena, and Jes cried in a wonderfully grandparent way when he tried it on.

And we attended the Sound of Music Sing-Along at the Castro Theater, which was a total blast. We sang our guts out, waved the little white flowers and other items in the goody bag at appropriate moments, and laughed hysterically at the well-placed audience comments. What a great time.

I'm looking forward to continuing this travel tradition.