Head in the clouds

Posted on June 7, 2020 by Patty

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.
― John Lubbock, English banker, Liberal politician, philanthropist, scientist and polymath, from The Use Of Life

When I was in elementary school, one of my teachers assigned us an art exercise to sit outside the classroom and draw the clouds. It was her way of teaching us about the different types of clouds by engaging us and tapping our creativity, instead of just going through the textbook. I remembered drawing them and falling in love with clouds. I even loved the names they were given – cirrocumulus, cirrus, and cirrostratus (the high clouds); altocumulus, altostratus, and nimbostratus (the mid-level clouds); and stratus, cumulus, cumulonimbus, and stratocumulus (the low clouds).

Flash forward several decades and I find that when I walk our dog, Sammy, and our previous family dogs, I have tended to look down at the sidewalk. Of course, I look at the homes in the neighborhood and the landscaping and flowers and trees. But I usually – most noticeably before shelter in place – spend that time thinking things through, either with work or my novel. On what I call our shelter-in-place walks (simply walks that David, Isabella, and I have taken around the greater neighborhood), I have paid more attention to details, to plants and flowers, trees and animals. But that’s for another blog post. I discovered the clouds again. One evening in particular, the clouds were so ethereal that I took photographs with my smartphone, fully know that they could never capture the wonder that I saw with the naked eye at that moment in time.

And yet, I was pleasantly surprised that many of the photos did their best to capture what I saw and produce in me an awe, a catch-the-breath moment. So I thought a few weeks ago, when I have time, when I make time, I want to share my cloud photos. And here they are. Enjoy.

This photo was taken on our early shelter-in-place (SIP) walks up the hilly Moeser Street and then a detour to get to El Cerrito’s Memorial Grove. It was about 5 o’clock on a mid-March middle of the week afternoon. San Francisco is on the left, with Alcatraz not far off. You can see the Golden Gate Bridge and Marin on the right. I didn’t think the clouds would be adequately captured, but there is a sense of the heavens in these clouds, an expansiveness, possibilities, even if they be filled with awe and dread.

Here’s an even farther view out of the Bay and city of El Cerrito below us. Here the clouds and sky really make one feel quite small and insignificant.

Final shot of that evening’s walk, with a focus on the clouds and open space in the sky above the Golden Gate Bridge and the Marin headlands.

I couldn’t escape the rooftops and telephone wires, but I had to capture this full-bodied cumulus cloud. I think about the plane rides where you go through a bank of clouds and there’s this other-worldly sense to it. I imagine to myself sometimes what would it be like to be in the middle of that cloud. Like thick Tule fog, no doubt.

When the sun is behind the clouds, these amazing shadows and shapes edged with light capture your attention. It was a windy late afternoon when I looked up and admired the clouds.

The other thing I love to do is watch clouds change shape and sail on by on a windy day. These clouds had such texture to them.

Stepping back, I wanted to capture this march of clouds being prodded by the wind.

The rest of the photos are from a single evening in May where I was mesmerized by the clouds and I confess that I couldn’t curate the many photos I took, so please bear with me. Here is a mix of feathery cirrus clouds and cotton-ball cumulus clouds.

More cirrus clouds intermingling with altocumulus clouds. This reminds me of a painting I imagine that my artist friend, Tana would paint.

I love the layering of altocumulus clouds against the cirrus clouds, how the dark altocumulus clouds contrast and come to the forefront.

This photo looks surreal. It reminds me of what a Raphael sky would look like. The sky is an amazing shade of cornflower blue. The cirrus clouds look like they’re raining down on the altocumulus clouds, with their white glow in the background giving this photo a three-dimensional feel to it.

When you go farther out with the camera view, it feels like a cloud fireworks – cloudworks – is erupting in the sky. I would love to see my artist friend Kathy render her interpretation of this photo.

The “tentacles” hanging down from these clouds remind me of jellyfish. And note the light edging the clouds in the top right-side of the photo.

The picture before this one was cropped. Here’s the full view. You can see the shadowy altocumulus clouds below the wispy cirrus clouds above it. I love the light and shadow play.

It was a half-moon evening. I love how the cirrus clouds around the moon looks like smoke from a cigarette and the subtle shades of blue in the sky and clouds.

