Talk about holiday stress! My husband and dogs are sitting in the packed van right now waiting for me to start our vacation while I remain at my desk tying up all the loose ends this year.
So I better make this quick.
For the first time ever, I decided to shoot my own Holiday card.
Happy holidays to all, and may peace be with you!
One can live in San Francisco for over 15 years and never fully experience the diversity and richness of this amazing city. I admit, I’ve taken this city for granted, often choosing to stay home and watch television instead of going out and exploring the vibrant music, art and cultural scene. Realizing I was becoming increasingly antisocial and boring in my “old age”, I decided to drag my ass off the couch and engage in a new meaningful experience that only a unique place like San Francisco can offer.
I’ve heard about the Day of the Dead or Dia De Los Muertos Procession in the Mission District for years, but have never gotten around to attending the festivities until now. This annual Meso-American holiday, held on November 2, is dedicated to celebrating deceased ancestors, while honoring the cycle of life and death. The event started off at Garfield Park where motivated individuals set up elaborate altars to honor friends and family who have moved on. I was touched by the commitment of so many people to keep the memory of loved ones alive. As the evening progressed, thousands of adults and young children descended upon the crowded streets of the Mission, wearing elaborate lace and embroidered Mexican costumes. While many danced joyfully behind an Afro-Brazilian drumming group, the majority of people walked contemplatively with their lit candles, in remembrance of loved ones. Everywhere I turned, grim skeletal faces, painted black and white to mimic the deceased, looked back at me, and I was struck by the beauty of these anonymous participants.
I scanned the news this morning and was incredibly disappointed with the coverage of Occupy Oakland, which had taken place on November 2nd. Images of vandalism, rioting, violence and police brutality once again dominated the news, despite the celebratory and peaceful event I had experienced yesterday. Friends who weren’t from the Bay Area texted me all morning, concerned that I had been caught up in the mayhem. Sadly, the rest of the world was viewing Oakland with a critical eye, distorted by the media’s focus on the anarchists actions of the few.
I spoke to my friend, Jessica, whom I attended Occupy Oakland with yesterday, expressing my disappointment, because I felt the riots that ensued that night undermined what I felt was incredible demonstration of grassroots action against corporate interests. She reminded me that over 50,000 participated peacefully in the event, and that the actions of the 60 or so anarchists should not deflect from yesterday’s achievements. The extreme actions of the few do not represent the noble intentions of the larger movement to highlight inequality and promote economic justice for 99% of Americans.
I decided to post my images from Occupy Oakland to remind folks that this movement is about “real people” coming together to shift the status quo in a nonviolent way. Please, don’t let the media hype distort your perception of what is really happening in Oakland.
I recently celebrated my eleven year wedding anniversary. My husband, Aaron, and I have never been the type of couple who go out to fancy expensive restaurants, nor spend money on frivolous items like roses or jewelry. I once made the mistake of asking him at the beginning of our relationship why we never do romantic things, and his response was, "What are you talking about? We do romantic things all the time. I take you out to climb mountains and sleep under the stars, we go on ski adventures, and bicycle through some of the most scenic rural villages in the world." DOH.
For this year's wedding anniversary, Aaron's romantic gesture was to take me to Tuolemne in Yosemite to climb the Third Pillar of Dana (first peak on left, below) . I've done plenty of rock climbing in Tuolemne, but never have I been so blown away by a climb before. Simply, "Wow!" It took us 4.5 hours to reach the base of the climb, and although I generally don't like long steep approaches, I didn't whine one bit. We were rewarded with pristine lakes and creeks, expansive boulder fields, and a gorgeous view of Mono Lake and the Eastern Sierras. It was totally worth waking up at 6 am for.
Third Pillar is a five pitch .10b trad climb (route along arete pictured in second photo below), and is known as one of the best free climbs in the world. However, I would have enjoyed the climb much more if it hadn't been raining to the north, south, east and west of us the entire time. We were stressed by the thought of getting struck by lightning and getting rained off the route. Thankfully, all we got hit with were a handful of snowflakes.
Sadly, I didn't bring my professional camera to capture this magnificent landscape, but brought instead my handy iphone which did a more than adequate job of documenting this romantic little adventure.
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