Stop and smell the (almond) flowers

Written last night:
Dear Friends,

I went to an almond orchard just to smell the air. My friend Mary Kaye recommends it; she grew up with almond trees all around, and the smell takes her back. Somewhat skeptical, Zing and I drove to Yolo County, where in the summer the sunflowers grew. Those fields are flat now, but across the narrow road is a line of almond trees in pale pink bloom. Rosa’s windows were down and we smelled it — honey on the air, like a beeswax candle burning. Eventually we found a place to stop, and took a walk at the edge of the orchard, just smelling the flowers. 

Love,

k

Mostly melted white stuff

Written last night:
Dear Friends,

Other things happened today, but everybody is focusing on what the heck is that white stuff that fell from the sky this afternoon. Snow? Sleet? Hail? I say sleet or tiny hail. A man in our building says it’s 20-plus years since this much has fallen on Sacramento. Zing says "Please don’t make me walk on it!” By now it’s mostly melted.

Love,

k

Finding blue

Written last night:
Dear Friends,

I hope you have seen the movie Ladybird. It idolizes Sacramento, like I do. Also, it’s good.

My friend Susan challenged Zing! to have his photo taken in front of the Blue House that was in the movie. So today Zing! took me to the area known here as the Fab 40s, and we drove around until we found it on 44th near M Street. In person the house looks more gray than blue, and in the movie it is more blue than gray. 

Love,

k

Zing! and I walked around the neighborhood,

 and when we returned these young men were there

taking selfies in front of the blue house

Old friends in a new place

Written last night:
Dear Friends,

The best part of my short San Francisco trip was seeing old friends in a new place. We stayed in a small North Beach hotel (Washington Square Inn) in Little Italy. I mean, really small. My room anyway. But location, location, location … great restaurants (Caffe Sport) and coffee shops (Mario’s) and bakeries (Liguria Bakery) … book stores (City Lights) within walking distance. Although I couldn’t see the bottom of my suitcase in the dim hotel room, I’d stay there again and love it. 

Love, 

k

On the train to SF

My room

Lobby 

Flowers at Fort Mason

City Lights Bookstore

Love this bridge!

Meet a manzanita

Written last night:
Dear Friends,

I just got home from dinner in El Dorado with friends who want to show me all the charms around Sacramento. This tiny town in the hills has that gold-rush feel and Poor Red’s Bar-B-Q plays up the theme. It’s a rollicking place at a crossroads, where the music is loud, the drinks are fizzy, and the murals all make you feel like you’re swaggering up the hill with fresh gold in your pockets. It’s a great place to forget the cares of the week. On our way we stopped to walk along a path in a field that ran toward a gorge, and I learned to recognize a manzanita bush by its smooth red-brown bark, twisting branches and perfume-y sap. 

Love,

k

Manzanita bush

Across from Poor Red's Bar-B-Q

Looks like some people up here think northern California should break away and form its own 

“State of Jefferson"

Little details and chance connections

Written last night:

Dear Friends,

There are so many people who live alone, and I am finding out how to do it. Maybe it’s easier if you’ve never shared a life. One important person is a handyman. Bob, who was recommended by a friend, came today and installed lights, hung pictures, straightened doors. He made it look easy. With each of these steps I’m feeling more at home here. 

I spent some wonderful time with Patrick. 

And I just returned from dinner with my neighbor Sandy at Biba’s, a very popular midtown restaurant that could become a favorite. We chatted with a couple who live in Grass Valley, in the foothills, but do business in Ohio. Then we took an uber home and the driver was from Columbus, OH, my home town. He got a law degree from Capital University there and works for the government here during the day and ubers at night. So it’s a small world.

Love,

k

Bob hung this quilt

My friend Mona made it

Women of Color Quilter's Network

Written last night:

Dear Friends,

I’m falling in love -- with my neighborhood. It's deep -- lots to explore. One is the nearby California Museum; a quilt exhibit drew me there today — And Still We Rise, by artists in the Women of Color Quilter’s Network. It’s been on the road, and Sacramento is the last stop. Each piece told a part of the story of African Americans in the U.S., from slave ships to President Obama. Nothing is purely decorative — they all tell history. It was overwhelming.

Love,

k

United

Sharon Kerry-Harlan

59.5 “ x 63”

discharge dye, machine quilting

Paul Robeson as Othello on Broadway

Glenda Richardson

51” x 50.5"

Above and detail, below

We Are All Warmed by the Same Sun

Helen Murrell

53.5” x 54"

hand embroidery and machine quilting

(my favorite!)

Love and cookies

Written last night:
Dear Friends,

Today was Clark’s birthday, and I felt happy. For starters, last night his special little U-M Ibis mascot jumped off the shelf, hit the floor hard and began singing a fight song. I think it came from the Seminoles football it was holding. Clark loved it, which is why I keep it. The thing never left its perch before. It made me laugh and  cry at the same time. Wherever Clark is, he’s having fun. 

At the end of the day I made Valentine cookies. 

Love,

k

Settling in with a painting

Written last night:
Dear Friends,

It takes soooo long to settle in! Clark and I felt settled, even in new places, just by being together, but alone I’ve been adrift. Finally I’m beginning to be settled, and I like it. Today I hung, with expert advice (thanks, Patrice!), a new painting in the hallway. It’s by Sacramento artist Tyson Anthony Roberts, and the fact that he’s local makes me feel settled too. 

Love,

k

Rice grows here too

Written last night:

Dear Friends,

Today was warm and gorgeous, drawing people to sidewalk restaurants and coffee shops all over midtown. I couldn’t resist, so Zing and I went out too, but we drove to a place that was sure to be quiet. I’ve been meaning to check out the West Sacramento rice docks, and I figured no one would be there on the weekend. Not long ago I took a wrong turn and saw them — big white silo-things that said RICE. But I had to watch the road and was driving too fast to appreciate them. A lot of rice is grown around Sacramento. The fine print on my Trader Joe’s frozen brown rice  says it comes from the Sacramento Valley.

Today the industrial area along the Sacramento River was indeed quiet -- big rigs parked along the road, gates to warehouses locked up, no traffic, silence everywhere. We couldn’t get past the gate to the rice docks, but we did see the white silos and the river beyond. In a strange way it was fun.

Then we drove up and down a few streets, stopping at a dead end where a few cars were parked by the fence; there was a grassy strip and then a short, steep hill. You could only see the sky over it. It was a levee. Zing and I went up, and, yes, it was a canal where people sat fishing in small groups or alone, and farther on a placid green and blue marsh.

Love, 

k

Fading flowers

Dear Friends,

The tulips are fading. Still beautiful.

Love,

k

Art Quilts 90 minutes from home

Written last night:

Dear Friends, 

Today I drove 90 minutes southwest to Danville, where there was an art quilt meeting. I kind of forced myself to go — told myself I’m not too interested, etc. I’m glad I went, and not just for the notable artists I met, but even more because finally — finally! — I realize that I’m not a visitor here, who checks things out from a distance. I live here. I’m a Californian. And to me that means being comfortable with I-80 and 680 and the bridges at Benicia and all the ships below — and playing the highway’s speed-up/slow down rhythm like I know the song. 

Love,

k

I will add names if you tell me -- I am just getting to know everybody