“One day if I do go to heaven…. I’ll look around and say, It ain’t bad but it ain’t San Francisco.” —Herb Caen
One Liner Wednesday-Heaven
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Silver Threading Writer’s Quote Wednesday
Should we be looking at stats and trying to figure out which posts are the most popular and do more of those. It has to do with what your goals are as a writer. Are you writing to create a popular product or to express you own unique voice and creativity? What do you think?
A Milestone Today
I started my blog in July and a lot has happened blogging wise since then. I have learned a lot about how to navigate the system of Word Press. I have had advice of the staff and other bloggers. I have made some blogger friends! I made it through daily posting in November. So today I was notified I have created 100 posts.
So there is a lot to read here. Some of it is pretty good if I say so. Some of it probably not so good. But it has been quite an odyssey. At times I have gotten tired of hearing myself.
We are heading toward a new year and the direction I am going with my blog is still not certain. Still need to mull over topics. I am grateful for those of you who have been following me along. Grateful for new followers and old. And grateful for those of you who take the time to write thoughtful comments. Thank You!
The Christmas Train
We were stopping overnight in Santa Cruz on our way up the coast to visit our daughter. We were meeting her in Sonoma. We wanted to break the drive up instead of driving straight through in one day. Santa Cruz is about half way.
We thought we would go to a Thai Restaurant for dinner that our daughter had introduced us to when she was living in Santa Cruz. As we drove up to the restaurant we noticed it was closed. This was Christmas Eve. My husband started checking his smart phone for other places. If you stay on the main streets it is very well-lit. When you get onto the residential streets it is quite dark.
We were pulling up to a stop light and the street was very dark with a heavy mist in the air. I noticed some bright lights down the road coming toward the intersection. I wasn’t sure what it was until it got closer as the mist caused the lights to glow.
It was a train covered in beautiful Christmas lights and decorations. It looked like something from the Polar Express. It slowly came across the intersection and stopped.
We were transfixed. It was so beautiful. We could see passengers inside having a good time. Santa Claus was walking down the aisle of the train giving out gifts from his large sack.
Slowly the train began moving again and left the intersection behind. We sat there for a while looking after it. We did find another great Thai restaurant a while later. I did not know about the Christmas Train. I would love to take a ride on it if we are up in Santa Cruz again around Christmas.
Here is a video by Matt Corley via You Tube:
The Christmas Train is operated by Roaring Camp Railroads. The train in the video is shown crossing Pacific Avenue in Santa Cruz.
The City of Paris
The City of Paris in San Francisco was a beautiful department store that was founded in the years of the California Gold Rush. I remember it in its final location on Geary and Stockton. The store had an open rotunda which was a large open circular space that went all the way to the beautiful stained glass dome ceiling.
During the Christmas season the City of Paris filled their rotunda with a giant Christmas tree. The store fell on hard times and Neiman Marcus wanted to buy the property and tear down the building. The National Trust for Historic Preservation and many San Franciscans fought against it. Neiman Marcus won and they tore down the original building.
One happy note about this story is that they preserved the rotunda with the stained glass dome in the new store. Part of the stained glass image contains the motto “Fluctuat nec Mergitur,” which means It floats but never sinks.
City of Paris at Union Square
Rotunda Dome
Rotunda from old City of Paris
December 2007 Neiman Marcus SF Photo by Miguel Vieira
City of Paris
Historical information from the Nora Leishman article on foundsf.org and More history of the City of Paris
San Barbara Day Trip
We had a nice day trip to Santa Barbara. I did not take many pictures. The weather was beautiful. Blue skies with white clouds and in the 70s with just a bit of a chill in the air. The coastline between the city of Ventura and Santa Barbara is very scenic. We like to stop in Carpenteria, a town on the way up, for bagels and Pete’s coffee at a little breakfast place. The 101 takes you past a few other towns on the way like Summerland and Montecito.
Summerland was started in 1883 by H.L. Williams, a spiritualist and real estate speculator. He sold land parcels to other spiritualists and they even had a community séance hall.
Montecito is nearby with expensive real estate and some celebrity residents such as Jeff Bridges and Opra Winfrey. Lotus Land is in Montecito. This is the estate of Madame Ganna Walska an opera singer who owned the property from 1941-1984. She created an exotic botanical garden which you can tour by appointment. The Montecito Inn was built by Charlie Chaplin in 1928.
There are many beautiful sights to see all around the Santa Barbara area. Above Santa Barbara is the Santa Ynez Valley. Solvang in located here. It is a Danish American town with lots of shops and restaurants and a few windmills. You can get Danish pastries and apple skivers. The film Sideways was made around here. There are wineries around Santa Ynez Valley and beautiful rolling hills with oak trees.
We took a long walk around State Street in Santa Barbara and peeked into a few shops and a new bookstore. We could smell the sea air. Below are a few photos taken near and around State Street.