Stepping back for the full effect, with the half-moon in view.

More loveliness. A close-up of the photo below. The white cloud on the left seems to sparkle.

The half-moon and the raining clouds. Goodnight Clouds, Goodnight, Moon.

Landscaping project 2017: Finally done, and finally documented!

Posted on August 1, 2018 by Patty

A garden should make you feel you’ve entered privileged space – a place not just set apart but reverberant – and it seems to me that, to achieve this, the gardener must put some kind of twist on the existing landscape, turn its prose into something nearer poetry.
– Michael Pollan, American author, journalist, activist, and professor of journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, where he is also the director of the Knight Program in Science and Environmental Journalism, from Second Nature: A Gardener’s Education

Our house, 1994.

When David bought our home back in 1994 – before I met him – he was the second owner of the house on Elm Street that was built in the early 1940s. The previous owner had been a gardener, evidenced by his tool sheds in the side and back yards. Mr. Broligio grew dahlias, Mexican poppies, Bird of Paradise, gladiolas, and other flowers. He likely planted the two huge magnolias trees in the backyard, as well as the camellia and Meyer lemon trees. He was the one who fashioned the backyard with pink-grouted flagstone and brick planting beds and walkway borders. Through the years, we worked on making the two-bedroom, one-bath split-level house into our home. We remodeled the bath and kitchen in 1998, after we got married, but not putting too much thought or money into it since we didn’t think this was going to be our forever home.

Welcome to our home, 1994.

Looking at the back of the house from the back of the property, 1994.

A lot of boxwood hedges, brick, and pink-colored grout, 1994.

One of the shed areas that David immediately took down, 1994.

Little did we know that it would indeed be our forever home. We grew to a family of four with two big dogs. I worked from home and our bedroom was my office. After a few years of looking at other homes and David working on house plans, we expanded our home, beginning in 2006. In the spring of 2007, after seven months of renting we moved back into our home, now a four-bedroom, two-bath, four-level home, with my wish list office area and library included. We loved our home. However, we never threw a housewarming party because we were too embarrassed by our yard.

The original owner liked using bottles as borders. In 1994, the backyard was a bit overgrown.

The magnolia trees weren’t as big, but the Bird of Paradise was! And yes, the old-fashioned clothes drying line.

The side yard was much bigger before we pushed the house out on that side in 2007.

I was bitten by the gardening bug, and especially taken by the yellow dinner-plate dahlias that came up reliably every late spring. So through the years, I collected ceramic, glazed pots and grew different flowers. I found new dahlias to love and nurture, and grew them in our side yard. But we still hadn’t done a thing to our front and back yards, and our dahlias were not producing very well because our clay soil in the side yard was never amended and we weren’t separating our dahlia tubers.

By the end of 2016, we decided we were going to finally landscape our front, side, and back yards. After interviewing a handful of local landscape design firms, we settled on Fiddlehead Gardens (2816 8th Street, Berkeley, CA 94710, 510.858.8072). We appreciated owner Racheal’s portfolio, but also her expertise and her openness to our opinions and desires. Plus, she had a stable group of workers, who we really liked.

We started off with the side yard in February because the dahlia buds usually sprout in March. So the workers thoroughly amended the soil, put in a drip system, and separated all the dahlia tubers that David and I had dug up ourselves and dried. We were really pleased with the outcome.

We had a new fence put up in 2002. In 2008, David put up an iron gate and fence to separate the flower garden from the backyard and keep the dogs out. David and our friend Ric put down the flagstone walkway in 2008. Here’s the new dahlia garden after Fiddlehead Gardens renovated the side yard. We have tulips and daffodils in the spring.

We planted daffodils, which popped up in the spring.

We moved the bird bath from the front yard to the side yard.

With amended soil, a drip system, and tuber separation, the dahlias are so much happier and healthier. I found these great iron leaf sculptures at Annie’s Annuals in Richmond.

One of my favorite burgundy dahlias, happy by the side yard gate.

Fuschia dahlias in the side yard.

A pale peach dinner-plate-size dahlia in the side yard dahlia garden.

Then came the front yard in March. We had forgotten certain things like the dead plants in the front that I couldn’t nurture to life, and the broken basketball hoop that lay on its side like a fallen steel soldier off to the side of the garage.

