walking

The best part of my weekend was Saturday simply in walking through the city. The sky was blue, the air was warm and I was not stuck behind a desk simply to look at it. I walked, breathed in the ocean air, heard the sounds of traffic, pedestrians on cell phones, smells & energy of Chinatown, the bustling craze of shoppers around Union Square, the attempts of a gallery monitor trying to sell me some high priced art. I walked, up and over one of SF's glorious hills, I came home ready to rest, until a friend called who wanted to walk some more. Up stairs, down stairs, into hidden residential alleys, taking in views, and reading of the neighborhood's history. And if I thought my legs were done for the day I was wrong for then it was on to dancing. That didn't last too long, my legs didn't have much left in them after all the hills & stairs. Who would have thought walking could be such a delight. For a while I thought it was just me, but a friend of mine had the exact same sentiment later that day. This is a beautiful city to walk in.

On Sunday it rained, and before it poured, I still looked for the chance to walk.

Nothing, not even the best and noblest,
can go on as it now is.

Nothing, not even what is lowest and most bestial,
will not be raised again if it submits to death.

- C. S. Lewis

only in chinatown

I'm at a bank in Chinatown, filing out my withdrawl slip at the counter by the entrance. I hear the movement of paper & plastic. I look down by my feet. Grocery bags, I thought someone had just put down, seemed to have shifted. I return to my withdrawl slip. The sound of moving paper and plastic continues. I look at the bag again and realize it is moving on its own. One of the paper bags, I notice, has holes cut out at the top. No sound emerges that would help identify the creature inside, no dampness on the bag to suggest sea-life, just every so often a few good hits on the sides of the paper bag.

I wait in line watching its efforts. No one else in the bank seems even slightly suprised. Soon the owner comes to retrieve her bags and continue with her business of the day.

I smile as I walk away and call one of my brothers to share in the amusement of the day.

me

As a person who loves taking pictures, I usually stay behind the camera, but I particularly like the low light in my room and wanted to take some pictures using that light. Only animate subject available - me- so every once in a while I've gotten in front of the camera.
I have more which I might put up at a later time.

grace

"It was Flannery O'Connor who said 'Grace must wound before it heals.' Her words help me to separate what is most true about life from the things we want to be true. We want life to be painless. True grace is a hard sell because in order for the human heart to understand forgiveness and love, it must first experience darkness and isolation. A life lived under the rule of grace is a life of need which allows us to receive and appreciate the gift of the giver of grace. ...This is why we are called to a life we cannot handle alone, which can and will break us in the effort to live it -- because grace must wound before it heals"

--Justin McRoberts

dark

sometimes there just are no easy options...

roof top views

Every so often after work I like to have dinner on my rooftop over looking the city. It's just a plain ole flat roof, but I love seeing the city from up there.

The part of the city known as Nob & Russian Hill.
It is fascinating to see fog roll in and envelope this - it gets all kinkaid-like

from the back of the house we see a courtyard of the neighboring development

in the front, right across the street from us is the San Remo Hotel, also recently the new home of the oldest Italian restaurant in America - Fior d'Italia.
They give us neighborhood discounts :)