We started this week with a barbecue to celebrate Loren’s and his sister’s birthdays at his Mom’s house. We finished dinner with a chocolate cake with candles.

Loren has been enjoying the one teen boy at our AirBnB, he and his Mom are also long term guests in the house. He challenged Loren this week to their second battle in a game of Nerf gun war. Can you see their white styrofoam “bases” – what I call targets, on the driveway?

Last week I taught 8 Bikram Yoga classes with the long Labor Day weekend, this week I taught 3 more… I am really enjoying the teaching, as well as taking several classes a week myself.

Now Loren and I are at the start of a week’s getaway. Loren’s sister who lives with their Mom has gone off for a week to celebrate her birthday, and their Mom is staying the week with their other sister. Our first stop was in Berkeley – the once famously named Berserkely. We drove along Piedmont Avenue – a coincidence in name to the neighborhood in Oakland where Loren’s Mom was raised as well as theAnglicized name of the region in Italy where her grandparents were from. We soon stopped at the University of California to see Sather Tower. Its campanille is the third-tallest bell and clock-tower in the world.

We went to the top for the views of the Berkeley Hills, Oakland, and in the distance San Francisco.

The elevator operator mentioned on our way up that someone informed her that there was a fallstreak hole phenomenon happening today with recent formation of clouds overhead. We saw it clearly, both in the photo I had taken of Loren as we arrived and again from the top of the tower. 

Our timing was perfect as the carillon only plays three times a day, one being at noon. So we went back to our car and drove closer to hear the player perform three pieces after the clock rang out noon. Then we made it in time for our 12:30 lunch reservation at Chez Panisse, also in Berkeley near the campus. Seeing the Bell Tower and eating at Chez Panisse have been on my wish list for probably 25 years. and I am grateful that we could experience these both this week.

Now we are in Santa Rosa, making our way to a friend’s home for lunch…