slow glowing

six days

met my aunt theresa and my cousin dash at their house in the mission; found theresa in the sun on her verdant deck watering plants

we went to dinner at a noisy “pan-latin” restaurant with beautiful evening light streaming in through the windows

theresa and i drove across the bay to see elana’s play

waited in the warm evening on her porch until the play began and we followed actors around her house. the pair i followed were played by a woman i know from college and a man i used to know, used to hate, and before that used to live with, and before that used to love (something like that; i admit: that’s an exaggerated simplification for the sake of poetry)

said hi

slept well in theresa’s warm attic

in the morning, met alice and her boyfriend tom at the bart station and we went to the farmer’s market for breakfast and people-watching and cheeses and glimpses of baby goats

alice and i rode the streetcar to golden gate park and climbed trees

and then wandered outer space and rainforests and oceans at the california academy of sciences. the roof is like something out of a dream or a hallucination, but the miracle of it is kept very much out of reach by railings and security cameras

on the way out of the park, prehistoric plants

& jazz music echoing in a buried concrete underpass

then a long line for very tasty ice cream (lavender honey & brown sugar scoops), a bunch of alice’s friends enjoying the sun in dolores park, and a wandering walk back to theresa’s through the mission

in the evening i went to berkeley again; walked from the bart through neighborhoods full of pretty houses and prettier gardens to see the lysistrata project one more time and follow a different pair of actors around elana’s house

after the show, i went out for a drink with my friend from college, my ex the actor, his ex, and a couple of their friends. had fun despite myself. got a little drunk despite myself. my ex is really into gardening these days and we both laughed a lot. & E and i talked about traveling and future possibilities and unexpected transcendent moments

back to the city late and deeply tired

on sunday morning,

theresa made me tea and breakfast and then took me on a walking mural tour of her neighborhood (i have dozens and dozens of photos, from this and other wanders, of beautiful murals in every style; i’ll share them later). also: a fortune-telling storefront art installation

& an incredible park and playground with a giant gaudi-esque mosaic dragon

met elana downtown and we walked to japantown, thick with people, for the cherry blossom festival and parade. ate tasty things from booths with long lines, stood in the sun. the taiko drummers were our favorites… & the kids watching the parade

walked back to the mission to escape the crowd and pick up my things; saw goofiness

& devotion

elana took me to see girlfriend at berkeley rep, where she works. for the show, there is one word: cute! with exclamation mark

walked to her housesitting gig and fell asleep in luxurious bedding, complete with soft warm cat

slept late, met elana for lunch, wandered berkeley with my camera. lovely gardens, and everywhere—in san francisco too—this sweet-smelling vine:

read the snow leopard in a coffeeshop & then walked back with elana; we stopped on a whim at a thai restaurant with a “grand opening!” banner that turned out to be excellent and smiled the rest of the way to her housesit, where we poured glasses of wine and sat in the hot tub in the big backyard and talked away the daylight

watched a completely ridiculous and very funny movie (repo: the genetic opera)

it rained overnight and everything was wet in the morning

but in san francisco it was beautiful and sunny

met bonnie & scott for falafel near their home; we sat on a grassy hill in a park and they gave me directions to the beach

walked a long way on the dunes and then on the beach, picking up interesting stones, watching the birds, squishing my heels into the sand

wandered into golden gate park

and made a tiny cairn from the stones in my pockets, hidden in a tree

walked back out into the streets and realized that behind all of the painted houses there are hidden green backyards i can’t see from the sidewalks; in theresa’s neighborhood, some of them have huge old citrus trees heavy with fruit

met elana in union square

tea & hot chocolate, then a steep walk uphill and down, then a slow, thoughtful walk around the labyrinth at grace cathedral

we went to theater pub, a project run by a friend of elana’s, and watched a play in a bar while sipping pints of beer

crossed under the bay again

slept

came home.