The City of El Cerrito planted the two pear trees in the front yard. We ended up having the blighted pear tree removed and replaced with crepe myrtles this past July. But here’s the front yard, complete with our 1995 Corolla, long since gone.

We threw a lot of plants in the front yard to see if they would grow. Some did, others didn’t. It was a flower lab of sorts. Note the ugly brick border and the big bush leaning over the sidewalk.

Broken basketball hoop in the front yard. And sad flower bed.

We kept the salvia and my favorite calla lilies, but we shed this big tree/bush that we had to keep trimmed so that pedestrians wouldn’t complain about having to sidestep the bush when walking on the sidewalk. The dead potato tree went away, and the princess flower got trimmed. When the tree came down, the front yard felt more open and light. They also used our leftover flagstone and built borders and a path between the walk-up path to the house and the driveway. Again, we were very happy with the outcome.

Our maple tree was freed of concrete and is very happy now. Fiddlehead Gardens used flagstone to make a border between our neighbor’s yard and ours.

A side view of the front yard after landscaping. See how open the front yard is without the big bush of a tree.

The flagstone border keeps the soil from spilling over. The watsonias are in full bloom.

The larger plot also has a new border, replacing the broken-brick border. A much cleaner, prettier front yard. Curb appeal!

You can see the yard now, especially the calla lilies, without that big tree/bush in the way.

David and Ric paved the way for the flagstone walkway in 2008. But now it’s surrounded by a beautiful front garden. (Just need to push that piece of flagstone back in place….)

Fiddlehead Gardens put a flagstone walkway on the other side of the walk up, so there’s nice symmetry of the flagstone paths in the front.

In July 2014, I attempted to work within the confines of the step-up and brick pathway when I redid the patio, or courtyard, but it was always crowded, and I looked forward to expanding out that patio/courtyard area.

When I tried to make the backyard more hospitable in the summer of 2014, I was constrained by the steps and border in the patio/courtyard. It’s very crowded here.

I planted a lot of dahlias in the ground, but many didn’t survive the clay soil.

The backyard was the big project that began in May and took two weeks. First, there was the prep work, which was demolition of the flagstone and bricks, leveling of the ground, and digging up the former patio area outside of the utility room. That took a week a few weeks before the actual work began.

I loved this peach tree, but it was planted crooked and we ended up getting rid of it for the new backyard.

The right corner of the backyard where Sammy liked to play soccer.

Moving things around in the patio before the big makeover in the backyard.

After the peach tree was removed. A gopher was taking down the hydrangea that was near the Meyer lemon tree.

We moved a lot of the pots under the magnolia trees. We didn’t realize how many pots I had accumulated through the years!

The barren dust bowl of a backyard! David built two planters, which he covered with chicken wire to protect the vegetable garden from Sammy.

The patio is cleared out!

The ugly pink grout from the 1940s. And Sammy and his basketball-cum-soccer ball.

After demolition, the crew dug deep into the earth in the patio area. Sammy checks it out.

The bare ground with pipes being installed in the backyard.

Now that the backyard is cleared and leveled, it’s time for the flagstone….

We kept the layout the same as before, but Rachael built six tall planter boxes atop decomposed granite, so we could garden without bending down. Four planters house my flower garden, while David claimed two for his vegetable garden. I had accumulated more than 40 pots – I know! – and we were able to place every single one of them throughout the front, side, and back yards, and the two porches. This time, they were equipped with a drip system, except for the ones on the two porches, which are home to succulents. We replaced the flagstone and instead of grout, Rachael used decomposed granite in between the large pieces of stone. The 1940s chairs that I had found at the Alameda flea market chair a few years ago found a new home in a corner of the backyard that used to be Sammy’s soccer-playing area. Now it serves as the resting place after working on the yard.

Three rusted birds welcome you to the garden from the patio gate. One pending project is painting the ugly red fence to a natural-looking brown.

Flowers, bird house and redwood planter box in the patio.

Night-time view of the patio with the fire pit going and the hanging lights on.

The corner sitting area, complete with old ceiling tins hanging on the fence, pots with colorful flowers, garden ornaments, flea market vintage chairs, solar lights, and newer table.

