Absolutely Nothing... --- Day 11/136

Walk: Crown Point Press

Distance: 5 miles

Absolutely Nothing beats the heart of a dog.

from the 2022 Westminster Dog Show

Two Women, Two Dresses (Part 2) --- Day 11/135

Walk: Golden Gate Pickleball

Distance: 3 miles, 90 minutes pickle

John Singleton Copley, Mrs. Daniel Sargent (Mary Turner), 1763, o/c

So, back to the two ladies in their two dresses, with each dress telling a story in itself.  Mrs. Sargent's tells 'the world,' basically her fellow Bostonians and those in England she and her husband had left behind that the Sargents had attained success in their new country.  Eleven years before the Boston Tea Party (in 1773) they had the princely sum necessary to import the fine silk of her dress and the leisure for Mrs. Sargent to sit for a portrait.  The couple even had the excess funds to afford the long silk scarf which Mrs. Sargent wears aound her heck to indicate her high station.  But she emphasizes her humility and wifeliness by looking demurely away from the viewer and toward a scallop shell which is a symbol of love and beauty.  The waterfall cascading down the wall behind her speaks of virtue and fertility.

Much can also be made of the fact that the New England economy was such that a portrait painter had the time to be trained in his techniques and could make his living in his trade.

Amy Sherald, First Lady Michelle Obama, 2018, oil on linen

Now, 255 years later, we see Mrs.Obama - painted by a Yale-trained woman artist - wearing her dress. She is dignified but certainly not demure. She tooks directly at the viewer projecting a femininity that is confident, open, athletic, strong.  Unlike the very traditional Mrs.Sargent, Mrs. Obama is bold and original in her fashion choice.  While First Lady she sought out and promoted younger, even unknown designers and often went sleeveless in unexpected, sometimes ethnic colors and patterns. Her dress in this official portrat speaks much about her but, eye-catching and bold as it is, Mrs. Obama's  personal strength is more than equal to it.

Two Women, Two Dresses --- Day 11/134

Walk: deYoung Museum

Distance: 4.5 miles

John Singleton Copley, Mrs. Daniel Sargent (Mary Turner), 1763, o/c

Amy Sherald, First Lady Michelle Obama, 2018, oil on linen

Two pictures worth two thousand words at least.  More from Ciwt soon.  Let the visuals speak today.

Joyful!! --- Day 11/133

Walk: Monday Errands and Nails (finally)

Distance: 3 miles, small yoga

Ciwt couldn't possibly overstate the joy the Warriors have brought to the Bay Area.  

You Call That A Closet? --- Day 11/132

Walk: Other home to do laundry and errands

Distance: 2.5 miles, small yoga

After Ciwt graduated from college she worked in New York for a pittance and shared a 2 bedroom apartment with three friends who were doing the same.  Space was at a premium to put it mildly and she quickly formed a "New York Sense of Space."    

So when she moved to San Francisco and saw that her closet looked like this: her reaction was "That's not a closet, it's a room!"  She then proceded to use her closet/room as her office for 40 years.

When she moved to her new home recently and showed pictures to friends, they looked at all the open space and commented "Now you'll finally have a cheerful office out in the light."  

But Ciwt had other ideas when she saw her new closet:  

Yes, you guessed it, it is her new office:  

PS - Every once in a while she encounters another closet/office person.  Others may find it gloomy. We on the other hand find it easier to concentrate and love all the "New York" space we can devote to something else.

 

Back to the Museums - Happily --- Days 11/130-31

Walks: 1. Marin driving for lunch with friend  2. Presidio Pickleball, Legion of Honor (Guo Pei, Couture Fantasy)

Distance: 1. 2 miles  2. 5.5 miles, 1 hour pickle

So after years of sagging around in covid house clothes and then thinking of clothes only as things to purge during her move, Ciwt debated whether to even go to the Guo Pei Couture Fantasy show at the Legion of Honor.  Reluctantly she took herself to it yesterday, and WOW!

First, just going to a museum after three solid months of schlepping her things between her old and new homes, was uplifting.  Especially the Legion which Ciwt counts as one of the most beautiful museums in the world .

Then, seeing a large crowd of attendees filling the museum was enlivening.   And a surprise because attendance at fashion exhibitions can be particularly sparse.

