Snippets . . . and some musical fun . . . from a quick weekend trip to the Bay Area
Last weekend we escaped the more than half-foot of snow and ice that covered the Washington region and flew to the Bay Area for a long weekend with our daughter. It was a wonderful respite in so many ways. On the sublime side of the ledger we spent time in the grandeur of the western landscape, amidst the soaring towers of San Francisco, and walking at the speed of life through the human-scale of small town Alameda. We saw friends old and new over delicious meals and in gatherings festive and celebratory. And we were reminded, in a moving Sunday service that closed with a blessing written by The Rev. William Sloane Coffin, of what grace—if we seek and accept it—can bring us in today’s world.
“May God give you the grace to never sell yourself short; Grace to risk something big for something good; and Grace to remember the world is now too dangerous for anything but the truth and too small for anything but love . . .”
Grace, if you will, to remember that we can do hard things.
And since the sublime is often coupled with the ridiculous, I’ll note that my poor dry and cracked hands and knuckles—a result of days without end of sub-freezing temperatures—were miraculously healed in the California sunshine.
Yes, it was a weekend full of grace and wonder, bringing joy and happiness in the heart of winter. Here are a few visual memories, with some musical interludes thrown in for fun.
WINTER WONDERS AT FILOLI
Filoli is a stunning Georgian Revival estate that reflects a bygone era of luxury living, a magnificent 16-acre English-Renaissance style garden, and always changing natural lands of more than 650 acres surrounded by more than 23,000 acres of the protected Peninsula watershed south of San Francisco. We’ve been members for a number of years and our daughter is also a member, taking the short drive to Woodside several times a year to experience the many sides and stories of this beautiful piece of California’s past, present, and future.
The name comes from combining the first two letters from the key words of the first owner’s personal credo: Fight for a just cause. Love your fellow Man. Live a Good Life. On a picture perfect Saturday, we took in all three aspects—historic house, garden masterpiece, restorative woodlands—of Filoli.
The house was being prepared for the upcoming celebration of the Lunar New Year. The Year of the Horse begins on February 17th, and the displays, including the Chinese porcelains, were embracing the theme.
Visitor engagement is a growing part of all aspects of the site, and we saw a few small examples in the house, where young and old were encouraged to help complete a jigsaw puzzle in the library or tarry for a game of Mahjong.
We spent a couple of hours in the gardens soaking in the sunshine and being transfixed by the beauty of the winter blossoms.
In our weekend of grace and wonder, we were delighted to find that artist and activist Thomas Dambo‘s brand new troll sculpture Rose Wonders now has a permanent home in the Filoli Redwoods. Built from reclaimed materials, Rose delighted visitors the day of our visit. We joined guests of all ages who were mesmerized by the size, detailing, and—especially—the inherent joy found in this work of art.
One of the features of the landscape visitors can experience at Filoli is the chance to walk across the San Andreas Fault which separates the Northern American and Pacific tectonic plates. Really! The shift in this fault line was the cause of the famous 1906 San Francisco earthquake. It is a reminder of the fragile nature of our earth, one of several places on the site that call one to stop for reflection. And our visit on Saturday wouldn’t be the last experience we had with seismic shifts in the Golden State.
Claire visited Filoli last fall and came back marveling at Thistlewyck Village. In the new year, Thistlewyck has become Railroad in the Redwoods, a magical village of trains and fairy houses.
Trains are always a good time for a musical interlude. When it comes to train songs my thoughts turn to Jerry Douglas, his monster instrumental chops, and that idiosyncratic singing voice covering the Tom Waits tune 2:19. (As in “my baby’s leaving on the 2:19.”)
Waits is a California boy—born in beautiful Pomona near Claire’s alma mater—so it fits the West Coast theme. Plus, how can you not love a tune with the verse:
“On the train you get smaller, as you get farther away
The roar covers everything you wanted to say
Was that a raindrop or a tear in your eye?
Were you drying your nails or waving goodbye?”
SPRING IS ON THE WAY
Sunday was February 1st, which is celebrated as St. Brigid’s Day in Ireland, throughout the Catholic Church . . . and at Christ Episcopal Church in Alameda. St. Brigid of Kildare’s feast day traditionally falls in the middle of the winter solstice and the spring equinox, signaling that the period of wintering is passing and the new life of spring is on the way.
