Yes, Virginia, There Are Christmas Decorations in San Francisco --- Day 12/338

Walk: Union Square

Distance: 5 miles

It's subtle.  After knocking themselves (and, for some, probably their exchequers) out decorating for Halloween and Thanksgiving, the homes around Ciwt are traditionally very understated come the December holidays.  Like really not decorated at all except for a few stranglers here and there.

So Ciwt went downtown to Union Square today hoping to catch some holiday spirit. And there it was!

Union Square Tree

Our little Rockefeller Center rink

Enjoying Macy's Windows with the Pidgeons

  

Two Trees (Look closely and you see Neiman Marcus's beautiful tree in their rotunda)

                   She walked back home leaving her holiday heart in downtown San Francisco.

Does It Rhyme? --- Day 13/337

Walk: No, Day of rest

Distance: 0, yoga

Poet Marc Zegans reading from his volume Lyon Street 

So turns out Ciwt has several poetry writing friends who have been presenting recently.  One friend sent a video of her reading in Idaho.  And yesterday Marc Zegans and several poet friends celebrated the one year anniversary of Zegans' most recent book of poetry,  Lyon Street (he has published 5 others). Ciwt enjoyed all the readings but was interested to find herself a bit dizzy and tired at the end of the afternoon. Movies, opera, ballet, entertain and often energize, while listeing to poetry requires a deep, attentive listening to get the message (or try).

The Specials --- Day 12/336

 Walk: Magic Flute, Presidio Library (poetry reading)

Distance: 3 miles 

So Ciwt applauded Time Magazine's Person of the Year but didn't know who was more special when she saw the cover.  

The remarkable Taylor Swift who touches throngs of lives - old and young and internationally?

The cat who calmly drapes around Swift's neck and stares dead ahead at the camera with ears perked?

Or - and this is actually Ciwt's choice - the photographer who captured this cover?  With all her years in front of cameras, Swift is probably fairly easy to get an excellent photo of.  But anyone who has ever tried to take an alert, eyes wide open, ears up, relaxed portrait of their cat knows that camera person is very special indeed.

What's the Opposite of Zen-like? --- Day 12/335

Walk: Asian Art Museum, SFMOMA

Distance: 5.5 miles

Asian Art Museum visitor(?) enjoying Chestnuts

 

Ciwt read that our Asian Art Museum had transformed one of its galleries into a low-lit, hushed, contemplative, winding path of shoju walls for its The Heart of Zen exhibition. So a peaceful contemplative experience like the one pictured above is what she had in mind when she went reserved her timed ticket for it.

“Persimmons” (left, detail) and “Chestnuts” (detail) — composed of ink on hanging scrolls and attributed to the 13th-century Chinese monk Muqi

She would be going to see two rare Zen ink paintings, Persimmons and Chestnuts at a very rare event indeed.  The delicate, light-sensitive paintings were on their first ever and very brief trips out of Japan and would only be shown together for three days.  

They had been acquired in China by a Japanese merchant in the 15th or 16th century, brought to Japan and displayed regularly at tea gatherings before being donated in the 1600s to Daitokuji Ryokoin temple. The temple is closed to the public, and aside from a 2019 exhibition at the Miho Museum outside Kyoto, both paintings remain out of view for those not members of the temple community.  

The wish and rationale of the abbot of the Temple in releasing Persimons and Chestnuts to San Francisco was to share "even a fragment of the pure, transparent (Zen) air that..the monks in Ryokoin" live right in the center of from morning to night."

The precious event had been brought to people's attention in various journals around the Bay Area, and Ciwt later learned the New York Times and who knows what other media.  So, when Ciwt arrived to contemplate with her member-only timed ticket, so had several - read at least 600 - others:

It took one hour to get here from outside the museum, and would take another 90 minutes to reach the 'low-lit, contemplative...' gallery where the small paintings were hung.  

As the time in the lines went on and on, Ciwt became less and less zen-like, decided her peaceful experience didn't have a chance of happening even after she got to the gallery.  So she dropped out and went outside into the clear, fresh, nippy air of San Francisco and enjoyed a nice long walk.

Boxes, We Got Boxes --- Days 12/333 & 334

Walks: UPS, FedEx, Errands

Distances: 3 miles, just 1 mile

So no, these aren't boxes and boxes of Christmas presents Ciwt has received.

Several months ago she decided to get a few new things to make her new (still to her) place feel more homey.  And of course they are all being delivered now, right in the midst of the holiday package season.  Actually, some boxes actually aren't delivered at all (to her anyway) because they are lost in transit and others have been misdelivered in the wrong color, wrong size, or whatever.

So suddenly Ciwt has become a sort of Santa's helper.  Unboxing, deconstructing boxes, re-boxing, standing in various lines with boxes among others with theirs.  The very good news is that her new home has an elevator, not the 73 stairs up and 73 stairs down at her old place. Also, most of her new things are here so she should have more interesting things to tell her loyal readers.

Hope your December is coming along and you are finding ways to relax and enjoy.  Love, Ciwt

Festivity Deliveries Begin --- Days 12/331 & 332

Walks/Runs: Hood errands

Distances: 3.5 miles, 4.8 miles

Running Again --- Day 13/330

Jog: Opera Plaza Cinema, etc

Distance: 5 miles

So, Ciwt found herself running home again today. Parly because there was unexpected light rain and partly because the movie she went back to the same theater to see was agitating.  Happy, informative beginning, downer ending.  Not a good order.  But if you weren't around New York during the 60's and 70's, it might be good to get informed or be reminded about The Hite Report and its aftermath.  

Running Home --- Day 12/329

Walk/Run: Opera Plaza Cinema (Maestro)

Distance: 3.5 miles

Carey Mulligan and Bradley Cooper in Maestro

So Ciwt is sitting here thinking she is glad she isn't a film critic.  If she were, her professionalism would insist that she spend time analyzing Maestro looking for its good points and flaws so she could properly inform her readers.

But since she is not, she can savor the movie wholecloth.  For her it was perfect as is.  A superior fine art statement propelled from beginning to end by full blown, passionate and beautiful energy.  Both - passion and beauty - in all their forms: good, enchanting, heartfilled, heart breaking, kind, cruel.  And, above all, Musical.

Ciwt was so caught up in that life energy that she found herself running all the way home when it was over.

Bradley Cooper comes as close as possible to recreating the vortex of enigmatic, near manic, driven life force that was the musical genius Leonard Bernstein.  Carey Mulligan is brilliant as his light as air, bone deep sensitive, supremely disciplined actress wife Felicia Montealegre.  And Maestro opens its  and the audience's heart to the wildly complex, tumultuous, and deeply loving marriage they created for 27 years.

It is inconceivable to Ciwt that Cooper and his movie won't be nominated for multiple awards: Best Actor, Director, Original Screenplay, Musical Score, Cinematography, Make Up, Costumes and maybe more.  It isn't a category, but he and/or his casting agent deserve an award for once again placing a first class talent in the role of his female co-star.  Carey Mulligan is every bit as excellent as Lady Gaga who won an Oscar nomination and Oscar for her role in Cooper's A Star is Born.  

Now having caught her breath from that run home, Ciwt is off to read what the professional film critics have to say about Maestro.  Maybe/Probably it was too arty for some; not Ciwt.