Our planter boxes, first two on the far left of the backyard (David’s vegetable garden). with solar lights strung on three of the planter boxes.

Middle two planter boxes sport zinnias (annuals) on the left of the angel statue and miniature roses from Trader Joe’s on the right. I keep experimenting with the flowers in the planter box in the back.

The last two planter boxes, with the front one home to varieties of dianthus and baby’s breath in the middle. The planters sit on an elevated layer of decomposed granite.

A view from the sitting area. I put a lot of Haitian steel-drum garden ornaments all over the planter boxes.

Another view of all six planter boxes. The height is perfect for gardening. No sore backs and enough room to move around!

Flowers in full bloom on a sunny day.

When I walk into the kitchen, I can see this first flower box through the sliding glass door. Seeing the angel and all that color, flowers, hummingbirds, butterflies, birds, and bees makes me happy!

I was not an annuals person, but I fell in love with the tough, colorful, and long-lasting zininas. They look really nice in bouquets, too. This year’s lone gerbera daisy is actually doing quite well. But I may stick with just one of them since all of them petered out last year. It’s fun to test out new flowers every season.

I had fun finding new places for the many garden ornaments that I had collected throughout the years. Our Roman column fountain, which was a present to ourselves when we got married and which was hidden in the side yard, broken when we ran it and forgot about it back in 2008, found new life in the back yard. And the block of leftover granite from our 2007 home remodel found a new resting place behind the fountain. We set up lights in the patio area and got a fire pit and heating lamp, and voila, we are ready for even the coldest summer evening in the Bay Area.

Our Roman column fountain is very happy now that you can see it and is lit up at night. The fountain and the ginkgo and two magnolia trees have lights trained on them, and they light up in the evenings.

The happy corner lit up at night. You can see this corner from the family room picture window.

One of my favorite night-time photos. You can see the magnolia and ginkgo trees lit up at night, too.

We had a party on the 4^th of July, 2017, and that became our landscape warming party. Friends, neighbors, and acquaintances have told us our backyard is like having a few new outdoor rooms. Some have said that they feel like they are in Tuscany, Italy. We agree!

We planted the beautiful ginkgo tree, which turns a blazing gold in autumn, to commemorate when Jacob was born in 2000.

The planter boxes at night from the other side of the backyard.

The leftover granite slab behind the lit-up Roman column fountain in the backyard. The plants around it have grown.

So what’s new in 2018? New aqua-color cushions and umbrella for a more Mediterranean look in the patio. I’m always trying out new flowers and pulling out ones that just don’t work out. I’ll be experimenting every year. And after a pruning, the yard gets fuller and more full of life, bringing in butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees. We couldn’t be happier. Now our house is more like a home now. And I am one happy gardener.

I changed out the cushion and umbrella to a more Mediterranean color – aqua. Much brighter! The flowers in the pots are abloom, and the bushes in the patio planter box are bushier!

The blue hydrangea in the patio is one of my favorite flowers. It finds its way in many vases.

Birds now fly in a graceful curve, as if guided by a gentle wind, on the wall in the patio. Hi, Sammy!

A swallow, hydrangea, and fragrant tea candle in the backyard patio.

We had the backyard pruned in early spring, but it’s lush every summer.

The planter boxes in the backyard are brimming with old friends and new flowers. See the lone white gerbera daisy peeking out above the orange zinnia.

The narrow side yard on the other side of our house was always filled with junk. We cleared it out and put a row of planters and they are now home to rudbeckia, straw flower, cosmos, and a variety of scabiosa for my bouquets. I’m running out of room for new plants!

When we returned from our 2.5-week vacation to France in June, my dahlia garden was bursting with big blooms! What a welcome sight upon coming home.

48-hour whirlwind East Coast weekend: the Boston Book Festival and the Boston Filipino-American Book Club

Posted on November 19, 2017 by Patty

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

– Robert Frost, American poet, from “The Road Not Taken”

Waiting for my red-eye flight to Boston at Oakland International Airport.

