2020: I Came. I Fed. I Conquered.

 
I am a volunteer feral cat feeder. My assignment is feeding a feral colony in a cemetery once a month. This is my second year volunteering. Visiting a place of eternal rest takes a different meaning for me this year because I myself, faced the possibility of death.

In January, when I came here the day after being discharged from a one-week hospital stay and being tagged stage 4, I was not sure if that was my last...

In February, I came here during my most miserable time with ascites causing swelling in my abdomen and legs. It was two days after getting my port and two days before my first chemo. I had difficulty breathing yet I pushed on because I did not know if that was my last...

When I came in March, I knew it was not my last...

From April through July, I came here and saw season change. I was hopeful that I will be here for all seasons.

In August, I came four days after my surgery, and I was happy to share good news with the kitties.

In September, I came here knowing that I have kicked cancer butts and I got a new lease on life.

Life has been back to normal since October.

Today, I just want to say: I came. I fed. I conquered.

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/

Northern Lights, Fairbanks, Alaska

Northern lights (aurora borealis) is a natural light display in the Earth's sky, predominantly seen in the high latitude regions (around the Arctic).

According to Wikipedia, "auroras are produced when the magnetosphere is sufficiently disturbed by the solar wind that the trajectories of charged particles in both solar wind and magnetospheric plasma, mainly in the form of electrons and protons, precipitate them into the upper atmosphere (thermosphere/exosphere) due to Earth's magnetic field, where their energy is lost."

In plain English: the light that's visible to our eyes is a result of electrically charged particles colliding in the atmosphere.

For this reason, there is no guarantee that you will get to see auroras. And even if you see it, there is no guarantee that it will always be as dramatic and brilliant as seen on postcards.

On the night that we went on the tour (12/28/17), it was forecasted to be a level 2, which meant low activity. Nevertheless, the sight of beautiful emerald lights appearing in the night sky, was breathtaking no matter how faint.

I'm so happy that I was able to capture it with my camera.

How about those colors?  Green is the most common color of auroras. When particles collide with oxygen, yellow and green are produced. Interactions with nitrogen produce red, violet, and occasionally blue colors.

Was it worth staying out in minus 17 degrees Farenheit to view the auroras?  You bet!  And I would definitely do it again.

Thank you Mother Nature!

Ho-Ho-Ho 2010

So another holiday season is upon us. Actually, the holiday season started way back around Halloween. Pumpkin orange and black just didn't mix well with red and green. Oh, in between, there was the autumn color of Thanksgiving too! Ugh!

Why the holiday season means shopping, shopping and more shopping? Don't we do that regularly already? I really don't appreciate the commercialization of this otherwise special season. It cheapens the spirits. Heck, it devalues the meaning of Christmas and other holidays by focusing on material goods.

What's Christmas? I was at Union Square last Thursday evening on my way to meet the DFS peeps. Lights were up. Trees were decorated. Ice rink was ready for those who wanted to skate in the rain. A homeless guy was singing off-key Christmas carols....Now, that's Christmas!

What's Special about this time of year? To me, the best part of the holiday season is the chance to catch up with folks whom I don't get to see often during the year. Sharing holiday cheers and catching up on the year's happenings is what's special. I met up with the DFS folks last week and I will be getting together with the Party America folks next week. To me, that is the essence of the holiday season.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Summer Solstice 2010

First day of summer: yes, the longest day of the year. This is the build-up,boys and girls, from the first day of spring. Notice that we have been getting a little bit more light each day until today, the pinnacle in terms of daylight? After today, less light each day until we're back to the dark, pitch-black 5pm... Boy, what a party pooper I am.

This summer has been slow coming. We got rain through most of Spring. Weather has been mild even in the inlands. Ladies still wear scarves although I can't tell if it's fashion or the cool temperature. People seem to be more subdue, less bounch in their steps... Not sure if it's the poor economy or the cold temperature.

But remember, we only get one shot of summer each year. Make it work! Enjoy what we have today.

It's Perfect Kind of Summer

What a gorgeous day! Warm and sunny. May I dare hope that this is the start of our Indian summer?

Indian Summer. Sounds exotic doesn’t it? But it actually means FAKE summer. It’s what Mother Nature ekes out in late summer to comfort those of us who brave these cold summer months.

Real or not, here in San Francisco, you are finally able to wear shorts, tank tops and apply sun screens. You can even sit outside by the piers to enjoy the sea, the breeze and the view.

For those who came in July and shivered in the fog, come back. You won’t be disappointed by our fake summer. We save the best for last.

Summer in New York

Hot. Humid. Sun. Rain. Lighting. Thunder. I understand that this is New York summer. Maybe a little bit more dramatic than usual.

Big rain clouds hover on some parts of the city. Where they cover, the sky goes dark and it pours. During heavy down pours, even people with umbrella gave up walking because you would be totally drenched except your head! Ask me!

Rain or not, the ladies are in their summer apparels. Tank tops, short skirts and sandals. Don't dress like this when visiting SF in the summer. You need sweat shirt and thick pants. Don't forget the parka!

