Month: September 2018

Whenever I visit my sister in the San Francisco area I always drag her to City Lights Bookstore in downtown San Francisco.  It is one of the most wonderful bookstores I have ever been in. It is very hard not to buy everything on every shelf.  I did very well. I took a photo of a couple of books on the shelves to see if our local library at home has them. I know,  I know.  I was very discreet. I remember being in a bookshop in Ireland and took three pictures in order to feature the shop on my blog and the store owner gave me a scathing lecture, dripping with sarcasm. When I bought a journal from him and something else, I forget what it was,  he threw my change at me.  Needless to say I did not feature him or his shop in my blog as I don’t like to be negative here.  I often wonder if after two years how he is doing.

Anyway- I digress.  We spent an hour in the bookstore and then wandered back to a yummy looking cafe that had lots of Udon noodle dishes. It wasn’t busy when we first saw it on the way to the bookstore but upon returning the queue went out the door. We couldn’t wait as we only had a two hour meter.

My sister, who is a military veteran suggested we go over to the veterans medical centre and eat in their cafeteria.  It is built on the shores of the Pacific Ocean and sets high above it with magnificent ocean views out the glassed wall.  We had a very good lunch of chicken, mashed potatoes, hot gravy and vegetables plus a bottle of water for $6.00 each and enjoyed the beautiful views for free. After lunch we walked along the trail from the back of the ocean and around a very large golf course back to the street where our car was parked.  A wonderful day in 80 degree temperatures with a slight breeze.

After our day out we only had energy to eat chocolate chip cookies on the drive home. A good way to deal with heavy traffic.

I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I enjoy sharing them with you.

 

Before you enter the store  you must walk down the alleyway alongside the store to see the literary insets in the cement and the murals on the wall. I liked this mural. It represents the many authors who have been jailed in other countries for their written word.

There is a bar next door and this is the mural near their entrance.  A good place to go and have a cold drink.

Two of the literary tiles on the path down the alley.

Then we went into the store and stood in awe at the wonderful selection and the variety of authors. There is the main floor, plus a basement and an upstairs.

First stop was the shelves of periodicals and magazines.  I loved this periodical full of short stories, poetry and essays as well as some illustrations. It was big and I took note of it to see if our State Library has access to it.

I am sure our State Library has this so I will check it out if it does. I have heard of it but never read it. It’s a long ways from Tasmania.

These were the four magazines I did buy. They will slip into my carry on bag easily and should provide entertainment for the 24 hour journey home on Monday night.

I noticed this Australian book by its title right away. I will definitely see if our library has this. It sounds like a great Aussie read.

I was fascinated by this series of ‘Noir’ books.  I had never heard of them and don’t they look great, all together on the shelf. I would love to read these.  Have you read any of them?

When I went down the stairs I saw this door that leads to another place.  I am glad it is spelled out to those of us who arrive from far away places and still get a bit jet lagged.

I only include this book for a friend at home who I know adores squirrels, or “squiwwels” as Australians pronounce it. It is a long running private joke and you know who you are!!! The rest of you may  move on.

By the way, not having heard of John and Pamela, they were a couple of British playwrights who had an off and on love affair for 40 years and this is their tale.  It did look quite interesting but far too heavy and expensive to spend money on (at this time). Library??

This is the area around the Veteran’s Hospital where we walked after lunch. A very lovely area. Beautiful day out.

I hope you enjoyed our day.   If you are ever in San Francisco be sure to go to this wonderful bookstore.

We spent the day in Mill Valley in the middle of a large redwood forest. It is situated north of San Francisco and each year they hold a very large arts festival. Lots of people attend with their families and dogs. Saw a few quirky outfits and there are food stalls set up. I enjoyed the photography exhibits but I didn’t see any street photography on display or much travel photography outside of a German photographer’s wonderful photos of wildlife from around the world. They were truly stunning.

Of course I could not photograph the exhibits so you’ll just have to believe me.  If you’re interested, scroll down to see my captioned photos. If not, close this post and wait for another post on books. I have finished a few.

 

Today arrived and we had a couple of festivals we could attend. We narrowed it down to an Arts Festival and a Native American Indian festival.  We chose the Native Americans.  Hosting this festival in the lovely Miwok Park in Novato was the Miwok tribe. The word Miwok means “people” in their native language. 

As I knew nothing of this tribe and in fact had never heard of them I looked them up in Wikipedia and learned:

“The predominant theory regarding the settlement of the Americas date the original migrations of the Miwok tribe from Asia to around 20,000 years ago across the Bering Strait land bridge, but anthropologists claim that the Miwok and some other California tribes descend from Siberians who arrived in California by sea around 3,000 years ago.

The Miwok lived in small bands without centralised political authority before contact with European Americans in 1769. They had domesticated dogs and cultivated tobacco, but were otherwise hunter-gatherers.

The Sierra Miwok harvested acorns from the California Black Oak.  In fact, the modern-day extent of the California Black Oak forests in some areas of Yosemite National Park is partially due to cultivation by Miwok tribes. 

They burned vegetation to reduce the amount of Ponderosa Pine.  Nearly every other kind of edible vegetable matter was used as a food source, including bulbs, seeds, and fungi. Animals were hunted with arrows, clubs or snares, depending on the species and the situation. Grasshoppers were a highly prized food source, as were mussels for those groups adjacent to the Stanislaus River.

The Miwok ate meals according to appetite rather than at regular times. They stored food for later consumption, primarily in flat-bottomed baskets. 

Miwok spiritual narratives tend to be similar to those of other natives of Northern California. The Miwok had totem animals, identified with one of two moieties which were in turn associated respectively with land and water. These totem animals were not thought of as literal ancestors of humans, but rather as predecessors.

 

Enjoy the photos below: