June 28: San Francisco

Dear Friends and Relatives,

Sylvia beaming in with a new set of reports on Chapter 2 of the Summer 2016 travels.  Between Chapter 1 and 2 lay a week of  washing laundry, bringing laundry to the cleaner, cutting down about 1550 photos to about 1020, and dealing with bills.  But now all those necessary evils have been dealt with, and all my new photos are, for the first time, on flash drive instead of CDs.  They will eventually be on Facebook as well, and I will announce when that has been completed.

Meanwhile, the Shuttle came awfully early this morning, arriving at 4:45 a.m., and by 6:00 I was at the airport.  Several passengers were on the shuttle, and they were  4 women, all going somewhere exciting--one off to Alaska--and each enthusiastic and bubbling over with good humor.  I sat in front with the driver and for the most part kept my own counsel.  At the airport I gave up my large piece of luggage, then strolled through the requisite security by TSA Pre-Check, which slightly hastens the process of getting through the investigation segment preceding any flight.  My gate was near, and the flight was taking off from my favorite terminal, D.  Additionally, I had priority access (why I am not sure), so was able to be among the first to board, even though I was in Row 21.  This time I was seated between two passengers, both men, and relatively cinched in for the 3+ hour flight.  I was able to continue reading Ken Follett's "Fall of Giants," a book I have not been able to put down since I started it when I returned from Europe.  

We arrived at about 9:01 a.m. in San Francisco, to a temperature of about 60 degrees, and with great cloud banks rolling in from the bay.  Good to be back in this city again, and to see Maureen again after a year's hiatus.  We arrived at her apartment in about 15 minutes, and she promptly fixed us a great breakfast of homemade blueberry muffins, lychees, blackberries, raspberries, and mangos, and great, full-bodied coffee.  After that I hung up or stowed all my belongings, and then Maureen and I left for an iconic San Francisco store called Dandelion, where we spent a delightful two hours, as they have both a first and a second floor of the most eclectic and delightful objects--wonderful pottery, table runners, candles, soaps, stuffed animals, books, stationery, Christmas creche items, tea supplies, jams and spreads, leather goods--all of very fine quality.  And then all of a sudden I spotted a wonderful silk scarf, in a beautiful yellow with light blue and red stripes--but far apart and not detracting from that perfect yellow.  Before I knew it, Maureen took it away from me and had them wrap it up for me in a brown box with a green bow.  She also inserted a card, and presented all of it to me as an early birthday present.  How kind!  And what a great gift it is!  I shall cherish it.  

From the store, our next stop was a delightful cafe and restaurant called Just For You Cafe, where we both had burgers, and we split an order of fries also. Then we drove back home and did some reading and talking, and Maureen went out once more to get some cheeses for tomorrow's picnic on the way to Santa Cruz.  When she returned we had dinner, which consisted of chicken tenders and a salad of farro, spiced garbanzo beans, chopped tomatoes, and chopped cucumbers in a tahini-based dressing. Right now we are listening to music (Bryn Terfel singing Broadway tunes; Frank Sinatra crooning, and Bruch's "Scottish Fantasy.") The sun is setting, and the fog is rolling in.  It is quite cool, and a jacket, socks, and a blanket feel good tonight.  A satisfying day all around, and one of ease.  Thanks, Maureen!  As ever, Sylvia

Sylvia M. Venable, PhD

Instructor, German

St. John's Episcopal School

Dallas, Texas