On Saturday morning I waved goodbye to Caitlin and Collin, the elderly dog, as she headed off to take care of some family business, so for the last week before the movers come on Friday, I will be alone in my current place, as I was at the beginning of the lease a year ago. The silence is very noticable; I miss the many routines we all had together, and the deep comfort of always being around my beloved.
Of course I will be very busy finishing up the packing, even though we have already taken several car loads of books, clothes, and kitchenware over to the new place after I picked up the keys about ten days ago. I am naturally excited to imagine the contours of life there, although our preliminary measurements of the space revealed that I will have to be more creative with furniture placement than my initial ideas.
I was also fortified against sadness on Saturday as I spent the rest of the morning preparing for a wedding up in Marin, one that had been scheduled since last December. It was a small and sweet occasion, in a beautiful house I had ridden my bike near many times without knowing of its existence. I have another wedding to officiate at lunchtime on Monday, this time at City Hall, grand and beautiful in a different way.
This means that I won’t be able to attend this week’s sit on the Embarcadero. Zachary will still be there, and hopefully a couple of the regulars as well. It has been fun getting back into that routine. Last week was especially warm, and the dragonflies flitted about at head height. The busyness feels very familiar, though there are undoubtedly fewer people walking along the waterfront; no shortage of seagulls, parrots, pelicans, hummingbirds and cormorants however.
Shundo David Haye 