BaumBlog: 5/6/20: Tank Hill & Pemberton Steps

MAY 6, 2020: To Tank Hill & Home via Pemberton Steps

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A PILLAR WITH MARBLE TILES THAT ARE FULL OF FOSSILS!

TODAY:

YIKES! SICK FRIEND!
RESPONSES TO MY POLL
THE WALK

Yesterday I saw my close friend Cecelia on Zoom who is recovering from what is probably COVID-19, although the test was negative. But who knows because...

THE TESTS ARE SO UNRELIABLE

AS TO BE POINTLESS!

At least this one was. Her wife Bobbi said it's right 50% of the time. Guess what! So is a COIN TOSS! Carolyn's brother in Florida was positive then negative than positive again.

The absurdity continues. I am going to contact Pelosi's office today to demand that the FDA vet all these tests, instead of letting the Free Market aka the Wild West deliver whatever the hell they can sell to us.

Anyhow, although Bobbi & Cecelia seemed to be very calm about it all -- socially isolating from each other in the house as much as they could -- I was totally freaked out to have a CLOSE FRIEND who is ill with what might be (probably is) The Virus. I spent the rest of the night after the Zoom gathering phoning to find a friend to comfort me and say, "Oh you poor baby! How terrible for you!" But everyone was either not home or overwhelmed with their OWN tsurus (Yiddish for trouble/hassle) which was bigger than MY tsurus. Somehow it all calmed me down, even though no one said "poor baby."

Yes, I am one of the privileged ones. Fully housed, not working in a nursing home or meatpacking plant or even a nice grocery store. Deep down, I believe not only that I won't get The Virus, but that all those I love will escape unharmed.

I think it's human nature, don't you, that makes us always figure out how WE will be protected while others are assaulted? "Oh, those foolish people who live in hurricane country. What? Earthquakes? Oh, earthquakes are no big deal. But hurricanes -- what a mess!"

Oh, those foolish people who work in meatpacking plants. Right? I would never do something foolish like THAT.

Actually, I've always been aware of being what I have called "lucky." But this catastrophe is opening up to me all the ways that my "luck" is PRIVILEGE. Luck is random. Privilege is part of the structure of the society. Even my intelligence: I was privileged to crawl around as a baby in a home without lead paint chips and I was privileged to get great nutrition starting from Day One.

Did you know, in the two majority-black districts of Washington D.C., there are three full-service supermarkets for 170,000 people? THREE for 170,000. In Washington D.C. I just cannot get over that.

OKAY! LET'S MOVE ON AND CHEER UP! FIRST, A PHOTO OF LD'S ADORABLE AIREDALE, RILEY!!! HERE COMES RILEY!

I decided I'm going to do the BaumBlog three days a week. I got a real mix of responses from you Bloggelinis, perhaps a slight majority happy to have it continue every day.

But frankly, I think it's better for me to do only three days. I have been excited and thrilled to do the blog and also exhausted and overwhelmed. I hate to admit that age might have something to do with it. No, I am NOT going to admit it! Forget it! My exhaustion has absolutely NOTHING to do with being 73! I can still do EVERYthing I've always done and that's that! But Mon-Wed-Fri it is.

FROM HOME TO TANK HILL & BACK DOWN THE PEMBERTON STEPS

Tank Hill is really not that far from the house, but only recently discovered by Carolyn. On the way there:

Rooftop School with its beautiful mosaic walls. Ruth Asawa is a great and local artist who gave so much to students. This project honors her.

Then on to Greystone St., which has some beautiful houses, different from anywhere else in SF. This one below is the star. I think this is a traditional Turkish style:

Okay, maybe this house is a bit too much -- definitely einga potched. That's Yiddish for over-the-top with decoration. I'm not too crazy about the stained glass garage door. But the spiral mosaic driveway -- wow!

Then you get to the end of Greystone, and there's a very busy street you must be careful when you run across, and then there are VERY rickety old wooden stairs that you climb up, and then you are on Tank Hill, with the spectacular views.