In mid-September, Grace Talusan, Fulbright Scholar, English professor at Tufts University in Boston, and winner of the 2017 New Immigrant Writing for Nonfiction by Restless Books, contacted me to let me know that the Boston Filipino-American Club (BFAB) was going to be reading my novel, A Village in the Fields, for the month of October. Grace, whose memoir, The Body Papers, will be published in the Fall of 2018, asked if I would be willing to Skype with the members at their October 29th meeting following their traditional brunch. Absolutely, I let her and book club founder and artist Bren Bataclan know.

At some point in October, my husband, David, suggested that I use up points and fly to Boston the weekend of the book club meeting. At first, I dismissed the idea. I’m not spontaneous, I pointed out, echoing a famous line of mine from my college days. But as the days went by, I started to warm up to the idea. However, I didn’t want to burden anyone with my visit. When I finally reached out to Grace and Bren, they were enthusiastic and welcoming of the visit. So I booked my flight and was looking forward to the trip. My job has been very stressful these past few months and I pulled two near-all-nighters the week before my planned visit. In fact, that Thursday evening, I worked until the early morning. I wasn’t sure then if it was a good idea to be going away. But David noted that I needed to get out, that being around book lovers would be a welcome change and just the community that I needed to be in the midst of.

So I took the red-eye from Oakland to JFK in New York and caught the next leg to Boston. (An aside: It turned out that the woman sitting across the aisle from me was headed for the Boston Book Festival. Her publishing company, New York-based Other Press, was hosting a tent, which is where she brought up recognizing me on her flight. She noticed that I was reading Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere.) Grace and a good friend of hers picked me up at the airport, and we had a nice breakfast at the Eastern Standard, an elegant French-period appointed restaurant on Commonwealth Avenue in the heart of Kenmore Square, which is on the other side of the highway from Fenway Park. Afterwards, Grace dropped me off at Copley Square, site of the Boston Book Festival, a one-day event of talks and panels, tents filled with myriad publishers, and book signings! I was in heaven and the weather was perfect – fall chill in the air, changing colors of the trees. There were multiple sessions that overlapped, so I had to make some difficult decisions.

Fall at the entrance of the Eastern Standard restaurant.

Of course, I had to get a picture of me near Fenway Park (courtesy of Grace Talusan).

Rapping with Shakespeare.

My introduction to the festival was listening to The Shakespeare Time-Traveling Speakeasy. During 2016-2017, Shakespeare to Hiphop (literary performers and TEDx Boston alumni Regie Gibson and Marlon Carey) partnered with the Boston Public Library to celebrate the great bard. The result is The Shakespeare Time-Traveling Speakeasy: “an all-new presentation combining American jazz-funk-country-pop and hip-hop with poetry, song, storytelling, rap, and Shakespeare’s own words.” Their performance was entertaining and crowd-pleasing.

Checking out the different tents and publishers.

Food truck at Copley Square.

I walked around the tents, checking out the various local presses, and then I walked over to the Church of the Covenant to hear the fiction keynote featuring Claire Messud and Jacqueline Woodson discuss their recently released coming-of-age novels, The Burning Girl, and Another Brooklyn, respectively. Both read excerpts from their novels. According to the book festival program: “The mutability of memory, the swift passage of time, the use of stories to make sense of experience, the treacherous landscape of female adolescence, and the simultaneous vitality and volatility of teenage girls’ friendships – these are common threads that run through these narratives, as both writers draw perceptive, unsentimental portraits of young women growing up and growing apart.”

Church of the Covenant.

What a thrill to hear Claire Messud and Jacqueline Woodson read from their new works, and in such a beautiful setting as this old church.

I couldn’t stay for any book signings afterwards. I would have had to stand in a long line, considering how packed the church was for their keynote. I dashed back to Trinity Forum to catch the “Voices of American: The Immigrant Experience Through a Writer’s Eyes” session, which featured Ha Jin, Marjan Kamali, and Grace. I have read Ha Jin’s books, including Waiting, which won the National Book Award for fiction in 1999. I picked up Marjan’s novel, Together Tea, which is about the matchmaking exploits of an Iranian woman’s parents. And I look forward to Grace’s memoir to come out next year. Grace read an excerpt about her father’s childhood in the Philippines that was gripping, heartbreaking, and beautifully written. My heart was literally in my throat as she read, which is how I define meaningful storytelling – the kind that stays with you, that you turn over and over in your head at night and for days. The three panelists talked about being immigrant writers, and while Marjan wished to be thought of as a writer and not “labeled” as an Iranian-American writer, I applauded Grace’s response: There are few Asian-American writers; she is more than happy to take on that mantle to draw more attention to the stories of Asian Americans, of Filipino Americans.

