It’s Saturday in San Francisco. The fog is cooling us for the weekend. It’s overhead, pushing around the gray and partially hiding the sun. For me, it’s a welcome sight. Yes, I know it will be chilly for Folsom Street Fair but that is better leather-wearing weather.

Starting Monday, we’ve got our week of summer on tap. High temperatures with the fog not in the starting lineup. I may bring up that beast of a mobile air-conditioner, that we’ve got in the garage. It works like a dream. If you leave it on too long it makes you feel like a piece of meat in the freezer. It’s cold comfort for the friends of the fog.

My favorite canine is reacquainting with the new cone. Her ouchie is healing; energy and appitite are back to normal. Life goes on in the dog world. While she didn’t enjoy putting the cone back on, it was a means to a treat. Luna’s values and priorities are as constant as the northern star.

In garden news, we will be transforming our pergola into a Sukkot this October. We are going to use the dead palm branches for the roof. It gives these branches a temporary second life. It’s been a few years since we’ve done it. It should be fun.

It’s the last weekend of baseball. The Giants are in town. I’m usually more pro-active about scoring tickets and going but I’m feeling somewhat blah. My concentrations / focus is all over the place right now…like the fog.

The fog is a rolling silent gray cooling machine. It’s fun doing a city hike when it’s blowing on the tourists. It’s fantastic for the local fleece and hoodie economy. Our mini summer weather is still a no-show (any day now).

Regardless of the weather, I’m already getting that softball itch. The season goes from March to July. We took off to London and Vienna at the end of August. Now, here I am at the end of September, thinking about fielding ground balls. And yes, this is not a real world problem.

My evil plan to take over the world, actually involves getting 7 people to come out and take pitches. I think in the next few days, I’ll send messages and gauge interest. With any luck there’ll be a few guys ready to take a few swings and enjoy the weather before the rainy season shows up.

Currently, Garry has laser focus on the kitchen floor. The vinyl covering has aged poorly and it’s time for something new. I was helping, until I wasn’t. I’m happy with what he chooses. The different shades of kind of the same color are all fine. It’s not like I spend my entire life in the kitchen.

It’s Luna’s favorite room because she’s a dog. That’s where all the yummy people food lives. If she could pick out a floor, I guarantee you, it would be delicious. At the moment she is undoubtedly still thinking about her encounter with a coyote yesterday.

The cleaning folks were here and the door to the back was open. Luna generally has the run of the deck and yard. Our backyard, along with the neighbor’s yard are closed but a coyote somehow made it into their space. Luna was barking her head off. Garry and I were both out but the cleaners got her in and closed the door. Since then, Luna has been looking for that surprise visitor everywhere.

Our neighbor sent us an image of the coyote. It was thin and reddish, brownish with some gray. It’s a good color for an animal and an even better color for a kitchen floor. No, I don’t care, pick whatever color you want. But hey don’t choose the really dark one or the one that looks like the fog.

What I generally describe as the most perfect weather in San Francisco: sunny, 60ish with a breeze, we are experiencing right now. Actually, this weather has been all week but today I had an opportunity to do a city hike (3-4 miles) and it felt great.

I like to believe that I work in enough elevation in my walks (good for the thighs) but I live in San Francisco. It’s not like you have to find a route with hills. All you really need to do is keep walking. They are everywhere like Starbucks.

Heck, I start halfway up a hill in Glen Park then down, then up to Market, down to Castro but back up toward Haight etc.. If you do not want to do hills, that requires an actual route and some planning.

Last weekend was softball heavy with the Golden Bear tournament in San Jose. I joined the Sacramento Grizzlies for the event. We played 5 games Saturday and 2 on Sunday. It was great fun and my legs felt pretty stiff on Monday…worth it.

It is nice to have a quieter week on hand with only one softball game this Sunday. I’m feeling the need to curl up with a book. I love going away on a softball trip but when I get back I want to stay home and reboot, preferably with a coffee.

As I write this we are kicking another month to the curb. I feel like 2024 is a year on rocket skates. It is flying. There are times I want to slow it down, make it last longer but mostly the good parts.