Japanese Garden Lotusland via wikipedia
On State Street Santa Barbara
Off State Street
View from State Street toward hills
Me attempting photo from car near Ventura
Be Present
I hear this a lot these days, ” Be Present.” Which means be in the now. Don’t live in the past or worry about the future. Stay focused on what is happening in the moment. I have read books about this philosophy and can agree it is good to be aware of what is going on around you in the present. If you get too caught up with worries about the future and distractions or brooding about the past your present life can just pass by without you being there.
I have experienced being in the now or being mindful of what I am doing. There are times when I am very relaxed doing a mundane task like washing dishes and can just be focused on that simple act and not be thinking of so many other things that have happened or may happen in the future.
Blogging has been a distraction for me recently. I am reading so many posts and trying to be mindful of what the author is communicating. It becomes a distraction from my own life when it is consuming a bit too much of my day.
Today I had a respite from the blogging world. The electric power was shut off in our area due to work being done by the utility company. Even after the power was restored to my house our internet service was disrupted even longer. I did not want to use my cell phone battery up to go online.
Besides that I have been fighting a cold and so felt I should just rest and take some herbs. I did something today I haven’t felt like doing much of lately because I have been reading so many posts. I actually sat down and read a novel. If I get into a book I can finish it in one day and that is what I did today. I read a new book by Jodi Picoult called Leaving Time. It is a mystery about a young teenage girl whose mother disappeared and she wants to find out what happened to her mother. I really enjoyed getting back to reading a book again.
That was my way to be present in my life today. I took a break from the internet, drank special herbal tea and took my herb tincture, rested and became more engaged in my “normal” everyday life.
I hope to enjoy a different present tomorrow. As part of my birthday present my husband and I are going to drive up to Santa Barbara. It is not far from where I live and part of the drive takes you along the ocean. It is a beautiful view. The distance is just right for a day trip.
I will be easy to be present to enjoy a present like that.
Santa Barbara County Courthouse by Konrad Summers
City of Santa Barbara
A Different Kind of Angel
” If animals could speak , the dog would be a blundering outspoken fellow; but the cat would have the rare grace of never saying a word too much.” —Mark Twain
The Cat of the House by Ford Madox Ford
Over the hearth with my ‘minishing eyes I muse; until after
the last coal dies.
Every tunnel of the mouse,
every channel of the cricket,
I have smelt,
I have felt
the secret shifting of the mouldered rafter,
and heard
every bird in the thicket.
I see
you
Nightingale up in the tree!
I, born of a race of strange things,
of deserts, great temples, great kings,
in the hot sands where the nightingale never sings!
Have you ever had a pet cat? What do you remember about them?
Our last cat was Angel. She was my daughter’s pet and then I inherited her when my daughter went off to college. Here is a little story about her.
An Angel
Angel loved to go into our backyard and make her rounds. She would inspect the perimeter and all the rest as well. There were times when she would catch things to our dismay. She was a cat, after all, and cats do hunt things.
One day I was in the yard and Angel caught my eye. She was standing in front of the patio screen door with something in her mouth. It was a fairly large rat! I thought with a growing apprehension , Did I close the screen door all the way? Angel was good at getting her paw into the gap and pushing the door open.
I had to think fast. Angel would be in the house with the rat in a flash. I picked up the garden hose and turned on the water. Angel hated that sound. I pointed the hose in her direction and said, “Drop it! ”
If you think cats aren’t smart and don’t understand you, I suggest you reconsider that judgment.
Angel ,with the rat still in her mouth, made this little disappointed sounding meow. Like a dejected sigh, ” Awww.” Then she dropped the rat.
The rat kind of staggered away across the yard a bit stunned but unharmed.
Saturday Mornings
“What irritates me most of all about these morning people is their horribly good temper, as if they have been up for three hours and already conquered France.” —Timur Vermes
In my full-time working years Saturday morning was a time to relax. To wake up, look at the clock and remember that I did not have to get up early that day. Except when I worked as a Nurse in a hospital or in Home Health. Then I did have to work every other weekend. But on the Saturdays I was off it was a great feeling. Unless I had to get up for one of my kid’s soccer games. Oh those early morning games were not my favorite!
Nowadays, I do have more time off because I am semi-retired and my kids are grown. So usually I do not have any reason to get up early on Saturday. My husband loves Saturday because he is still into the Monday thru Friday work scene. He does wake up fairly early anyway. Sometimes he inadvertently wakes me up which I do not like. I describe myself as not being a morning person.
Not being a morning person means I do not get up with the first light and I am slow to get going in the morning if left to my own natural inclinations. I am not ready for a lot of conversation especially not before my first cup of coffee. It takes me a while to come to full consciousness. Have to start out slow. Gradual. Don’t rush me. Otherwise, grump alert.
One Liner Wednesday
” Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
—Mark Twain
This is for us who like to march to the beat of a different drummer and chafe at the demand to conform.
Notes Tied On The Sagebrush 