I didn't have an umbrella yesterday and I got wet like a cat that was scooped out of the water. I remembered to take a big umbrella from the hotel lobby this morning but it was perfectly sunny. Sigh!

I was cooped up in the hotel for the past two nights but today I'm set free. Thank you Weather God! Happy Hour at the Whiskey Blue Bar with the office folks. Dinner at the Sea Grill at the Rockefeller Center with my cousins.

Not a bad way to end this visit. No complaints.

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A Blissful Afternoon

Just Gorgeous! Today is one of those pretty days. Not a cloud in the sky and the sun shines warming, not blistering. It may be too hot inland but it's just perfect by the coast.

I put out the sun umbrella and dust off the patio furniture. I think this is the first time this year. It was either bad weather or no time to enjoy. I actually got both good weather and time today! Wow! What a pleasure to just being able to sit back and relax! Can't ask for more!

Well, maybe I can ask for more days like this.

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Still Going, Going...

I wonder if my poinsetta sets a record for everlasting. It's still a pretty red and green plant from Christmas. It sits atop of the file cabinet by the window in my office. I don't pay much attention to it except watering it every couple of days.

Perhaps poinsetta can last very long given a chance. Too many times, it just get ignored and neglected after the holidays. Don't they deserve a life after serving its purpose as holiday decoration? Now I feel guilty.

Not sure how much longer my poinsetta will last. I think sooner or later the red pigment will fade. Perhaps it's a lucky plant being at the right place at the right time. Or perhaps, this little plant wants to make a point.

Note to self: You don't know how far you can go if you don't try.

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Vernal Equinox

Spring arrived today precisely at 7:44am EDT. Why 7:44am EDT? This was when the sun crossed the earth equator and evenly split today’s hours into equal part of day and night. From this day onward until the first day of summer, we will gain a little more daylight each day.

Of course spring time only applies to those of us living above the equator. The folks down south are just starting to experience the onset of the fall season. It’s still Equinox for them, but they will lose a little bit of daylight each day until the first day of their winter (our summer).

Life is fair, isn’t it? You gain, you lose.

Enjoy the season, everyone!

Saving Daylight

Our Office Manager puts out a memo reminding us that daylight saving time starts this Sunday (3/8). But, this is only in the US. France and the UK won’t change to DST until 3/29. Brazil has already changed to DST on 2/15, and Hong Kong doesn’t have DST. So, it will be fun trying to figure out who is at what time in the next couple of weeks.

What’s TIME any way? There seems to be no standard around when DST should start or end or should there even be one at all. We are all kind of playing with our own time. Why do some countries have DST and some don’t? Hmmm... I'll need to do some research.

Daylight saved but not time. I’m not complaining though. I wish we are on DST all the time. Right now, to gain extra daylight means I have to get up extra early. It will be good to have “the night is still young” feeling. Although we may lose an hour of time on Sunday, we will gain more with one additional hour of daylight. There’s so much we can do in that one extra hour of daylight:

• Gardening
• Walking
• Reading
• Washing car
• Eating outside
• Simply enjoying that there is light

Spring in the Air

After a wet rainy January and a cold wintry March, we finally see SPRING in April. Beautiful sunny sky, cozy warm air (depends where), light breeze not wild wind (except when the fog rolls in).... ahhh...so lucky to have this week off!

Woke up early and found the garden blooming. Dad's hard work on the garden really pays off.

Screaming Magnolia

Almost overnight, RK's neighbor's tall tree transformed from bunch of dry twigs to a beautiful bouquet. The sight was amazing! The flowers were so pretty that I couldn't even take ugly pictures!

So what the heck is this tree? After googling all sort of combo - flowering tree, blooming tree, big flowers, flowers before leaves, etc... I think this is a Magnolia tree!! If I'm wrong, let me know.

Why flowers before leaves? I tried looking it up but decided to forget it and just enjoy before they're replaced by green leaves.

Pretend It's Winter

Somehow, 60 degree-ish weather, sunny blue sky, palm trees and ice skating just don't seem to go together. But here we are, ice skating ring ready and holiday music blasting... We are forced to enjoy this artificial winter.

Here's reality: the winter holidays season starts in early November. It doesn't matter that winter is still more than a month away, or that we haven't even had our Thanksgiving turkey. We have to hurry because we need more time for shopping - no I mean- to enjoy the holidays.

Good Bye Summer

So summer has come and almost gone. Did we really have a summer? Yes, there were few extremely hot days here and there. But overall, this has been a pretty mellow summer in our neck of the woods.

Not willing to let the summer slip by, we had an End of Summer Party for our buddies on 9/7/06. RK cranked up the heat for the pool so the kids were able to enjoy one last dip.

The adults had the usual indulgence of fine food and wine. Many thanks to Sandra's generosity, we always got to taste different wines - what a blast to be able to have 8 bottles of different red and white in one tasting. Of course, the rest of the girls brought enough food to feed the army again.

Fall is only two days away and holidays are just around the corner. We will soon be hearing ho-ho-hos and jingle bells. However, they will also pass by before we have a chance to immerse in the holiday spirits.

Oh well, this is life and we have to go along for the ride.