We were back at the theater for a couple of good shows recently. The best show playing right now in San Francisco is Jonathan Larson’s Tick Tick Boom at NCTC. The leads are spot on and the musicians are good. It’s an entertaining night out.

We were able to get out to Berkeley Rep to see Galileo the Musical. Raul Esparza (who was in the off-Broadway Tick Tick Boom) is in this ambitious show with decent numbers and some middling ones. The performers, however, elevate this show and Esparza is at his best. Admittedly, It is an odd choice to make it a rock musical. Some of it sounds like it was written by Meat Loaf.

It’s fun to get out and about. And it’s nice to hang with my hubby and Luna slowing the time down. June is upon us.

Happy Pride Month.

It’s the Superbowl Weekend here in San Francisco, diehards that didn’t travel to Las Vegas for the game will be at some SB party, a busy bar, or not partaking in it. The San Francisco 49ers are in it for the second year in a row. I’m rooting for an exciting game.

In the UGH column, my lower back has been reminding me that I did a bunch of lifting last week. It was fine for our softball practice on Saturday. It was not until Saturday night (after an early date with the hubby), I was feeling it a bit.

Today, SB Sunday, that feeling is still there. The ibuprofen is happening. It’s not painful but it feels not as strong. The anti-inflammatory is a good choice.

The practice on Saturday was on a turf field. I secured a permit knowing how popular that field is with the soccer players. With the amount of rain we’ve been getting, field conditions on dirt fields have been less than ideal.

Still, I’m not a turf fan and we don’t play on turf during the season so it’s a rare booking. I’ll say it was nice to come off the field without taking dirt home.

There was a funny moment: soccer mom with a wagon and two children in tow, marches into right field with our last batter at the plate, “OK you need to leave I have a 1:00 p.m. permit.” I said, taking our permit out: “What time is it?” She checked her watch and said “12:55”. “And I’ve got a permit until 1. “ She rolled her wagon back to foul territory and the last guy finished his at-bat. I don’t blame her for trying to squeeze us for a few minutes, we are both aware of how much these permits cost and how popular this spot has become.

Lang Field is one of the brand-new turf choices in the city. From the field, visually you get the view of the City Hall dome. It’s near transportation and somewhat easy to come off the bridge and get to drive-wise. They’re smaller fields and you generally do a balancing act with the soccer folks in the outfield. The city did an excellent job of revamping these fields and the playground area.

The softball team is coming together. The two practices have been promising. We’re in the process of fleshing out positions and have some real clarity on what was the question mark spots. We’ve got 5-6 new players (to us) and we are getting a real good look at them. #cougarcubs

We kept it simple on Thanksgiving with a little bird (chicken), sweet potatoes, cranberry, and Brussels sprouts. It still amounted to more time in the kitchen than at the dinner table. We were a two-man cyclone in that square room but we got it done.

It was a busy day overall. There was gardening, I also cleared out a section of the garage that was fraught with boxes. Armed with a box cutter, I transformed the lot into a small pile of cardboard.

Midday as we sat outside with our current books, Garry out of the blue smiled and said, “how did we end up together?” I said simply: “We were the last two on the Titanic. I let you get on my raft.”

I’m thankful for having Garry and Luna in my life. He is cool and supportive of my sports weekends and theater needs. And Luna is all right with me going to work as long as I bring her back the occasional treat.

At the end of December, we will be 10 years married. Neither one of us previously had a relationship for that length of time. And the time has flown. I guess it’s proof that sometimes you can mix Manhattan with Brooklyn and it’s not a bridge too far.

Garry and I met my first year in San Francisco. It was fun and not serious at the time. We became friends and then charted other romantic crossings with other guys. There were even a few years we didn’t communicate. Then we did and it was the right time.

Naturally, the above is the sanitized version. There were also hurt feelings, miscommunications, and the infamous coffee shop meeting of no return. We overcame it and climbed back up on the raft. Now, almost a decade later, we sail on.

I got some steps in under full fog this morning. The lovely puffy grayness has enveloped Glen Park, shielding us from any real heat. Still, I was warm after about 45 minutes of cement city walking.

It’s nice to sit back and have some coffee at the neighborhood coffee joint. Bella Coffee is nothing fancy. It’s got coffee and chairs to park your butt. The decor is reminiscent of the uniform fashion choice of United Parcel Service (UPS); it’s brown and it’s also very brown.

