June 12: San Francisco

Dear Friends and Relatives,

Sylvia beaming in the evening of Wednesday, June 12.  It has been very warm today, but this afternoon the wind increased and became cooler as a fog bank started rolling across the hills.  The mellow light of evening is setting in, and Maureen and I are listening to some smooth jazz and enjoying what I call the shank of the evening, my favorite part of summer eves.  We bought a small watermelon today, but without the thumping ability of my father could only guess at its goodness.  In time this evening its possible merit will be revealed and we will eat it with gusto as we watch the next episode of the Roosevelt documentary by the inimitable Ken Burns.  

We got off to a good start with breakfast this morning, enjoying a fruit bowl (peaches, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, bananas, mangos), topped with yogurt; English muffins and coffee.  After that we were on our way to Filoli house and gardens south of San Francisco, near Woodside (friend and former Norway hikers Peggie and Don Macleod live there) and Redwood City, off I-280, a very peaceful stretch of highway with little to break the gorgeous views of rolling hills and valleys.  We had visited Filoli before, but since then there have been some garden renovations and the construction of a Visitor Center.  We had always wondered where the name Filoli had originated, but found out it came from a quote by its first owner, William Bourn, in 1912:  “Fight for a just cause, Love your fellow man, Live a good life.”  We watched a film on Filoli at the Visitor Center before approaching the gardens.  As we had seen the house and its 17th and 18th century English and Irish antiques last time we were there, we concentrated instead on the extensive formal gardens spanning 20 acres and installed between 1917 and 1929.  The formal garden is reminiscent of 17th century English Renaissance style gardens.  The surrounding grounds are 18th century Georgian in order to compliment the house.  There is a beautiful Sunken Garden to the left of the house, a Garden House, a swimming pool and Pool Pavilion; a tennis court, Woodland Garden, Dutch Garden, Walled Garden, Rose Garden, Daffodil Field, Yew Allee, Fruit Garden, Ivy Garden, Panel Garden, Cutting Garden, and a Knot Garden, and each complimented the other seamlessly and effortlessly.  

After about two hours of walking, we went back to the Visitor Center to see a beautiful exhibit by Sara Friedlander called “American Women: Birds of im/Migration.”  Inspired by her grandmother’s immigration journey, Santa Cruz-based artist Friedlander has created visual narratives to honor the courageous women who left their homeland and families to establish a new life in America.  By using visual storytelling to represent a universal tale, she has created a narrative based on what she learned from photos and what she saw in the eyes of each of these women.  Fascinating exhibit, and please have a look at a few of my photos of her exhibit on Facebook.  

After viewing the exhibit, we were off to the cafe, where we split a Waldorf salad wrap and for dessert, a lemon souffle.  In the late-afternoon light we then stopped off at the following places to put together our meal for the evening:  Dean’s Produce, where we picked up corn, tomatoes, bananas, watermelon, yellow squash, and strawberries; and Safeway, where we selected chocolate almond milk and chia seed crackers.  On our way home we noticed the fog rolling in over the hills, and we knew we were witnessing a beginning to the cooldown which is indeed happening as I write you.  We have just finished what Maureen calls her “summer supper,” which she fondly remembers from her youth in NY—corn on the cob, sauteed summer squash, sliced tomatoes and avocado with vinaigrette.  I have had this summer supper before, and feel very privileged that she would oblige me every time I visit her with this nostalgic meal.  

We are about to sit down and enjoy the watermelon feast, and that will complete the summer supper menu.  Ken Burns’s “Roosevelt” series next.  Bye for now—S!