But really Ciwt was unprepared for the rich bedazzlement of Guo Pei's creations.  In pictures they had seemed almost silly, frivolous, sci-fi movie-ish.  But in person they were a stunning encounter with history, craft, culture, presenting exquisite needlework not often seen since long ago times and sought out by Guo Pei in travels through the Chinese countryside.  As awesome examples of and homages to fine craft, Ciwt could study just one of her garments for a long time.  

And that is what people were doing.  Stopping, studying, taking photos.  You could tell the quality of the exhibition by the quiet in the rooms.  Even though they were crowded, viewers were deeply engaged.  

Pictures don't do justice.  Perhaps the Guo Pei films from the Legion site will give Ciwt's readers a better idea

 

Big Moon, Giraffe and City --- Days 122-129

Walks:  Crisssy Field, GG Park Pickleball, City 

Distances: 3 - 6.5 miles, 90 minutes pickleball, some yoga

Well? --- Days 11/119,120 and 121

Walks: The usual back and forthing with some 'free wheeling' thrown in

Distances: 1, 4 miles, 90 minutes pickle 2. 3.2 miles with some loping 3. 6.5 miles

So from March 7 when she saw her next home and had to figure out how to get into it until today, Ciwt has been suddenly and relentlessly involved in emptying one home/life and 'unemptying' another one.  Three straight months, day and night.  As of today the major things have been done - even the initial set up of her closet office (more on that in another CIWT)  her least favorite.  It has been all consuming.

But now...Now what?   

Do Not Forsake Me, Oh CIWT Readers --- Days 11/115, 116, 117 & 118

Walks: The Back and Forths, Ups and Dowsn continue

Distances: Average 5 miles (some loping, some light yoga)

But meanwhile Ciwt continues to forsake you.  Yesterday for organizing household cleaning products, the day before findng room for cat stuff and getting it in order, today as she remembers she got more deeply into office pens, pencils, files, that sort of stuff.  The challenging joys of moving places continue...

Tex Ritter wrote it, Frankie Laine made it a hit

Revelations Daily! --- Day 11/114

Walk: The Moving errands continue

Distance: 3 miles

Every day is a new revelation for Ciwt when she uses her modern appliances (after figuring out how to turn them on). After 40 years using the dishwasher in her old home, she was shocked - and thrilled! - to see her glasses come out crystal clear.  She thought a little less cloudy was state of the art.  

Onward! (almost) --- Days 11/104-113

Walks: Still Back and Forth (between homes) and Up and Down but almost entirely in new home

Distances: @ 3 miles daily, a little yoga here and there, 2 hours pickleball one day

Sometimes it feels like Ciwt's moving 'thing' is endless.

Meanwhile a few recommendations that got her mind off the 'thing' and her readers might appreciate for breaks from their 'things'  1.  Better Call Saul, every season.  Start at the beginning if you can. 2. NYT and other reviews and comments following each episode.  You won't belive what you missed and how brilliant your fellow travelers are. 3. Bosch Legacy 4. Top Gun: Maverick.  Great Blue Angels type flying and, if you are lucky, you are aging as well as Tom Cruise.   

We're In! --- Days 96-103

Walks: 1-8:  Back and forth, Up and down, Round andround two places

Distances: @ 4 miles daily

Report from the field: Ciwt and cats are out of their old home and into the new one.

Very Little Time Left --- Days 11/92,93,94 & 95

Walks: 1-4: Back and Forth, Up and Down Two Homes

Distance: 1-4 3.5 miles

Time is getting close and sleep is getting short for Ciwt.  Moving day is day after tomorrow.  (She does think about her readers as she packs and carries.  Be well and hope for a real post one of these days).

Is This Really Happening? --- Days 11/89, 90 & 91

Walks: All 3 days, the usual up and down the stairs with stuff, then, ahh, load in cart and take up in elevator at new place

Distance: 1. 3 miles, 2. 2.5 miles 3. 5 miles

So in less than a week Ciwt will be moving into a very nice new home.  But, catch her much of the time while she packs up her old place, and you'd think she was about to walk the plank.  Such is the experience of moving for almost everybody she thinks. 

