Tuesday, April 6, 2010

An Embarrassment of Riches

What a delightful day it was today!

Any day I get to drive to San Francisco on a sunny, clear day has got to be good. That view as I round the curve at Golden Gate Fields race track and see the Golden Gate Bridge sparkling in the sunlight just lifts my heart up every time. (I always wish there were an overlook at that spot so I could take a picture, but you'll just have to imagine the viewing stands rising above a racetrack and behind it, shining in the sun, the Golden Gate Bridge.

I was meeting three women from Facebook. Kerry signs the guestbook here as "Tiff." She and her husband were here in California visiting his family and she suggested that we meet for lunch. She also invited Terri, whom she had also never met, and Ellen, with whom she had gone to high school.

While I was in Santa Barbara last week, discussion went on on Facebook about where to have lunch and finally Terri suggested Zazie's cafe on Cole Street, near the edge of Golden Gate Park. There are lots of small eateries in this neighborhood, also on the edge of the Haight-Ashbury District (where the Hippie movement started), but I was not familiar with any of them.

Zazie's is a (very) small French cafe, obviously very popular, judging from the crowd waiting to get in. After Kerry and Gerrit arrived, were fortunate to catch a corner table and sat there waiting for Terri and Ellen.

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I discovered that we had one of those "xx degrees of separation" things with us. Apparently Gerrit's uncle, whom they are visiting, borrowed ficus trees from the Davis Comic Opera Company, so probably met Walt, who used to take care of getting them to people who were borrowing them, at some point. And since he's a farmer living on the Delta, he may have encountered Walt in a "professional" capacity as well. I must remember to ask Kerry to give me his name again, since I have forgotten it.

Terri finally arrived, but Ellen never did. Kerry later discovered a message on her cell phone from Ellen, saying that her car had broken down and she was waiting for a tow truck. So we just went ahead and ordered without her.

I had something called La Mer Benedict.

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I'll bet you can guess what's under that Hollendaise and egg...crab, of course. It was delicious.

We had an absolutely delightful time together and I look forward to continuing having interactions with Kerry and to follow Terri in her upcoming adventures. Gerrit pointed out that they had met several internet "friends" and hadn't come across a single axe murderer yet. My experience too!

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The others were going to go on and wander the Haight-Ashbury, but the time had expired on my parking meter (it was flashing red; I was lucky I hadn't received a ticket), so I opted to come on home.

I decided that since I was closer to the Golden Gate Bridge than to the Bay Bridge, I'd take that route home and it was a great drive, alternating between blue-blue skies with fluffy white clouds and deep green rolling hills, and absolutely torrential rain, and then back to blue skies again. Definitely no problem staying awake on that drive!

When I arrived home there was a box here. From Amazon. A kind of heavy box. I didn't remember ordering anything that heavy, but I am so carefree with orders from Amazon, I may well have. When I opened it up, inside was a waffle iron, and I know I hadn't ordered a waffle iron.

I read the paperwork and it was from a woman here in Davis, whom I have known for several years, who, upon reading that I love waffles and don't own a waffle iron, decided to buy one for me. What an incredibly sweet gesture.

I certainly am so lucky with having so many nice, friendly, and sometimes generous people in my life!

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