When I first moved to San Francisco, there was an article that appeared in the SF Chronicle where the writer outlined his perfect day in the wine country. It began by appearing in Healdsburg at 9AM and eating a sticky bun at the Downtown bakery and then beginning the visits to the wineries that he had outlined. I forget now exactly which ones, but I know that it incorporated Sonoma and Napa wineries. Yesterday, we…
I lived for 16 years in San Francisco, going to the symphony, the museums, the liquor store, the grocery store, the cafes – the same places for years and rarely, very rarely running into anyone I knew. I moved back to New Orleans and no one was a stranger. In San Francisco, the cashier at Coit Liquors where I had bought wine and liquor for years always asked for my driver’s license, in New Orleans,…
Having spent many a cold summer in San Francisco, fall was always the most welcome season – there were the Blue Angels during Fleet Week to introduce that it was indeed fall, as there was hardly any trees changing leaf color and it would warm all of a sudden because Indian Summer always comes to the Bay Area in October. Driving around the Embarcadero yesterday you’d never know this country was, had been, is in…
I met a man the other day who I have been speaking to for many years by phone but have never seen in person. We were at a bustling bar in New York and I was sipping a glass of champagne and we were just chit chatting the way people do who have been talking about a subject for a long time but hardly ever talking about the things that matter most to a person.…
Got up before the chickens – no rest for the weary – pouring rain – no internet – a/c not working – leaving – Loca anxious – Wolfie concerned – planes delayed – rental car a/c not working – segue to California… Valley of muted colors – reminiscent of the bayou on steroids with greens to musty browns, then suddenly looking at pheasants from all over China in coops at Cline Vineyards – and then…
3. YOUR DYING Nothing could stop you. Not the best day. Not the quiet. Not the ocean rocking. You went on with your dying. Not the trees. Under which you walked, not the trees that shaded you. Not the doctor Who warned you, the white-haired young doctor who saved you once. You went on with your dying. Nothing could stop you. Not your son. Not your daughter Who fed you and made you into a…
and the world seems to be unwinding – my coral ring from Mignon Faget not in my jewelry box, my brown Cambio staple for client visits pants missing from the closet, the a/c suddenly not working as we leave for California, no sleep with the neighbor’s light beaming in my eye like a rushing train headed straight for me, I awake to a thunderstorm and downpour – Louisiana, coming to wash us clean. in my…
The force is strong in you Luke – I feel that is what my aunt and uncles and others keep telling me. You’re strong. Well this year is aging me more than Katrina, more than my divorce, more than a lot of other things because my mother is dying, I’m trying to adopt a child, my work is all consuming and I can’t seem to stop the world for one moment and take a breath.…
The other day a neighbor made the comment that his neighbor was carrying around his old dog who couldn’t walk anymore. My neighbor said, “He should put the dog down, he’s a dog after all.” The next day friends of ours made a decision to put their dog down who declined rapidly, who was the dog they got after their other dog ran into the street and was instantly struck by a car and died.…
I went to a staff meeting today to learn about my mom’s prognosis. Not good. They have done all they can for her and are now moving her onto that final resting station – a skilled nursing home – where she gets to live out her final days. I went to visit one of the facilities and although I drove there with a heavy heart, and I have been through many of these places as…