You've Got to Go! --- Day 11/88

Walk: Around and around packing.  

Distance: At least 1.5 miles 

So Ciwt's recent back-to-back matinees of SF Ballet's Swan Lake put her in mind of the first time she saw that beloved ballet.  She was young, had never been to la danse before so didn't know how lucky she was to see Margot Fonteyn and Rudolph Nureyev.  It was shortly after his defection to England from Russia so there was much intrigue as well as marvel at his athleticism, and Ciwt became hooked on the ballet ever since.

Fonteyn and Nureyev

So hooked she began pestering her father to go.  "It is So athletic now!" she reassured him.  This was true; a whole new era of intensely athletic and often macho ballet had been inaugurated.  "You'll love it; don't worry, it has changed." 

Finally he had had enough.  He turned to her and said "I might has well tell you to go to the boxing matches; you'll love them."  Oh.....

Ironically, the dancer she most wanted him to see, Edward Villella, was actually quite a proficient and dedicated boxer.  But, of course, there was no point in mentioning this.  

Edward Villella

Ciwt guesses her father had the 'beauty' and athleticism of ballet mentally filed in the vicinity of Lucy Ricardo's version of Swan Lake and nothing was going to change this image.  To be fair, Ciwt would probably never resonate to the 'beauty' of the 'art of boxing.'

 

Boxed In --- Days 11/86 & 87

Walk: 1. No, resting aching knees from so much moving 😒 - good elevator is in her near future.  2. SF                  Ballet (Swan Lake x 2)

Distance: 1. n/a  2. 4. 2 miles

When possible Ciwt is a Grand Tier person at the ballet.  From there she can see the whole stage as well as several sections of box seats and she's often wondered if the seats are comfortable and if the whole Box Seat experience is worth the expense.  So yesterday, to celebrate the end of a glorious ballet season as well as a Grand Treat and diversion from her month of packing, she bought herself a Box Seat ticket.

Was the experience worth it?  Well it was great being able to hang her coat in a separate, private section before going into her seat.  Usually, like everyone, she's trying to navigate a tiny seat and find places to stash her coat, purse, opera glasses, program without elbowing seat mates or creating hazards for people needing to squeeze in and out.  Plus all that space in the box did make the viewing more relaxing.  And, yes, the chairs were pretty comfortable.

She also noticed, though, a bit of an 'attitude' around her.  Some box seaters seemed sort of stuffy which was their privilege and fine because they were quiet in their highbrow way.  But a few others were downright and overly 'entitled' - coming in 'whenever,' talking, taking pictures and iphone movies (when that is strictly forbidden) and taking off their masks (also forbidden).   

So, would she treat herself to a Box Seat again?  Maybe occasionally, but, really, she is a Grant Tour girl.

Ole, Ole!! --- Day 11/86

Walk: Today it was mostly lifting and packing Ciwt's office

Distance: 1.5 miles

Coming from back East, it took Ciwt a few years to understand the meaning of Cinco de Mayo Day that gets San Francisco in a fiesta mood every year.  

In case you, too, don't know, here is Wikipedia to the rescue: Cinco de Mayo (pronounced [ˈsiŋko̞ ðe̞ ˈma̠ʝo̞] in Mexico, Spanish for "Fifth of May") is a yearly celebration held on May 5, which commemorates the anniversary of Mexico's victory over the Second French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862, led by General Ignacio Zaragoza.

And in the United States, it has become a day to celebrate Mexican-American culture.  California was Spanish, then Mexican, territory until 1848.  

Oh, yeh, that room --- Days 11/84 & 85

Walk: 1. Storeroom work  2. More packing + nails

Distance:  1. 2.3 miles + lots of bending, lifting and wiping off dust  2. 3 miles

Nope, the storeroom can't be avoided if you are moving.

Do I have a Bargain For You! --- 11/79, 80, 81, 82 & 83

Walk: 1. the 2 Homes  2. the usual back and forth, up and down + Presidio 3. Sf Ballet (Swan Lake 💗)               4. Marin shopping 5. Sooo windy 🍃

Distance: 1. 2 miles  2. 7.5 miles 3. 4.2 miles 4. 2.3 miles 5. 1.5 miles

So, as Ciwt may have mentioned (billions of times), it isn't easy leaving home.  She doesn't necessarily believe in the 'stages of grief,' but she can relate to the one about 'bargaining.'  At least daily, she says to herself "Oh wait, I don't have to sell.  I'll just keep both places!"   Then she lives with having two places 9 blocks apart, one empty, the other needing attention and daily visits - not to mention the expense - and comes to her senses.  Until some time the next day, when the same idea flips into her brain, and the whole process starts again...

