What will our story look like in history?

Certain Absurdity went to Italy on Spring Break and is now filling us in on her travels. Today’s post made me think of the work I’ve been doing with history. I love this line: I’ve never been a history buff.  But when I travel to places with history, then I get interested.

Me, too. I’ve never considered myself a history buff, but now that I have become immersed in the church and city history, and considering what we look like today, I have become engrossed. So much so that I’m working on an historical novel, another thing I’ve never considered. As I look at six women from the 1940s and their trajectory across time, I wonder what I will leave behind that will still have meaning in seventy years.

Certain Absurdity writes of the documents she saw in Rome with signatures of Galileo, Abraham Lincoln, Napoleon, Voltaire, Marie Antoinette, Michelangelo, Bernini and asks, “…with today’s technology, how many hand written documents are there from our time?” It does make one think.

Pay to potty?

Since I have written a couple of posts about travel, reading another blog made me want to write a bit more. This time about travel abroad.

I have never had the desire to go abroad. I definitely wouldn’t want to travel somewhere they don’t speak English. Remember, I said I don’t like being a tourist because I hate not being in control? Well, the language thing is huge for that control factor! I have, however, thought it would be fun to go to London and/or Paris, until I read the blog post by someone who has just returned from London. You must pay to use the restroom! Someone else posted a comment saying the same thing goes for Paris. I think I’ll stay in the U.S. where I can run into a mall, department store, restaurant, or even gas station and use the restroom without needing the correct change.

More about traveling

How do you pack when you travel? After all these many years of traveling for school conferences, I have learned to pack light and lean. I also insist that everyone who travels with me have only the suitcases they can handle by themselves. That sort of backfired when we went to New Mexico this summer and had a two-year old toddler in the group who not only had her own suitcase, but a large carseat, too.  We all had to handle more than one bag apiece. It was the reason I left my computer at home.

Usually, though, I can manage quite well with just one suitcase. A small one for an overnight or weekend stay: 

When we are gone five nights or more, then I take a bigger bag.

Waiting at the BART station.

If we travel by car, I can be a little more careless with my packing and bring along a book bag, throwing in some snacks, and my computer, and perhaps throw an extra jacket over the whole thing in the backseat. If we are heading to the bay area, we always take cans of cat food for our grandcats, and I usually have a treat bag for our granddaughter. The last time I only took the small suitcase, but also a bag of watercolors and playdoh. On other travels, though, the book must go into my suitcase, and any munchies must be bought on the spot or after we arrive. We always look for the nearest Whole Foods.

Terry seems to have more trouble packing than I do. It’s not that he takes more things than I do, but his shoes are so large that they are hard to fit in a suitcase. He also likes to have his clothes on hangers whereas I just fold and roll mine. He says I take all the hangers at the hotels so he has to bring his own.

This photo shows him with all of our luggage on a previous trip:

I always travel with a big satchel purse to use as a carry-on. Here it sits on top of my green suitcase.

 

 

 

 

 

 

How do you travel?

This question has been at the back of my mind for months now, and I really want to address it, but it may be too big to put in one post. I have been reading Kay’s blog, over in Hawaii, and that is where this idea has been born. She too is a retired school teacher, and she and her husband, also retired, travel A LOT. And when they do, they GO GO GO. Terry and I travel a little. And when we do, we STAY, STAY, STAY. Reading Kay’s travel logs often makes me so tired I feel I need to go lie down! They travel often, with elderly relatives, and they do a million things each day, staying in a different place every night.

Don’t ask me to go on a tour bus. I did lots of bus trips with high school students for 21 years. Since I am not fond of water, I have no desire to get on a cruise ship even though the idea of staying in one place for the whole trip does appeal to me. I’ve not done any train travel except for commuter trains up and down the California peninsula, but I think I would like that mode of travel. Sitting in a car for long periods makes me antsy. I like to fly; not so much the process, but the getting a long distance very quickly. You see, I don’t like the going there, I like the being there.