A very packed room for Ha Jin, Marjan Kamali, and Grace Talusan.

Marjan Kamali signing books after the session. I forgot to take Ha Jin’s up-close photo!

Once I briefly met Ha Jin and Marjan, I dashed to the Boston Public Library. I wasn’t able to catch the session “Fiction: Missed Connections,” with Eshkol Novo, Celeste Ng, and Lily Tuck, but I decided that getting their books signed was more important. I ended up reading a good chunk of Celeste’s second novel, Little Fires Everywhere, on my long plane ride back home the following evening. It’s a beautiful novel, both in character revelation and insight and in her writing. I wasn’t familiar with Lily Tuck, but I picked up her latest novel, the slim Sisters, which I read in one sitting that night. I appreciated the structure of what I consider a novella, and I learned a lot about crafting intense short scenes/chapters. Another writer to read more of her previous works!

The front of the Boston Public Library.

Courtyard in the Boston Public Library – a building we didn’t go into when my family and I vacationed in Boston in 2010.

Lily Tuck signing her slim novel, Sisters, for me.

Celeste Ng signing her new novel, Little Fires Everywhere, for me.

I completely missed “Freeman’s: The Future of New Writing.” John Freeman, literary critic, poet, and former Granta editor, is a childhood classmate of one of my favorite local proprietors, Jen Komaromi of Jenny K. I wished I could have attended, but it was time for me to head on over to Bren’s place in Cambridge. I caught a Lyft and met my gracious hosts, Bren and Bob, in their beautiful turn-of-the-century flat. The trees had already changed colors and it was cold. Perfect fall weather. Bren grew up in the Bay Area and is now a successful painter and muralist. He and Brian share the distinction of being one of the first couples to be married in Massachusetts when same-sex marriage was legal. While they had a dance performance to attend that evening, I was perfectly happy to cozy up on the couch and read Sisters in one sitting. And then cat-nap and catch the World Series.

Thinking of my daughter, Isabella, as I took a picture of the hare statue in Copley Square minus the tortoise.

Old South Church across from the Boston Public Library.

In the morning, after my error of telling Bren and Bob that the weekend before Halloween was Daylight Savings time was discovered, we had enough time to right the ship, get ready, and head on over to hosts Rory and Jane’s home to enjoy a Sunday brunch and discuss my novel. I was in awe of all the great food that was on the table. What a wonderful tradition of a having a potluck brunch with Filipino food such as puto and a rice dish that was supposed to feature Spam (Anna, who brought the dish apologized for not being able to find the tin of Spam in her kitchen). I met some wonderful people and new friends. I felt so welcomed. Rather than drain me, my short whirlwind weekend energized me. I was surrounded by books, book lovers, writers, my Filipino American community, warm hospitality. What more could a writer ask for? Maraming salamat, dear new friends!

Meeting host Rory Dela Paz and Anna (courtesy of Bren Bataclan).

Enjoying Filipino food and conversation (courtesy of Bren Bataclan).

New and long-standing members of the Boston Filipino American Book Club (courtesy of Bren Bataclan).

Talking about my book (courtesy of Bren Bataclan).

Members of the Boston Filipino-American Book Club and their tasty spread hosted by Jane and Rory Dela Paz.

Saying goodbye to this artistic couple, photographer Alonso Nichols and memoirist and fiction writer Grace Talusan (courtesy of Bren Bataclan).

Riding in the El Cerrito Centennial parade

Posted on September 17, 2017 by Patty

It’s been my belief that learning how to do something in your hometown is the most important thing.
– Pete Seeger, American folk singer and social activist

My town of El Cerrito, Calif., where I’ve lived since 1996, is celebrating its centennial this year. One of the major events for the celebration was the Showcase Parade, which featured 59 groups or distinguished individuals. I was invited to participate as a local award-winning writer. But the biggest honor was sharing the red convertible with Gail Tsukiyama, award-winning writer of eight novels and resident of El Cerrito.