Christ Church celebrates by welcoming the saint (a role performed by our daughter the last three years) who arrives with a crown of flowers. The young women of the parish also wear flowered wreaths in their hair.
The children’s sermon focused on the saint’s many miracles (the adults seemed to especially enjoy the turning a bathtub of water into beer) and on her kindness for all people and animals. Brigid is a patron saint of Ireland, dairymaids, cattle, midwives, Irish nuns, and newborn babies. The children joined St. Brigid around the altar, making for a festive eucharist.
As we look to the ending of dark times, let’s listen to two ancient Celtic Songs celebrating the Spring Turning of Imbolc better known in Ireland as Féile Bhride (St Brigid’s Day). The two featured tunes are Rosc Aimhirgín (Song of Amergin) and Gabhaim Molta Bhríde (In Praise of Brigid) attributed to Tomás Ó Flannghaile (1846-1916).
Claire was also recognized on Sunday as she rotated off the vestry (the church’s lay leadership council) and from her position as Junior Warden. We were deeply touched to see the very real love this congregation has shared with and for our wonderful and talented daughter.
AMONG THE URBAN REDWOODS
Later that Sunday, the three of us took the ferry to San Francisco, docking at the historic Ferry Building. In the city we sat and relaxed in the redwood grove at the base of the Transamerica Tower, immersed ourselves in the recently opened time capsule exhibition in the tower’s museum, and returned to waterside to enjoy Hog Island Oysters as a full moon rose over the Bay Bridge.
TREMORS, TURKEYS, AND TIME TO LEAVE
Monday morning I was up early (my inner clock hadn’t fully adjusted), sitting at a desk in the Airbnb. All of a sudden I felt the house lift up . . . and then settle back down. As many times as I’ve visited the state over the years, it was my first California earthquake!
I knew exactly what had happened, having lived through the August 23, 2011, East Coast earthquake that damaged the National Cathedral, among other major buildings in Washington.
Last Monday, at 7:01 a.m. Pacific Time, there had been a 4.2 magnitude earthquake in San Ramon, with tremors felt as far away as Santa Rosa, Modesto and Santa Cruz. The area has experienced a swarm of earthquakes (a new term for me) over the past few weeks and months.
Two songs immediately came to mind! Carole King’s wonderful I Feel the Earth Move is one of my favorite pop songs from the early 70s and that churning piano lick kicked off her amazing (and amazingly successful) Tapestry album.
The other tune was the Seldom Scene‘s California Earthquake, written by Rodney Crowell and featuring backing vocals by none other than Linda Ronstadt. “We’ll build ourselves another town | so you can tear it down again” is a line that says a lot, in ways both good and bad, about the human spirit.
Already shaken (pun intended) by the morning’s events, I wasn’t fully prepared to see this sight as I took a walk to get my morning coffee at the wonderful and welcoming Julie’s Coffee and Tea Garden.
We had been warned that Alameda had a flock of wild turkeys, and we actually saw three saunter (that’s the only word for it) across a busy street holding up traffic the day before. But here were two, big as life, blocking my path.
I didn’t want to get too close, because they looked tough and mean. After a couple of quick photos, I gave these birds a wide berth.
And there’s no better music to celebrate wild turkeys in Alameda than the old fiddle tune Turkey in the Straw. I found two incredible versions, the first featuring mandolin masters Sam Bush and Sierra Hull having way too much fun . . .
. . . followed by a wild version by that old country music star Liberace (he says with tongue firmly planted in cheek).
I took the tremors and turkeys as a sign that it was time to head out of California and return to the land of snow and ice, where winter still resides and my poor dry, cracked skin has reappeared. The ending of the dark times (literally and figuratively) still seems much too far in the future. Nonetheless, I’ll think of a weekend full of grace and wonder and keep reminding myself that winter is not the death of the life cycle, but its crucible.
More to come . . .
DJB
Full moon over the Bay Bridge by DJB. All other photos, except where noted, by DJB or Claire Brown.
MORE TO COME... 