Looks like it's going to be a good weekend!

Festival in Chinatown↓

These were a little scary↓

Along the walk up to Coit Tower↓

View of the bay from the top↓

Don't you just want to hug this guy?

These guys cracked me up - there was a  lot of squabbling going on over the float with the Pier 39 flags.  Everybody wanted to be on that one and finally one too many sea lions launched himself onto the raft , which then listed to the side, sending 4 or 5 sliding off into the water.

It's a tough job but somebody has to do it↓

Self Portrait

What's a visit to San Francisco without driving down Lombard Street?

Or driving over the Golden Gate Bridge?

It was cool because as soon as we got to the other side of the bridge, we emerged from the fog into brilliant blue skies and bright sun. - fairly typical, I believe. You can see the fog rolling in on that hill to the left. It was alive.

The Good Life↓

You know how they talk about having “disposable income” - money that you don’t need but can dispose of at your own whim or fancy? Well I don’t have a whole lot of that and that’s not what I want to write about, anyway. 

Another thing I don’t have much of is “disposable time.”  Nope, there’s not a lot of whim or fancy going on in my days. But I do miss writing on Xanga and my Xanga friends. So please forgive me for being a “lapsed” Xangan.  One of the people I subscribe to once wrote on her site, “Xanga for Life” and I totally agreed with that sentiment. Now she’s lapsed too.

Does this ever happen to you?  You’ll be going along with your day and something will occur and you’ll think, “Hey, that would make a good Xanga post.” But then you don’t have time to write about it and soon forget altogether?  It happens to me all the time, even though it’s been months since I last posted. I probably need to carry a little notepad and have it handy to write down impressions like that when they occur.

My plan is to post some life updates very soon, but till then,

Xanga for Life!

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Look who was in my backyard sunning himself yesterday. At first we thought he was a copperhead, however upon closer investigation (web-browsing) he appears to be a rat snake. We didn't kill it and did not plan to, but we did talk about capturing the snake and transferring it to a wooded area. He snuck off while we were still debating the issue (in truth, we honestly didn't want to try to capture it just in case he was poisonous). It makes me nervous thinking of poisonous snakes in my flower beds, so I'm glad he's not.

 From the Plaza – Lunchtime Thoughts and Observations

Thankfully the canvas awnings have finally been replaced – the ones that were destroyed in the hurricane last September.  At last there is some shade around the fountains and I can sit out here at lunch and tolerate the heat. My reading tree is rapidly losing its leaves and affords little shade these days. I fear that the dryness and heat of this brutal summer we are having may be too much for it and it is dying.  That makes me sad.

There is a young couple walking around the fountain, she on the elevated ledge that borders it and he beside her.  They are dressed in business attire and both are wearing name tags around their necks.  He is in a sport coat and tie with a back pack strapped on and she is in a skirt and light-weight blouse.  They are talking earnestly, at least she is, and he is intent upon her.  I think they must be here for some seminar or training session and have come outside to get some air and stretch their legs.  I think, too, that he must like her or be very interested in her in order to be outside in 100 degree heat, walking in circles in the sun, and wearing a suit and tie.  I think he must like her a lot.

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This little guy has been hopping around the yard for the last couple of days. Mama is nearby, too.

You never know how God is going to speak to you or what approach He is going to take. I was scheduled to see a specialist one particular day. I felt as though I’d been getting the run-around from my doctors and the truth is, they just weren’t sure what to tell me based on the results of the tests I’d had. They wanted me to consult a breast specialist and I agreed that it was a good idea. 

The day of my doctor’s visit I had it all figured out. I was going to my appointment, she was going to read my x-rays and tell me that there was absolutely no problem with them and that I was free to go my merry way.  I prayed for as much on the way to work that morning.

As I pulled into my parking space in the garage that morning a song came on the radio that riveted me to the seat of the car. The song was a simple acoustic melody, really almost a ditty, called “Be Ok” and the lyrics came straight out of the radio and stabbed me in the heart because they were exactly what I was feeling and praying about that day. That singer/songwriter’s name is Ingrid Michaelson and as soon as I got my computer booted up at work I bought the CD because I knew I had to hear that song again.  All the lyrics of the song are important to me but these in particular zeroed in on what I was feeling that day:

CHORUS:
Open me up and you will see
I'm a gallery of broken hearts
I'm beyond repair, let me be
And give me back my broken parts

I just want to know today, know today, know today
I just want to know something today
I just want to know today, know today, know today
Know that maybe I will be ok

CHORUS

Just give me back my pieces
Just give them back to me please
Just give me back my pieces
And let me hold my broken parts

I just want to be okay today.

I just want to know today that I will be okay.

I saw the doctor that afternoon and she didn’t tell me to go my merry way, as I had planned for her to. She told me that another specialist needed to be consulted and that a biopsy was a distinct possibility - not the news I planned on or wanted to hear. However, at the very end of the visit she patted me on the arm and said all I needed to hear:

You’re going to be okay.

And I am.

BE OK by Ingrid Michaelson