It is Fall! Summer is Here!

"The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."

Every time I see or hear this phrase, I see gray sky, chilly wind, cold damp air, buildings and hilltops and bridges hiding in thick fog.

Who made that famous quote anyway?  Nope.  Not Mark Twain.  As a matter of fact, this quote wasn’t even directed at San Francisco originally.

According to Quote Investigator, James Quin, an actor in London, made this remark when he was asked whether he ever had a bad winter in the 1700s.  Mark Twain used the Quin quote in an 1880 letter while complaining about the weather in Paris.*

 

The modern phrasing of this saying was initially directed at Duluth, MN in the early 1900s.  Over a span of 100+ years, many cities were attached to this quote. This includes Milwaukee, Two Harbors, Grand Marais, Puget Sound, Buffalo, Minneapolis and, of course, SAN FRANCISCO!*

So what does this all mean?  It means that we get to enjoy two summers in a year.  One cold.  One hot.  And that is beautiful.

Happy Fall Equinox!

* Source from: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2011/11/30/coldest-winter/

Time is Changing

Couple of friends and I were just talking about the rapid change we see on San Pablo Avenue last night and here it is in today’s paper.

Change is inevitable but how I will miss the way it used to be.  Robert and I love cruising from San Pablo down to Berkeley on San Pablo Ave.  We love checking out  mom and pop storefronts and buildings with unique architecture.  Each street block is interesting to look at.  Soon they will be gone and the road will be lined with tall mix-used structures that have the same look and feel one after another for miles and miles.

Time is changing.  Can’t complain though.  We are all the force of change one time or another.  Each generation of us is leaving a mark for better or for worse.