I don’t like being a tourist. I like to know where I am, where I am going, and what to do when I get there. I like comfort. I like to be able to do things on my own timetable. I like to sit and people-watch for long periods. I like to eat at restaurants I know. Even better, I like to eat my own cooking, so that leads me to my favorite way of traveling. I like to go to one place, rent an apartment or house, and stay for a long period of time, getting to know that area very well.

Perhaps the next post can be about suitcases and such.

Cabin in Three Rivers

 

Our apartment at Pier View Suites in Cayucos is the set of windows on second floor, right.

The apartment building in San Francisco

The casita in New Mexico 

How I spent my weekend

Although in Fresno most of Thanksgiving week, we zipped back to SF at the tail end of the week so Terry could go to the big car show at Moscone Center. While he was there, I went over to Embarcadero Center, specifically to See’s Candy, but I also looked at the Christmas decorations.

On Saturday we picked up small granddaughter and headed back to Fresno so her parents could do some grownup activities with friends.

The high chair is ready to be packed

We had lots of fun for two days. We played with Leeya’s mother’s toys:

The 31 year old rocking horse

The 30 year old pot-bellied bear my mother bought Jen on her second birthday

Leeya played on the computer. She loves Veggie Tales’ Barbara Manatee.

Her parents don't allow her to touch their keyboard so this was pretty special

We love to eat.

We played dress up.

We went to the neighborhood park.

And then on our way back to San Mateo we stopped at Casa de Fruta and played on the trains.

And we all survived.

The summer of the car

This was the summer that the car cost more than anything else in my life.  Let me enumerate:

June–body shop to have bumper replaced.  Although the insurance picked up the cost, I still had to pay $200 deductible.

July–new tires.  It’s an all-wheel drive vehicle so that meant all 5 tires must be replaced, at once.  $700

August–air conditioner repair.  The previous repair was not really what was necessary for cool air so the whole dashboard had to be taken out and the parts ordered.  We don’t need AC in San Francisco, but we surely need it in Fresno’s hot temperatures.  $1100

July and August–parking at the tiny apartment.  There is a garage in the basement of the building where we can drive in and go directly to our apartment, and the manager of the lot is a very nice man who takes good care of us.  We are able to come and go very easily with monthly parking.  $375 a month

The question, of course, is:  do I need a car in San Francisco?  I don’t think so.  I can take public transportation.  I can join City CarShare or ZipCar.  I have a Clipper Card now that allows me to take advantage of all the city’s public transportation.  I walk to the grocery store and use the cart my coworkers gave me as a going-away gift.

So, why am I hanging on to the car?  I need it for the trips to San Mateo to see our granddaughter.  Our daughter, who does not have a car, uses it to run errands.  I use it for errands and to haul things.  And, Terry and I are still coming back to Fresno, a three and half hour trip each way.  Our house, our friends, our doctors, are all here and we aren’t quite ready to dump them.

As summer wraps up, and we consider being more permanent in San Francisco, which means I will hopefully have a job there, I will rethink the car and come to a decision.  Oh, and I didn’t even mention Terry’s car, which stays in Fresno!

On the road to San Francisco

On the road to San Francisco

Originally uploaded by dkzody

We made it back to San Francisco this weekend, our first time since the new semester. It’s been a month. Too much going on at home and, of course, Pepe being ill. We could not bear to leave him until he finally left us. Our grief has been immense.

Our trip yesterday was in a pouring rain across the Valley floor and over the Pacheco Pass. I know this road, so well travelled over the years, that has changed very little. One stretch, into Gilroy, is a two lane country road with dairies and truck farms scattered along the way. As you get closer to Gilroy, you can smell the garlic being processed at the big dehydrator just south of town.

A few miles before the Gilroy turnoff is this old red barn. I have travelled this road for 50 years and it has always been here. The road has been widened and it sits much closer now. Yesterday I tried to capture it as we drove past. I’m not good at taking pictures from the car. The day was rainy, gray, heavy clouds hanging in the sky. The red paint was a bright touch and I wanted to capture it.

By the time we opened the apartment door, and took in that amazing view, the storm clouds were rolling out and the sun was shining. It has been a lovely weekend and tomorrow we will turn towards home, and again pass that red barn that sits very close to the road. I hope the sun shines on us all the way home.