4000 Days of Writing: November 2020

Day - 1120

Saturday, November 28, 2020

Yesterday was so much fun we decided to go on another day trip to Hakone Estate and Gardens, a Japanese garden in Saratoga, CA, about 1 hour away. Wow, it was fantastic!

It's a beautiful garden created in 1915 by philantropists Isabel and Oliver Stine. We arrived just when the garden opened at 11 a.m. and the sun hit several of the trees so that we enjoyed the garden in all its color and magnificence. What a spectacular time!

At 1 we left for Von's chicken...oh, wow, crunchy goodness. We devoured this 1/2 box of wings in no time!

After lunch, we went to the new K-Market Korean grocery and picked up a few things for dinner and tomorrow's dinner. Great store, new, clean, and full of all kinds of different things to try.

Another great day in the Bay Area. If we can't be tourists around the globe, we'll be tourists in our back yard!

Day - 1122

Thursday, November 26, 2020

It was full-on feast that included clams. From now on, clams is a must for Thanksgiving. Wow, what a spread Alice put on. So incredibly delicious! Along with a full skillet of clams in wine sauce, we had two cornish game hens over a bed of diced butternut squash, bbq ribs that we cooked downstairs, spinach, and pumpkin pie for dessert. I ate so much I wasn't able to do anything else afterward, even watch TV.

Day - 1121

Friday, November 27, 2020

We woke up early, packed up the bikes and were out the door by 9 for our day trip to Yountville, CA. Alice had been talking about riding bikes in Napa all week. Luckily, the day was perfect, blue skies, no wind, around 70 degrees, what could be better than a post-TG Fridays like this one. We arrived around 10, found a spot to park in the middle of town, and away we went.

Our first destination was French Laundry at the end of Washington Street in Yountville. This is us standing in front of the famous 3-star Michelin restaurant. This is on our bucket list, a night at this place. Perhaps after Covid. We'll start saving our pennies...it's $350/person.

We bought lunch at R&D Kitchen (rainbow sushi), then croissants and lattes at Bouchon Bakery (30 minute wait).

Such a wonderful day!

Even traffic coming home was easy and nice.

We came home, had leftovers from last night, then watched the final two episodes of The Queen's Gambit. Fitting conclusion to a fine first season. I loved the triumphant conclusion in which everyone helps Beth beats Russia's best, who takes defeat like a gracious champion (unlike someone we all know, who never learned how to lose (never learned how to lose...what a sad, sick loser)).

Day - 1123

Wednesday, November 25, 2020

Day - 1124

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

Day - 1125

Monday, November 23, 2020

Day - 1126

Sunday, November 22, 2020

Day - 1127

Saturday, November 21, 2020

Day - 1128

Friday, November 20, 2020

Day 1 of my 3-day Facilitation training. We had 20+ participants. Zoom works suprisingly well for this, and it's organized nicely with a couple of interns and trainers. Mun Wah is excellent at this.

We began at 9 a.m. We introduced each other, then went into dyads for an exercise involving listening. I was paired up with a woman named Nayeli from Holister, CA. She is Mexican descent. We shared stories of our childhood and worked through the assigned exercise with ease. It was a pleasure meeting her. We used pages from our handbook (p. 8, 10).

At lunch, I was grouped with Lynette and Mai. Lynette is from Wisconsin and Mai from Fairfax, VA. We were asked to share an emotion we have difficulty expressing. It was a good conversation.

After lunch, we worked through another exercise involving reflection and inquiry, repeating what the speaker said and then asking for more information about the subject matter the speaker brought up. Basically, these are ways of enforcing listening and acknowledging to conversations before getting to the question, "what do you need from me?" Too often, this question is asked first without first establishing that the speaker was heard and acknowledged.

We had one final exercise before our first day ended at 3 p.m.

I spent the rest of the day relaxing, organzing, reading. I watched The Social Dilemma on NetFlix. Good.

