Hibernation Equipment --- Day 3/177

Walk: Mindful Body
Distance: 10 blocks

Ciwt's new pillow has arrived - from Exceptional Sheets.com through Amazon.

Her neck had been feeling stiff and she began to think it was her pillow.  It took a while because Ciwt is pretty confused by pillows ever since they apparently stopped making the really wonderful soft completely squishy ones she grew up with.  On her quest for such a pillow and wanting to support her 'hood, she stepped into a local Duxiana and described what she had in mind.  They knew exactly, took her right over to it, and told her to lie down, take her time and try it.

But by then Ciwt had seen the price tag: $542!!  She left the store as gracefully as possible with them practically following her out onto the street.  Then went home to her computer and found Exceptional Sheets For almost $500 less.

Tonight will be the test.  The pillow is returnable. But it was well-reviewed, came with a big, personally signed thank you letter, and the company is 'American Veteran-owned and operated,' - so Ciwt will probably gracefully keep it even if her neck continues to be stiff.

Feet Up --- Day 3/176

Walk: JCCSF, Laurel Village, Trader Joe's, Target, B&B Pet Supplies, Mollie Stone's
Distance: 3 miles and take yoga class

Ciwt loves that Monday feeling of completing errands and coming home to rest.  It would be nice to be able to do it as Wendell Berry does, among the wild things.  But home with Ciwt's deck door open is just fine for her today.

THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free. — Wendell Berry

Day Well Spent After All --- Day 3/174

Walk and Distance: Nada

Ciwt couldn't get the Wimbledon finals on her TV, couldn't go to her main hood due to annual street fair, couldn't part with a pair of purplish pants.  So she grabbed them out of the donation pile, grabbed a book and and hung out reading -

 
                 with Callie, of course .

Bravi Opera Workers! --- Day 3/173

Walk: Mindful Body, Opera House, Trader Joe's
Distance: 6 miles and teach yoga class


San Francisco Opera House (opened 1932; performances since 1921)

 

Main Lobby

3,000 lbs of gorgeous gold silk curtain

Ciwt treated herself to a tour of the San Francisco Opera House this afternoon.  What an incredibly complex operation they have going on there!  Just the wig department is jaw dropping in all its aspects: acquiring the needed hair (Asian for straight, European for wavy, some animal (goat? ___? help Ciwt can't remember) for blond and grey), styling it, attaching netting, taking patterns of each person's head, making up the entire finished wig accordingly, tagging it, placing it on the head, removing it, cleaning, repairing, storing.  Just this area of the opera is so exacting, requires so many talented, dedicated professionals.  Then there is the building maintenance itself, the sets (OMG Sooo complex), lighting, the many aspects of the music, the costumes, on and on and on it goes. Ciwt will never again be surprised by the cost of opera tickets.  It is truly a wonder that such a lavish spectacle could endure - unsupported by public funds - in the few worldwide venues where it exists, with San Francisco Opera House being the third largest seating in the world.

Let it Ring. Ooops, maybe not. --- Day 3/172

Walk: Mindful Body
Distance: 8 Blocks




Ciwt isn't that great a fan of the Liberty Bell.  It is still cracked after three re-castings, and sounds awful apparently. Contrary to legend it wasn't actually rung on July 4, 1776.  And much of its imagery as a relic of the proclamation of American independence came from a 1847 fictional short story by George Lippard that appeared in Saturday Review magazine.  But, like it or not, it is one of our country's earliest icons of freedom.  So, let Freedom ring!

She also wishes this was our National Anthem.

Freodom Makes Its Way--- Day 3/171

Walk: Mindful Body, etc.
Distance: 1 mile and teach yoga class

Tomorrow along with Thanksgiving is Ciwt's favorite holiday.  Some time ago she began starting her days with a 10 point gratitude list, and for the past few days it has read: 1. Freedom 2. Freedom 3. Freedom 4. Freedom 5. Freedom 6. Freedom 7. Freedom 8. Freedom 9. Freedom 10. Freedom.

free·dom

ˈfrēdəm/

noun

noun: freedom

1. the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.

   "we do have some freedom of choice"

   • absence of subjection to foreign domination or despotic government.

     "he was a champion of Irish freedom"

     synonyms:

     independence, self-government, self-determination, self-rule, home rule,sovereignty, nonalignment, autonomy; More

     antonyms:

     dependence

   • the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved.

     "the shark thrashed its way to freedom"

     synonyms:

     liberty, liberation, release, deliverance, delivery, discharge; More

     antonyms:

     captivity

   • the state of being physically unrestricted and able to move easily.

     "the shorts have a side split for freedom of movement"
   • the state of not being subject to or affected by (a particular undesirable thing).

     noun: freedom from; plural noun: freedom froms

     "government policies to achieve freedom from want"

     synonyms:

     exemption, immunity, dispensation; More

     antonyms:

     liability

   • the power of self-determination attributed to the will; the quality of being independent of fate or necessity.

     synonyms:

     right, entitlement, privilege, prerogative; More

     antonyms:

     restriction

   • unrestricted use of something.

     "the dog is happy having the freedom of the house when we are out"
   • archaic

     familiarity or openness in speech or behavior.

     plural noun: freedoms

Origin

Old English frēodōm (see free, -dom).

Dele, Stet and Punctuate --- Day 3/170

Walk: Cibo Sausalito, Mindful Body
Distance: 18 blocks and restorative yoga class




Ciwt is doing some edit work today.  Going back and cleaning up a few posts.  When she was younger - in college - she would try to edit and write all at the same time, and papers went exceeding slow.  She's not sure when she realized these were two different operations, but whenever it was, she found new-found freedom to just get the words down.  What a difference!

Orange is the New Deck --- Day 3/169

Walk: Trader Joe's, Mindful Body
Distance: 3 miles and teach yoga class

Another surprise visit from Andy the Gardner.  Here's what he added; we'll see how it grows (and how soon Ciwt gets out there and cleans those planters).



He also added this to the menagerie.  At first Ciwt was horrified because it looked like, the deck's enemy, a snail.  Now she's thinking quail.  What do you make of it?