Friday, June 5, 2009

18-23 May 2009, California

On Monday, 18 May, I had lunch with and said goodbye to my friend Joann who will be out-of-town until I leave for India. We enjoyed being able to spend time together. That evening (and unfortunately it did not occur to me again to take photos) Hema and Mani Nepali had me over for dinner cooked by their daugher Mahima. It was wonderful food, and it was so nice to spend
time with the whole family.

On the way home from Hema and Mani's, I pulled off the freeway to film this incredible sunset. The sky was a low ceiling of gray allowing just a sliver of sunset squeazing through. But at closer examination, the wind was roaring along the top of the water of the San Francisco Bay, steam rising off the water. Wow! It was breathtaking.

Tuesday, I said goodbye to my World Liturature class at the Albany Senior Center. This meant saying goodbye to our very special teacher, Bill, with whom I hope to correspond. We have been reading "An International Episode" by Henry James. What a literate and fun group.

That evening I said goodbye to my meditation group, Amy, Barbara, Kathy, Linda (had to say goodbye to Linda last week), and Sherry What can I say. I miss them already.

Had breakfast at John Cornell's Wednesday. John is very gracious and cooks well. Thanks, John.

Thursday I got sick and am still sick here in India. It's just a bad cold, but it didn't heal because of the rugged traveling from 27-31 May.

Friday, I said goodbye to my beloved yoga teacher, Pandi, and had a very sweet picnic lunch with our good friend Stephanie at Lake Anza in Tilden Park. (No pictures there either!) That evening, my sister-in-law Sharon was unable to join Todd and me at the tenth anniversary performance of Somei Yoshino Taiko Ensemble (http://www.taikoensemble.com/), so we took Mike Huhman. As they describe themselves in their website, "Somei Yoshino Taiko Ensemble (SYTE), founded in 1999, goes beyond the beat of the taiko drum to use music, theater and dance as a medium to express the human condition as it relates to its environment, community and its future." They are highly accomplished musicians, and their performances are artful and inspiring. One of the performers, Ellen Bepp, is our friend

This little video I took by mistake, having left my camera set for video, so it's painfully short but gives you a teensy glimpse of Somei Yoshino Taiko Ensemble in action.
Ellen Bepp after the performance


Mike Huhman and my brother Todd
On Saturday, the 23rd, Suzie, Ramon, Dexter and I met with my son's friends and our friends, Pandora, Tonia, Kea, and Mike Huhman for a picnic. Pandora brought her partner Clare whom I was very glad to get to know a little better. Kea brought his daugher Hilary who fit right in with the other two 3-year-olds Dexter and Tonia's son Blake. We met at a wonderful spot at Tilden Park near the Little Farm where the children could get close to farm animals. However, besides the fact I was feeling terrible, the weather was unbelievably cold. I had to leave early, heartbroken not to have had better interaction with Tonia and Pandora.
Tonia, Clare, Pandora

Mike Huhman

Suzie, Blake, Kea, Hilary

Kea and Ramon taking the children to Little Farm

Feeding the cows

Carolyn, Pandora, Tonia

2 comments:

Dexter said...

Somehow I didn't see this post until just now. Kea is with an e, not an i. These are good picks. That was a fun day at the park. I'm sorry you were feeling so bad.

Love you!

Dexter said...

And Hilary is one l. :o)