FairieMoon

Around Town...in San Francisco

Old Friends...

Judy's were not the only old friends we visited. We were fortunate this trip to spend a tiny bit of time with friends from our old church community. Time has dispersed the group a bit, but I found it encouraging to find pockets of this community all over San Francisco.

Sunday was spent not only visiting en masse, so to speak, but by spending quality time with family friends on the beach.

Their home...filled with familial warmth.

On the Beach...

J is the eldest.

P is the middle child.

And A, well A is quite animated. In almost every picture I took of her, she is dancing. She is the youngest and just starting school.

Watching the kids on the beach was like watching a well choreographed dance scene, or like watching birds weaving in and out playing tag in the sky. This moment, the one above, lasted only a second. The two boys were walking away from me and their sister walked right between them towards me, and then they walked on, moving away from each other, each intent on their own mission like ships passing in the night.

Love the reflections here.

Punch was born at the same time as J. They grew up together.

Oh my goodness, don't ever ask me to encapsulate an entire day into one moment...I don't think I could do it. These 18 pictures were culled from some 500 I took that day. The problem is that you just don't know which picture will be THE one and then you have many potentials. What do you think? Which photo is THE one?

Bookends...

A little mood music please...

Returning home...

Familiar sights, familiar food, good friends..

You cannot find anything more cozy and comfortable.

And yet...it is so sad to say good-bye yet again.

This particular day of our vacation was dedicated to spending the day with Judy's best friend.

We started by going for Fish and Chips at one of our favorite haunts, Camelot Fish and Chips. Mr. MacGyver went to boarding school in Scotland and gets a craving for the authentic flavor of this delicacy every once in awhile(can you call fish and chips a delicacy?). Camelot was a local restaurant and satisfied that craving for him.

Punch and Judy eating hot peppers.

Our bookends...

Creature Feature Part V -- Squirrels

A few weeks ago, I posted a photo of this pencil sitting innocently in my sister's living room.

You'll remember that I suggested, at the time, that my fascination with this little guy suggested a certain foreshadowing of events to come. Well, you will now learn how apt this omen really was.

To begin, I must tell you a story.

When it came time for me to go to college, it was more important for me to choose a beautiful school rather than one that would provide an excellent education. Luckily for me, however, the school I chose (there really was only one on the table) was not only pretty, but an excellent choice academically. Not only that, but my father, mother, aunt, uncle and sister had all attended there -- Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois.

The most striking thing about Wheaton in the fall was the front lawn, covered in trees clad in red, orange and yellow leaves, sprawling in front of Blanchard Hall. I loved to walk and sit there. It fueled my imagination. It was magical, elfin, fairy-like, if you will. And you can well imagine that there were a plethora of squirrels frolicking amongst the trees.

Early in my sojourn there, I had a nightmare that I was walking across Blanchard lawn when a squirrel flew up and lunged at my throat, trying to bite me. It must have been a powerful image because it stuck with me and I haven't liked squirrels ever since. To me they are just rats with fluffy tails.

Flash forward way too many years...

When we were visiting my cousins, the girls discovered a squirrel-baby, kitten, living in their garage. Despite my fear, I wanted to get a look and perhaps a picture or two for my newly developed series Creature Features. I mean, how often does a squirrel kitten just fall in your lap. So I very cautiously crept out to take some pictures convinced that it would fly at my throat if given the slightest provocation.

He was so scared and tiny. His whole body was shaking. I felt slightly ashamed for being such a wimp.

As my cousin started moving things to see if the mother had made a nest, she lifted up a tarp and discovered a second squirrel kitten.

One of them ran out of the garage and into the neighbor's yard, but over dinner, we decided that if they were still hanging around when we returned, we'd try to catch them and find someone who could raise them. (Actually, the person my husband had in mind was my Mother-In-Law who has been known to do this kind of thing on occasion.)

In the end, we were only able to catch one.

These photos were taken through the sides of a plastic box...

Before starting on our long trek home (during which, it must be admitted, I would have had to sit holding the squirrel box to make sure he didn't escape into the car...can you imagine?), Mr. MacGyver thought he'd better run his plan by his mother before bringing home a wild animal for her to raise. It is a good thing too, because, as it turns out, you are not supposed to bring a wild animal from one habitat into another. And so, we decided to let it go in the backyard.

Mr. MacGyver took the box out back, removed the lid and set the box on the ground so the squirrel baby could use the box for shelter for the night and then he came back inside. After which we all went into the living room to chat for awhile, leaving the screen door open to get some cool night air in the house.

Before long we heard a terrible screeching in the backyard. My cousin was convinced one of the neighborhood cats was killing the squirrel, so out to the backyard Mr. MacGyver went to check on the kit. There was nothing to be found.

Upon returning to the house however, he found the squirrel sitting the back step, looking in longingly through the screen door, wanting desperately to get back inside. I am not entirely sure how Mr. MacGyver managed to slip past him, but he did.

We continued to talk for awhile, mostly about the squirrel and its odd behavior when we noticed that he had climbed up the outside of the screen door looking for a way to get in. When he failed to find one, he continued to cry until Julia, my cousin's wife, went over and talked to him.

We determined that since she'd been going out to the garage and exercising right next to the place the babies had been deposited, the baby squirrel had imprinted on her and wanted to be near something familiar that would give him comfort.

I, myself, was convinced that the squirrel was an agent of evil trying to take over their home. There was something about the way he was clinging to the door ready to spring and screeching in his ungodly way gave me the heebie jeebies.

The end of the story is that one of their neighbors caught this little guy and took him to an Animal Refuge facility. The mother had been hit by a car and was lying dead at the base of one of the trees in the neighborhood. The second squirrel was never heard from again. We've heard rumors that he lit a trail for Mexico and is hanging out there drinking virgin margaritas (he is a minor after all) hoping to smuggle Mexican acorns back into the states for his fellow squirrels.