Goodwill Maybe Not So Full of Good Will --- Days 11/74--78

Walk: 1 - 5: Back and Forth between Places, Up and Down

Distance: 1. 5.4 miles  2. 2.4 miles  3. 2 miles  4. 2 miles 5. 2 miles

Every day at least 6 bags of (i Ciwt'ho)good stuff to Goodwill.  At first the attendants used to thank Ciwt for her support.  Now she notices some of them darting inside so they won't have to deal with all her heavy bags.  At least they don't have to navigate her stairs like she does.......Onward!

New Home Alone --- Days 11/72 & 73

Walk: 1. Up and Down, Up and Down, Repeat 2. Same

Distance: 1. 4.7 miles  2. 2 miles

Today Ciwt was suddenly spent from packing up closets filled with objects of numerous types, sizes, shapes, weight - not to mention personal history.  It's tricky and takes creativity and concentration getting all those things and memories organized and into to some containable and portable form. Also stamina to go up and down the many stairs in her soon to be former place. 

So for the first time in a little over 40 years, she just sat alone in her almost empty new home. 

At some point in her trips back and forth she'd brought a padded stadiuim seat. She had also brought a book to hold down the paper cut outs of her coming furniture.  Turned out the book was about Matisse. The simple seat was comfortable.  Her new place was quiet. The sun was pouring in her large filtered glass sliding doors. And with no planning at all, Ciwt was surrounded with her most treasured life elements -  Sun, Light, Home, a Book, Matisse, Stillness, Solitude - and nothing to do but just savor them for a few precious hours.  

New Place, No Thanks --- Day 11/71

Walk: You Know Where and Hood Errands

Distance: 4.5 miles

So Ciwt's cats were "Thanks, but no thanks" about their first visit to what will be their new home in a month.  Of course, she didn't tell them that as they hid in their carriers.....

At Every Turn --- Days 11/67, 68, 69, 70

Walk: 1. SF Ballet, 2. usual T. Joe's and new place 3. Back and Forth goes Ciwt 4. Loading boxes

Distance: 1. 2.6 miles lope, 3.1 walk= 5.7  2. 4 miles 3. 5 miles  4. 2.2 miles  

Ciwt stopped for moment in her 8-hour packing/moving/unpacking days to take heart from this Trader Joe's card.  (They have some good ones at a great price!)

White Knuckling the Drive --- Day 11/66

Walk: New Place 9of course0 and Trader Joe's

Distance: 4.4 miles

So here's the loaner car the dealer gave Ciwt while hers was going through a recall service.  When given to her it had 20 miles on it, and they were very clear that it had just come in and Ciwt would be the first driver.  They were also very clear that if there was even as much as a smudge on a tire when Ciwt returned it, she would be responsible for a $250+ damage charge.

Ciwt drove it to her garage very carefully.  It is now sitting there where it will stay until her car is ready and she can drive the loaner back to the dealer very, very carefully.  

"C" is Not For Covid --- Days 11/64 & 65

Walk: 1, Haircut, Doc Annual, Booster #2  2. No, Rain & Taxes

Distance: 1. 3 miles  2. 2. 1 mile, yoga

So, this week a couple of Ciwt's friends, including her realtor, called to say they had Covid.  She hadn't seen any of them for quite a while, but, to be on the safe side Ciwt gave herself a home test.

Well it went straight to a definite, dark line at "C."  Covid!!!  She was devastated.  To be absolutely sure she grabbed the test tray with the definite "C" and went to a nearby free testing clinic.  

When she got there and one of the doctors asked why she had come, Ciwt took out the "C" tray and showed it to her. "Oh," she said, "Control."  Turns out that's what "C" is for - Control, not Covid.  And you have to have two! lines showing, not just the definite "C" one.