Pictures say it all, so I will let them do the talking.

Everyone is getting ready for the start of the parade at the staging grounds. Lots of convertibles and jeeps.

Ruth, our driver and owner of the red convertible, took a picture of Gail and me before the parade started.

And we’re off! That’s Nathan the Magician behind us, who unicycled and juggled all the way to the end of the parade – and wearing a dress shirt and tie! Nathan is an El Cerrito High School grad who, after college, became a full-time magician.

The parade in front of us. We turned right onto Richmond Street, which is a major street in El Cerrito. The ECHS marching band was in front of us, too.

We’ve got our signs up!

Looking behind us. Keeping Nathan honest.

My sad attempt at a selfie with Gail as we enjoy the 70s music that the El Cerrito High School dance group was dancing to.

The energetic ECHS dance troupe entertaining us all.

Residents waved from their picture windows of their homes on residential Richmond Street, and many pulled up their chairs and waved from the curbside.

I recognized a number of families from our schools, and was pleasantly surprised to see our long-time friends Yoko and Bruce at one of the street corners.

Coming up Moeser Street and getting closer to Cerrito Vista Park, our destination.

More crowd shots.

We have an active El Cerrito Arts and Culture Committee, thanks to parent and San Francisco State professor Chris Sterba. Marching in the parade is Maw Shein Win, El Cerrito’s Poet Laureate, in the red with the hat.

David, my husband, was near the park entrance and took this picture of Gail and me. And that’s Chris Sterba on the left, handing out leaflets on the Arts and Culture Committee.

A close-up as we drove by.

And I had to include this photo of Ernie Broglio, who is an ECHS alum who also pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs. Best known as the player who was traded to the Cubs from the Cardinals in exchange for Lou Brock. Yep, you know which team made out big. But the other big thing is that our house is Ernie’s childhood home. His family was the first owners of our current house. We are the second owners. After the parade, David went up to tell him we own his house. What a pleasant surprise that was for him!

The end of the road for us, while more townspeople gather at Cerrito Vista Park. What a great event.

El Cerrito Centennial Parade

Posted on September 9, 2017 by Patty

This coming Saturday, September 16th, I’ll be in the El Cerrito Centennial parade, riding in a convertible – red, no less – with former El Cerrito resident and author Gail Tsukiyama (Women of the Silk, The Samurai’s Garden, Night of Many Dreams, The Language of Threads, Dreaming Water, and The Street of a Thousand Blossoms). I’m honored and thrilled to be riding with her in celebration of my hometown and her former hometown’s 100th anniversary of its founding. The route starts at the Safeway on San Pablo Avenue near Del Norte BART station at 8:30am and ends at Cerrito Vista Park at noon. See you there!

Second home in summer – Portland Maine

Posted on August 9, 2017 by Patty

We sat bathed in luscious darkness, Casco Bay’s thousand islands spread out before us like a diamond quilt. ‘I don’t get enough of this,’ she said.
– Mike Bond, novelist, environmental activist, poet, war and human rights correspondent, and international energy expert

Every summer, I am treated to a week in Maine, thanks to the fact that my company is based in Portland, Maine. Every summer, I fly into Portland, and I immediately fall in love all over again. The bay, the islands with the homes dotting the shore, the billowy clouds floating across a brilliant blue sky, the fresh air, the fantastic restaurants, the cute shops. I gush about moving to Maine. Or at least summer in Maine.

This year, the out-of-towners at my company got to stay at the Press Hotel, which is a boutique hotel that was once home to the Portland Press-Herald newspaper. But not only is the building an historic building, but the owners got it right by decorating the interior of the hotel with a newspaper theme. The sales team at my company, who are just great to work with and for, thanked me for my service to them in a very sweet call-out before my boss’s presentation on our department. And they presented me with two Press Hotel mugs and ceramic tray, which now sit on my desk to remind me of my stay there and the wonderful memories from this year.

My picture of the building didn’t turn out because the sun wasn’t on my back. But here’s info on the history of the newspaper and building.

In the lobby, one of the walls displays typewriters from all eras.

In the lobby, an old-fashioned typewriter and complimentary stationery.

Mod carpeting and tables with enlarged old newspaper clippings.

