The Last Day of San Francisco Vacation

Today marks the last day of my vacation in my own city, and I greet it with melancholy as well as a sense of satisfaction. I am leaving to drive to LA today to meet my mom and family for her birthday and while I am looking forward to it, when I return on Tuesday I will not have any more time to wander around the city doing whatever I please. I go back to work on Wednesday.

I have to say, though, that this vacation in my own city could almost have not been better. The weather was terrible, true, but I went on my favorite hike, picked up guitar again, made syrups and cooked, read, started this blog, launched actual hosting for my (admittedly crappy) website, shopped, had good hot chocolate and a home-made latte every morning while lounging, swam for the first time in years, biked, went to the pet cemetery, organized my room (ie life), cleaned house, started to learn photoshop, explored some career options, wandered the city, attended a cooking class taught by my oldest friend, went to parties, went to bars to meet old acquaintances, met good friends and my roommate for lunch, had very enjoyable dates, got multiple big errands done, saw Gavin Newsom :) , ate dinner with my dad and stepmom a couple of times, and more. While I can't say that I would have gotten my vacuum repaired and car smog-checked, I do feel that I lived these days to their fullest, as if they were my last.

The main thing, however, is the amount of time that my vacation allowed me, and the ease of life it permitted, what with being available every evening, and at leisure the rest of the time, encouraged me to become a real human being again that had much concern for the well-being of the people around me. I loved spending time with my friends and my roommate, Katie, and having a chance to get to know them better. Working as much as I have been had turned me into less than a human being. All I was doing was working, with no time or energy for anything else once I got home. I am determined to curb this, to leave at 5 when I can and attack the rest of my workload in the morning, so that I might meet a friend, or learn a computer program, or read a book each evening. Anything besides work, because no matter how much a person likes their job, to narrow their life to only that one thing isn't healthy. I feel that my growth as a human being has been stunted, and I would like to begin learning and branching out again.

I am looking forward to LA and I hope that my boss will allow my request for a couple of days off around the weekend when we first get back, so that I might go to Tahoe and at the same time, reacclimate to the working environment.

The Presidio

One of the things that I think other people might consider more odd and a little morbid that was on my checklist was to go to the Presidio Pet Cemetery. I've wanted to go since I was a kid, and though I drove past hundreds of times, had never ventured in until yesterday.

The first of the photos are from my excursion to the Pet Cemetery. I hadn't expected it to be at all creepy, or malodorous (!) but it was a little of both. I sunk into the ground in a couple of spots and once I left couldn't fully shake the idea of eerie graveyard dirt being attached to my boots. Made me want to hose them down. I'm glad I got to mark this one off the list though, finally. Some of the epitaphs were truly touching, and others made you wonder about the owners' state of mind. (like the GI Pet one). I'm including some of the better epitaphs and photos and I hope you enjoy. I particularly enjoyed the tiny tombstone dedicated to "Ratilla" and Skippy, who "Loved Life".










The last photo is of a tree near the main post that they light up each year for the holidays. It has nothing to do with the cemetery, only it is the only official nod to the holidays that the Presidio gives, and it's actually quite spectacular. The glow from the lights makes you want to have a evening picnic beneath its branches, or just extend your arms and spin in circles, if the frequent drivers-by wouldn't give you looks that would ruin the experience.

Random vacation photos of the day

while on vacation i have gone through a laundry list of things to do--things i haven't had a chance to do in the last 6 months, if not more. while some of those things include getting vacuums repaired and my car smog-checked, the more fun things include trying the famous hot chocolate at a cafe downtown and wandering around on clement street (always an enjoyable destination).

the hot chocolate was amazing but the chocolate whipped cream, while incredibly delicious, had an unappetizing appearance not fully captured by this photo. it was delicious though.

the other photos i took at kamei housewares on clement street (shhh! it's a great secret place in sf for dishes and everything kitchen-associated). normal, then not normal. though naked is normal and natural. and if i belonged to a church, i'd welcome it like eden.

Ah, vacation

point reyes national seashore








Christmas day was spent sheltering in my car, soaked to the bone and playing guitar (badly, but with enthusiasm), after attempting to go on a great hike. December 26th was spent actually doing the great hike.

The first are my pics from today, and the ones after are my pics from Christmas day.