I'm So Sick of California Songs
You know what they say about New York too
Five days after we got home from Belgium, we flew to San Francisco. We stayed with Adrianne’s Uncle Dick and Aunt Trina joining her mother’s trip for Thanksgiving. A luxury I never dreamed of while I was working. We got to spend a lot of quality time with her cousin Peter and his partner Anna. We got to spend Thanksgiving with Trina’s family, her sister Tiffini, Tiffini’s husband Graham, and their parents Barb and Henry. I love getting to spend time with Adrianne and her family.
Adrianne had to work Monday morning, but later we would go sailing in the bay. First, we got to go on a little walk around their neighborhood with Wallace (Dick and Trina’s dog). Some shots from our walk:
I am happy to be on water pretty much anyway I can and sailing is always a great one. I have no interest in being a sailor, but sailing or boating for leisure is definitely one of my great pleasures. Peter and Anna were not able to join us, but we still had a great time. It was a perfect day, calm waters, sunny and temperate.
We had dinner that night at Mama Ji’s, a local Chinese restaurant where Trina was well known. One of my favorite things about spending time with Trina is seeing just how much she is a part of her community. People act like cities are these cold, foreign places, but I’ve found better community from cities than I ever did in the countryside. I find rural places tend toward more monolithic thinking and more stringent rules. Less sense of identity and more about conformity.
Tuesday Morning
The next day, Trina took me and Adrianne on a walk to the grocery store with a tour of the crochet animals living in the trees. There’s a lot of fun street art in San Francisco, some of it done for art’s sake, and I really love that:
We got to meet one of Wallace’s doodle buddies:
We also stopped by a coffeeshop and met the Coffee guys, one of which warned me that the coffee was just okay even though they come to that shop twice a day every day. He was right. We also met Dick and Trina’s friend Kirk, who housesits for them with regularity and is a travel agent.
Kirk was a blast and we immediately talked travel, philosophy, politics and more. I would have loved to keep talking with him, but something to look forward to on our next trip out.
When we got back, Kathy and Dick were singing and playing covers of songs they loved. It was a sweet moment to come back to.
Adrianne also uncovered Trina’s RSD copy of a Green Day tape:
Day two, coincidentally Tuesday, ended with a group going to Harris’ Steakhouse for dinner with Uncle Edward. The reservations had been made before we tagged along on this trip, so while we hated to miss out on seeing Edward (always a treat), Adrianne and I had takeaway from a fast casual Indian place and it was great.
Adrianne was also coming down with something (that I am just now recovering from, she claims she didn’t give it to me!), so we stayed on the couch and started rewatching Midnight Mass.
Day Three Of My Past Life
We were able to spend the day with Peter and Anna, seeing their apartment again and Spider (their pet cat). We took a leisurely stroll through the Presidio, where people have no problem embracing the complicated past of our nation:
And then we headed over to their apartment -
We had dinner at a very nice French restaurant and got ready for the big show the next day.
Giving Thanks
Thanksgiving was mostly a blur. I got up early to make mac and cheese and help Adrianne with mashed potatoes, as she still wasn’t feeling well. She tested regularly for Covid, in large part because Trina’s parents were joining us. Peter and Anna came over early to watch a UNC Chapel Hill basketball game and Trina headed to the airport to pick up Barb and Henry on their return from a month long tour of South America. They even got to go to Easter Island. Very cool.
Tiffini and Graham were a gameday decision, as he had a lingering health issue and wanted to make sure he was in fighting shape. One thing to be grateful for, they were able to join us! I love spending time with the Chow family, it’s almost always informative and always interesting. I got to hear about Barb and Henry’s trip to Antarctica too! Graham and I commiserated over the stressors of work on your health. I apologized that we hadn’t made it to the East Bay, last trip out we had told Tiffini we would come to Oakland and this wasn’t the trip for that!
We got to have a private meal with Peter and Anna, and it’s been really great getting to know Peter as an adult. I think we would both readily admit we didn’t have much of a relationship when he was younger, but I’m glad that we are able to talk more and connect. Tiffini, Graham, Barb and Henry headed out a little after we ate and we spent the rest of the evening talking and playing some games. It was a nice way to unwind on a whirlwind of a trip.
The next morning we took Trina out to Raggedy Andy’s, a local diner favorite in the Castro, and said our goodbyes.
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, outside of the colonial terror part of its history, because it is a day of food and community. I wish some of the mythology were truer than the actual history, which you should definitely read up on if you’re not familiar, but the idea of a day where we should reflect on the prosperity we share in and share food is not inherently a bad thing.
The favorite video games post earlier this week was just a teaser for the next two weeks. You’re about to get a barrage of end of year lists. Don’t be shy, share yours with me too!