Reflections on a joyful weekend

Brandon and Shanan and I [and Goose and Desie] had a very excellent day Saturday [September 4th].

Here is a list of some of what happened to make for much wonderment and joy:

1. Brandon and Shanan and Goose came over to Berkeley from San Francisco at around 10:30.
2. Desie liked meeting Brandon and seeing Shanan and Goose again.
3. She and Goose played together in the yard! This kind of dog joy--running around and trying to pin each other down--is quite quite wonderful to behold. B and S and I just watched and smiled and remarked about how happy G and D are together. [Shanan and I were especially happy that Goose played with Desie because he did not like to play with Isidore that much.]
4. Then we had coffee in my beautiful kitchen. I was so so happy to have the three [five] of us together.
5. Brandon and Shanan left for the Cal vs. UcDavis game at about 11:30.
6. Goose whimpered and whimpered when Shanan left. He loves Shanan and there was no consoling him.
7. [Just so you know, I went to the game with my friend Liz. I sat with her until the 4th quarter and then joined B and S and B's good friend Ray on the 50 yard line.]
8. After the game [Cal won], Brandon and Shanan and Ray and I walked home.
9. We visited on the porch for a while.
10. We were very relaxed. Just spending time together.
11. Brandon and Shanan and I had dinner catered by Le Mediterranee. I made a salad for us as well.
12. Then we just sat around. Just spending time together.
13. Brandon and I sat in the little room and watched a bit of football on TV after Shanan and Goose left.
14. And then it was time for bed.

I took Brandon to the airport early Sunday morning [September 5th]. We had a nice nice talk in the car. [Rides to and from the airport are always good.] And a long good bye hug when it was time to part.

Lots of wonderment and joy for us.

Later in the afternoon, Shanan and I and Goose and Desie took a walk at the Presidio in S.F. and viewed the Presidio Habitats Exhibit: A Site-Based Art Exhibition Celebrating Presidio Nature and Wildlife. We followed the map that we got at the very wonderful Exhibition Pavilion [made from three cargo crates] and were able to find [and contemplate] each of the outdoor installations. The "Patience" exhibit, the first we encountered and my favorite, was made up of ten yellow chairs [of different sizes] spread out [with a particular focus and relationship to the site] on the Parade Grounds. Each chair offered an opportunity to enjoy a new perspective/way of seeing the former army buildings that surrounded the green [they were identical] and the distant park images. Just so you know, at the end of the walk, Goose and Desie [her first time off leash!] romped and romped on the trail. Much much joy for all of us.

A pretty wonderful exhibit of habitats and art combined--many of them filled with concern [ecologically speaking] and whimsy [joy in the nature/natural setting of the park].

Solitary chair on parade green with building in the background

That evening, Shanan and I had dinner at ZUNI Cafe. We enjoyed [very very much so] the roasted chicken for two [chicken roasted in the brick oven and warm bread salad with red mustard greens, scallions, currants, and pine nuts], four especially chosen oysters for Shanan, and a very perfectly beautiful to behold fruit and creme dessert [I can't remember its name] for the both of us. A lovely lovely dinner and conversation. For my birthday. Even more wonderment and joy.

Zuni Cafe

From the Presidio Habitat catalog:

EACH OF THE TEN SOLITARY CHAIRS located in and around the Fort Scott Parade Ground has a specific focus and relationship to the site through the height of its seat, orientation, placement, and proximity to the other chairs. An observer who sits in a chair experiences the phenomenon that informed its placement: an acute awareness of the topography and world under the grasses; the relationship of the sky to the light reflecting off the parade ground; and an unexpected view of the landscape. In this way, the chair and its occupant become part of the secret theater of the site, quietly borrowing the heron’s techniques of still hunting and still viewing. [Jensen Architects]