In the hallways, the wall paper is taken from actual headlines found in old microfiche (yes, look up that word).

The room across the hall from me. I love the detail of the room number being illuminated.

The chair and its quote in my room.

My last night at the Press Hotel: lobster rolls and homemade potato chips.

My Press Hotel gifts and souvenirs….

Meals for the week! Portland is well known for its great restaurants. And I was lucky to hit a number of places. Some new, some welcomed me back.

Marcy’s Diner, if you want a hearty meal, with my colleague Julie.

Boats pointing to Casco Bay.

DeMillo’s on the Bay, Portland.

Branzino at Scales, with a great view of the Bay.

The tradition for dinner the last evening of our summer sales summit is taking the ferry to Peak’s Island and having a lobster dinner. Fun was had by all. And, of course, my colleague and partner in crime, Deb, accompanied me as we shopped in Old Port, the old part of town.

One of my favorite shops in Maine. From jewelry to unique clocks and other furniture to whimsy decorations like these bookish birdhouses.

I read about Flea-for-All in the local magazine in my hotel room. What a fun place to browse. This is where I discovered Michelle Estell jewelry.

Beautifully curated Flea-for-All on Congress Street.

The interior of Flea-for-All.

Maine Potters Market in Old Port has beautiful pottery made by artists from Maine.

Selfies on the ferry ride to Peak’s Island – with Erin and Claretha.

A mix of sales and editorial staff – with Jane, Kelly, Gus, Julie, and Deb.

Claretha and I bonded last summer with our love for big earrings. The pair that I’m wearing was given to me by Claretha on the first day of summer summit.

Peak’s Island lobster – a tradition.

On the way back to the ferry – a familiar sight of colorful hanging lobster floats.

Farewell, Peak’s Island!

After the summer sales summit concluded for me, I spent the weekend with my good friend Jack and his wife, Fay, and their daughter, Camille. But first, we walked around Portland, as I discovered for the first time since I’ve been coming here, that Henry Wadsworth-Longfellow lived here and his home is an historic landmark. We walked around the gardens.

Longfellow’s statue in Portland.

The lush Longfellow’s Garden.

Tranquil setting.

Vibrant greenery.

Colorful bouquet.

At the Portland Hunt and Alpine Club for drinks with Eric and Jack. Love the simple green bouquets on the table. This place is all scarred wood, clear glass, greenery, and old-time maps. And good drinks!

Still bad at doing selfies, but I guess that’s a good thing. With Eric and Jack.

First time at Empire – one of the favorites, Peking duck buns. To. Die. For. If you ever go to Portland, you must eat here. The hour wait is worth every second.

Jack and his family moved to Brunswick in 2015, but since we went directly from Portland to Stonington Island, where they have a home there, I never spent time in their new abode until this year. Brunswick is lovely, and I had a relaxing time exploring the historic town.

The picturesque Brunswick Inn, in the main street of town.

This is a great shop, though pricey and questionable customer service. But still a great place to browse.

Wyler’s of Brunswick, a charming shop with jewelry, clothes, housewares, toys, locally crafted gifts, and accessories. You can spend a lot of time browsing here.

Hatch on Maine is a cute vintage and antique shop. There are a few vintage/antique shops on the main street. This one was a favorite of mine.

The shores of Brunswick.

The Frank J. Wood Bridge, which spans the Androscoggin River between Topsham and Brunswick, at twilight.

Contemplating life, Fay and Jack overlook the Androscoggin River.

Can’t get enough of the clouds here.

Brunswick is home to Bowdoin College, a lovely private liberal arts college established in 1794 when Maine was still part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Bowdoin College Chapel.

Inside the chapel.

Hubbard Hall.

Lovely white hydrangeas all over the campus.

The second majestic lion.

Illuminated clouds.

Along the way, we walked through the local cemetery, in which Joseph Chamberlain, hometown hero of the Civil War, is laid to rest.

Walking through the Brunswick cemetery.

Something about headstones in a cemetery that draws me, especially when the cemetery is an old one.

Joseph Chamberlain’s headstone.

A row of headstones.

A family of headstones like rows of old teeth.

Knowing that I love gardens, Jack took me to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, where I took upwards of 200 photos at least. Here are just a few, though it was tough to narrow them down.