The wall art, no one would save in a fire, is a bit unusual. Tribbles (Star Trek) in a brown frame. It blends in seamlessly though, I think if you hit your head on it, you would notice it.

I’m sitting in one of the three cushy chairs, next to a table with a tiny non-working tabletop water fountain. The tiny structure is a few rocks with three other rocks hanging over. The one big rock has a whole in the center. These days there is no way to get water from this rock.

However, If you close your eyes, you might imagine the water dripping, soothing but alas we have indie music in the background. Even still, I’m able to sit, relax, have my drip, and be alone with my thoughts.

Coffee shops are happy places.

I’ll be skipping the Gay World Series this year. It looks like the SF senior team going has got a full squad. They never even reached out. Save for catching up with the wonderful Neil Badders (which would have been a major highlight of the trip), I’m not super bummed about it.

Garry still needs a little help as he heals from surgery. I’m the guy for that job and frankly I would have felt weird about leaving in the midst of it. He is still not able to drive. The driving practice is also good for me. 🙂

There will be other softball tournaments. I am already peeking into fall tournaments and beyond. New York in October? New Orleans in early December? The money I’m about to save for not going to a week long softball contest will forward quiet easily to a shorter duration softball weekend.

Anyway it’s a quiet Monday but indictments are happening in Georgia. It’s time to get the popcorn and read the charges. 🙂

It’s a quiet Monday, notable because it’s the end of one of the longest unplanned weekends I can remember. Garry’s recovery from shoulder surgery required at home assistance (me). Now, he is in a good place with it and able to do things for himself. I’m happy he is feeling better.

I’m lucky to work for an understanding employer. I haven’t been in the office since Monday July, 10th. It will be good to turn on my computer and get it all going in the morning.

Today, there was a quick drug pick up to Walgreens in Diamond Heights. It was sunny, I walked up the street side of Glen Canyon. Yes, I could have driven but it was a great excuse to get some steps in while enjoying the neighborhood in great weather (we got to 69 degrees). It was brilliant. Folks were out and about taking in the day, and flowers showed off their color.

I cancelled a softball tournament for this upcoming weekend. I didn’t know how Garry would be with recovery. NOTE: it’s always good to give the manager of the team enough time to find your replacement. And, I wouldn’t feel comfortable going if he’s not 100 percent. The games are out in the Guerneville area and drivable. They’ll be other games.

The London immersive version of Guys and Dolls was fantastic. I entered the Bridge Theatre with low expectations mostly because when someone says “immersive” I think of shows like Tony and Tina’s Wedding. If I’m paying for a ticket, it’s because I’m the audience and don’t want to be a part of it.

The immersive part, turned out to be a pit area, where people could stand (you paid for a standing ticket) and dance with the music. In the center of this there was an area for the the actors to perform, platforms that would raise them over the pit. The rest of the house was in a square design. The performers played to each side; all the seats at different angles seemed to work out fine.

Kudos to director Nicholas Hunter and the players for this version of one of my favorite musicals. They nailed it. Mark Oxtoby•• had Nathan Detroit down. He talked the talk, walked the walk and great rapport with Marisha Wallace’s Adelaide. Wallace brought a soulful quality to the part, I hadn’t seen before.

Cedric Neals’ Nicely-Nicely Johnson brought the house down with his “Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat” number. The choreography played with each side of the house with the gamblers in unison moving the chairs to face each side of the house, per chorus of the song. Neal’s looked back at the conductor (above) after the thunderous ovation. He shrugged an “alright” and they repeated the chorus part of the song. We responded. 🙂

**Oxtoby normally plays another character but subs for lead Daniel Mays (who was also praised for this role)

During our London trip in early May, one of the more interesting places we walked into was Sir John Soane’s Museum. Soane was the architect of the Bank of England. The museum was his home, which he designed to be a museum after he died.

It was quite a spectacle, a home filled with relics of Greece, Rome, and Egypt. Walls covered everywhere and there is a nice assortment of paintings. The basement or catacombs have a tomb, Roman urns, and more curiosities that I’m used to seeing in one place.