Day - 1129

Thursday, November 19, 2020

Day - 1130

Wednesday, November 18, 2020

Day - 1131

Tuesday, November 17, 2020

Day - 1132

Monday, November 16, 2020

Day - 1133

Sunday, November 15, 2020

Day - 1134

Saturday, November 14, 2020

Back with Alice today. So happy! We met up with Alice's cousin Lillian and her husband William for lunch at a really great restaurant on Washington St. in the Financial District. We ate outside beneath heating lamps. The day turned out to be sunny, but not too warm. We had oysters, a delicious white sausage, and a lamb meat pie. Everything was so good. Dessert was a brioche carmelized in a rich carmel sauce with a scoop of ice cream on top. Loved it! It was so nice seeing Lillian and William.

We came home around 3:30, rested, had dinner at 7, then watched two episodes of The Queen's Gambit on NetFlix. Good!

Day - 1135

Friday, November 13, 2020

Day - 1136

Thursday, November 12, 2020

Day - 1137

Wednesday, November 11, 2020

Day - 1138

Tuesday, November 10, 2020

Flew back home today, leaving Arizona around 9:30 a.m. and arriving in Oakland by 11. Took Lyft home, then unpacked and reviewed all the books and articles I need to read. Busy times ahead.

Looking forward to my first Oakland Nespresso tomorrow!

Day - 1139

Monday, November 9, 2020

Day - 1140

Sunday, November 8, 2020

A leisurely, enjoyable day. More phone calls. More reflecting. Time to think about all the work ahead. I need to read everything by Tim Wise. That's a start. This comes out in December 2020.

Day - 1141

Saturday, November 7, 2020

Joe Biden was officially president-elect this morning when Pennsylvania was called. Spontaneous parties and celebrations popped up all over the world. Biden slayed the evil orange dragon. Biden Harris won! It's a marker in history that speaks to the fragile tight rope we walk along and the power of self-sabotage. Had Trump won a second term, this country would have gone dark in a way that we've never seen before. But we're not going there, at least for now. It's interesting how Trump's supporters believe Biden and certainly Harris will take us to that darkness. Um, no they won't. They will take us back to normal behavior, normal protocols and normal relationships. They will do their work while we can get back to doing our work. It's like our dear country just broke up with a horrible boyfriend, and now has a much better boyfriend now. There's just no need to pay attention to the ex anymore. What was so satisfying about today, besides all the parties and parades around the country (including the block party on Grand Ave. in Oakland, captured on MSNBC), was that the focus was on Biden and Harris, not Trump. It's amazing how quickly the focus and power shift. Once the congratulations pour in from other world leaders, ex-presidents, and all the influencial and important personalities in the country, Trump's ring of influence will shrink to the small cabal of yes-men, advisors and sychophants who circle his orbit. It will take a few weeks and maybe up until the inauguration when people let go of the non-stop chaos of DJT. But eventually, what happened to Hillary will happen to him. Because he lost. America loves a winner and will no tolerate a loser. We'll see if the Trumpists feel this way in the next four years.

I was taking calls, sending texts, watching all the cable networks, and simply loving everything I was seeing. My joy was sky high today. Sure, I would have liked a much stronger repudiation of Trump and Trumpism, but I'll take what we were given.We got a lot of work to do.

Day - 1142

Friday, November 6, 2020

All roads are leading to a Biden victory, but no official announcement yet. I've been collecting my thoughts, jotting down notes, thinking of my role as a white male in having conversations about race, racism, white privilege and white supremacy in America. White males need to widen their lens and be better men. That' my mantra going forward. We have so many super power privileges and yet we've seen four years of the most powerful white male on the planet play into his inner victim of how stacked and unfair everything is for him. More self-knowledge, more empathy, more compassion, more listening, less talking, less narcissism, less selfishness, less defensiveness.

Trump delivered what many are calling his most dishonest briefing. I watched it in full. This is what Trump does.

Day - 1143

Thursday, November 5, 2020

It was clearer today that Biden would eventually win. When the decision would be announced was unknown. Maybe tomorrow? Maybe Saturday? Waiting, watching, feeling more and more confident that Biden will win. Meanwhile, several senate races were lost and the repudiation I was hoping for didn't happen. Hmm.