Day 86: Social Distancing

Shelter in Place, San Francisco, California

While both of our hydrangeas’s flowers have turned from blue to pink, their petal patterns are still very different. These blossoms are more delicate and subtle. It took me awhile and a little climbing around the bush to fit two full hydrangea heads into a single shot, They tend to keep a modest distance from each other on the bush - a perfect metaphor for life in this crazy day and age.

It’s such a boon to hear from family, but sometimes it’s not quite enough. Face-Timing with my cousin today, I wanted to reach into the computer and grab her, pull her close, and indulge in a long, sweet embrace. I’ve never been a great fan of the obligatory hug from near and compete strangers that has somehow become the awkward norm in our culture over the past few decades. But, oh, I miss the touch of people I love, and long for the day when I can fly across the miles and hold them long and hard.

Day 85: Back on the Straight and Narrow

Shelter in Place, San Francisco, California

This is the middle section of the “s” curve in our path: back shed to the left, house to the right, we’re facing west. From here, you can see our big hydrangea in the foreground, and another, smaller one next to the crazy jade plant by the fence. Both of them are beginning to bloom. I love coming around this corner and seeing there is more to go.

After yesterday’s run for the hills, we’re back and feeling a little less stir-crazy but no more optimistic. Other than the freakishly empty highways, San Francisco from the front seat of a car looks so dang normal, it’s tempting to think the worst is past. And while today’s local headlines are self-congratulatory, the analysis reminds us that the reason the city’s death rate is comparatively low, is exactly because we all stayed inside earlier and longer than anybody else. We are not (yet) experiencing the spikes that are happening, as predicted, in the places that opened up too soon. Already I am feeling guilty about our little break-out, and worrying about whether I washed my hands enough when I got home. It sucks to be this old.

Day 84: Half Free

Shelter in Place, San Francisco, California, June 10, 2020 

We decided to blow this joint today and head south of the city to visit the Filoli Historic Gardens - first time out of the neighborhood in months. The house/museum, of course, remains closed, but the gardens have re-opened this week and we went early enough to avoid the chance of crowds. It was a lovely day.

John tried his best, when we were dating, to show me something new every time I came to California both to entertain me and to lure me out for good. This is one we missed, somehow, but it seems fitting to discover it today, after months of seclusion in a tighter, fenced-in space. I take as metaphor the acres of luscious, formal flower beds and sculpted trees, each vista framed by a wilder, scruffier backdrop - the quintessential California hills. That’s how I feel - half free, half tamed, unsure of where exactly I belong today and where I’ll be tomorrow - tethered freedom - made all the more poignant by the dancing wire sculptures that floated above each garden bed, held steadfast with an iron stake.

sculpture by Kristine Mays