Ciwt was embarrassed, they were nice, tested her again since she was there.  And 15 minutes later Ciwt left with an official "Negative" result.  The next day she went to get her second booster shot.

Getting There ---Day 11/63

Walk: 1. ?   2. The usual, back and forth between places

Distance: 1. 2.8 miles  2. 5 miles

Still feels a bit like a fantasy, but Ciwt is actually starting to feel more like her contemporary when she goes over to her new home.  Transitions....

Legs Up --- Day 11/62

Walk: No

Distance: Not far (but finally did that laundry)

No good for weeding out stuff today... 

Laundry Or....? --- Day 11/61

Walk: SF Ballet (Program 6)

Distance: 6 miles

As usual Ciwt went through her "I have a ticket, but should I go to the ballet today?  I could always pack, move some stuff, do laundry and other dreary day-to-day stuff.  But, luckily, her answer is always "Just put on your walking shoes and get there."  

Thank goodness.  Program after program SF Ballet is perfection! They dance as one, no matter what the style.  Very, very exhilarating and special to watch. (Unless you prefer laundry or packing things up....)

Ah, Yes, Closets --- Day 11/60

Walk: Around closets full of 40 years of Ciwt stuff

Distance: 1.3 miles, small yoga

Seemed so important to stockpile these things at the time........

1.3 mile

Once Upon A Bay --- Days 11/58 & 59

Walk: 1 & 2. The usual, back and forth several times

Distance: 1. 6 miles  2. 8 miles

Gray Whale Seen in San Francisco Bay, March 6, 2022

Isn't this photo wonderful?  It is what makes living in the Bay Area so special for Ciwt.  All the technology being developed here catapulting us into the future, and then this.  A whale, a creature from the ancient of days swimming in our bay.  (According to Wikipedia, Cetaceans - whales, dolphins and porpoises - are an order of mammals that originated about 50 million years ago in the Eocene epoch).

And the photo is totally real.  Kat Nazar took it.  She has been leading whale-watching tours in the San Francisco waters for nearly two decades, and also keeps in touch with our Ferry skippers and the Marine Mammal Center's cetacean field research team.  She shares all of her photographs from her tours with the center as well as the GPS coordinates of where she finds the whales.

Last Sunday afternoon, Nazar may have had one of her closest encounters yet.  She was steering a 65-foot catamaran - aptly named the Kitty Kat - near the Golden Gate Bridge and Crissy Field when she had to slow down for windsurfers.  Suddenly a large gray whale popped up so close to her boat, she just screamed "Whale!"  She stopped and her passengers had the lifetime experience of watching it do its thing.  She and they also spotted what appered to be a mother whale and her baby swimming between Alcatraz and Angel Island.

According to Nazar, encountering a whale is the most unique experience in San Francisco, a city that specializes in them.  It never gets old she says when she sees a spout briefly skim the surface followed by a tiny puff of steam.  Then there is that tail that touched Ciwt's heart in the photograph.

Home Relay --- Day 11/57

Walk: Back and Forth, Back and Forth between new and sort of soon to be old 

Distance: 6.2 miles

 

One place, then the other, then back again, etc, etc.   But but the exercise and miles covered hardly compare with the movement in Ciwt's head between unbearable sadness to leave her beloved home of 40 years to excitement, some fun and hope.  

Where is Ciwt/CIWT? Days 11/52, 53, 54, 55 & 56

Walk: All walks in hood and in connection with Ciwt's moves out and in to her old/new homes

Distance: 1. 3.3 miles 2. 2 miles (drove back and forth) 3. 4 miles  4. 3.2 miles  5.2 miles, 1 hr. yoga (at last!)

This is Ciwt these days.  No husband and kids to 'help', but her new place does have an elevator! and shopping carts she can borrow to wheel her things to it and up.

Stair Walker --- Days 11/48,49,50,51

Walk: 1. Back and forth between new and old homes 2, 3 & 4: Ditto

Distance: 1.3.5 miles plus, flights down at new  2. 1.5 plus 4 down at new 3. 3.6 miles, 7 flights Up 4.miles

So, CanIWalkThere continues to earn its blog name.  Ciwt is so used to stairs at her present home for 40 years, she's taken to walking right past the elevator and using them at her soon-to-be new home.