River Brown

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Slice of Life # 26 & #27

Yesterday I remembered my slice of life commitment, and my day filled up.  G. and I took my mother to the SF Zoo, where she was a docent for many years in her retirement.  The zoo was her happy place as D. loves animals and adores learning new things.  Walking wasn’t going so well, so I went back to rentals for a wheelchair for mom.

This allowed us to stroll several hours with the sea of people enjoying a fabulous SF day in a well-tended zoo.  Even the horticulture is worth a visit.  We were in the rain forest exhibit when one of mom’s docent friends caught up with us.  The two women were so glad to see each other and catch up on the zoo news.

As Gary pushed the wheelchair in for closer looks I saw my mother soak in the scenes, adding commentary from her memories. 

Of course I was having fun with my new camera, besides enjoying my mother’s elevation being back in her beloved zoo.  She thanked G. and me profusely as we drove back to G. ‘s house where we are staying the weekend. “I don’t know if I’ll see the SF Zoo again,” was her comment.

Yet I am writing about a sort of spring fast I’ve chosen for myself.  I am on a cleanse from being too busy.  I mean, I still have plenty to do, but, I am fasting from being in a hurry.  So, it is a break from the pressure of busyness and the accompanying feeling of hurry and rush. Yep, it is easier to start this sort of fast while you’re on vacation, you might say.  But I started in those quite hectic final days of school before Spring Break.  I simply concentrated on slowing down and focusing on one thing at a time.

As in the case of blogging, I chose to rest awhile before we went out to co-celebrate Alice’s and my birthdays at the House of Prime Rib. When G. drove mom and me down to Van Ness Ave in the considerable traffic last evening, I was feeling the pull of noting we would arrive a few minutes past our meet up time. I declined to feel in a hurry and focused on enjoying the scenery.

Then, when we found A. and her beaux J. in the bar we had a glass of bubbly, waiting for the rest of our party to arrive.  I asked Alice when her health cleanse began and she quickly noted “after my birthday because I want to drink champagne!”  I mentioned my spring cleanse to J. is to fast from doing things in a hurry.  His eyes lit up and he said, “There’s a book on how to not hurry.”

“I’m glad there are instructions available,” I smiled.  “And happy that others have noted it is important.” Clink!  We toasted.

When we were ushered into the small dining room, lit with a fireplace and wall sconces I felt so happy to be there.  I had looked forward to this engagement for weeks on my calendar. So I settled in to enjoy the good company of A. and her lovely women friends as well as my dear mother, who was on her second major outing of the day. 

The champagne glasses were refilled and pinot noir poured.  We went from bread to salad to the prime rib replete with mashed potatoes and creamed spinach.  All in a lovely hum of laughing, chatting, and occasional dramatic interlude from our waiter.  Someone tipped him off about our birthdays, so we got a glass of ice cream with a candle in it. I made a wish instantly, then realized A. was arranging a photo.

That way, I re-lit the candle and got to make two wishes, both for the happiness of my daughter.

The moment I called the cab and we walked out, our ride drove up and took us back to Twin Peaks.  Satiated with company and food.  All easy and comfortable and fulfilled.

Sometime today my bff from high school is coming over from Berkeley to hand out with me for awhile.  I got some plastic eggs and put gummy raspberries in each along with really dumb Easter jokes.  I’m going to hide them in the garden for Sheryl.  But there’s no hurry.  She’ll text me when she feels ready to drive over from the East Bay.