Adventures With Patti

Orchid and Jason were married on Sept. 19. I was the officiator--a first for me! It was really fun because they were relaxed and having fun. Wedd Recap | Jason + Orchid | Shiksa Studio from Shiksa Studio on Vimeo .

I couldn’t leave the Bay Area without biking the Golden Gate Bridge. Isabel Massallo was a good sport and agreed to ride it with me on short notice. We took CalTrain up to the city from the Peninsula and biked around the Embarcadero to get to the bridge entrance. Getting past Fisherman’s Wharf was half the adventure, dodging tourists, cars, and buses. We tried to get away from the traffic by riding right next to the water...the route ended up taking us right to Pier 39. I’ve lived here over a year but had never visited the pier and the sea lions there, so this took care of one of my tourist “must see” sights. The bike route to the bridge is poorly maintained. We had to dodge lots of broken glass and carry the bikes up and down a few flights of stairs, but when we got there, we were treated to clear skies—well, about as clear as the skies get over the Golden Gate. It was super-windy and the views were spectacular. Here’s a close up of the cables—what Gauss’s Mom used to call i figli (th

We live right next door to Atherton, one of the wealthiest communities in the country. Average home price is $4.5 million, and many of the homes stand behind tall walls or iron fences. Streets are marked with signs that say “No Through Traffic.” This doesn’t mean that you CAN’T drive through...it just means that they don’t WANT you to drive through. Well, for a year I have driven through anyway, enjoying Atherton’s leafy greenness from my battered minivan. Only a part of the house shows in this last picture. They’re building a new wall to protect it from Middlefield Road. The trees are so thick along Middlefield Road, they have to be trimmed to form a tunnel for the traffic. When I bike north on Middlefield Road through Atherton, the trees give way at the Redwood City line, and suddenly you are in Little Michoacán. At the Redwood City line, the trees are gone, and we are in Mexico! This is my favorite taqueria: Gruellense #2. Tacos $1.10 apiece. And so yummy! Muffler shop and florist.

As of May 29, I’ve been in California for a year. The bad news of December just kept getting worse...there was no work for either of us in January and February. Then in March, Gauss discovered that he had prostate cancer. Surgery seemed like the best option, so Gauss scheduled it as to happen as soon as possible, March 27. Gauss seemed most worried that it interrupted his training for the Stillwater Marathon, but that was the least of our worries. Fortunately, the pathology report following surgery seemed to indicate that the cancer was contained, so now that his prostate is no longer in him, the cancer shouldn't be, either. The other good news is that part of the stimulus package was a provision that pays 65% of COBRA premiums for 9 months. Our 9 started in March. It was a huge relief for us, as the COBRA premiums are about $1400 a month. I wrote a short piece about it that was accepted by KQED, our local public radio station. That aired May 5. http://www.kqed.org/epArchive/R90505

Dragons! On the way to SF on BART. On the spur of the moment, Gauss and I decided to hop on BART and head into the city with our friends Orchid and Jason to see the Chinatown New Year Parade. It was billed as the largest new year parade outside of Asia. Hey—we’re living in San Francisco, why not take advantage of free opportunities to be tourists? The weather was cool and foggy, but mostly dry. It was a noisy, fun affair with dragons, marching bands, and local celebrities. Kids with colorful parasols from a local Chinese school Walking rice bowls, parade entry from local grocery store

Gauss and I finally took a day trip to the Sierras to ski last weekend. We brought the food, and our buddy KJ drove us in his 4 WD truck—good thing, since it was raining when we left, and snowing once we got above 3000 feet. It snowed steadily the whole day. There were up to two feet of new powder at the top of the mountain, and with my artificial knees, it was hard to ski in places where skiers and boarders had cut up the deep snow. After lunch, I stuck to the groomed bunny slopes. My strategy next time will be to head up to the mountain after several dry days so I can ski on groomed snow. KJ carried a flask of cognac in his parka. When Gauss and I brought individual cans of spicy V-8 out of the cooler, KJ got creative and whipped up mountain Bloody Marys by pouring some cognac into the vegetable juice and then spiking it with Tabasco. The ski lodge has hot sauce along with the little envelopes of ketchup and mustard at the condiment station. Minnesota ski areas do not offer this seas

I haven’t posted in quite awhile. Reason: Gauss lost his job in December. After tearing up our life by the roots in May, I just couldn’t write about it. Gauss’s last day was December 15. Luca and Emilio showed up for a visit December 23. They were here for a week, and that week just flew by. It was so sweet having them here. We thought about going up to the Sierras to go skiing, but after the brutal winter the kids have had in Minnesota, they were more interested in things they could do in shirt sleeves: seeing Chinatown and the ocean. We drove to Monterey and ate dinner at a restaurant on the ocean near Pebble Beach.After lunch, we walked down to the water. There were big waves, but the tide was low. We watched an otter playing in the tide pools. There were big tubular seaweeds that were sort of disgusting but also amusing. Besides the Monterey excursion, we had lots of get togethers with friends who wanted to meet Luca and Emilio: noodles at Sam Wo with Ted and Frances, Christmas day