So Festive --- Day 13/358

Walk: No

Distance: n/a

    

Wouldn't you love to go to this festively decorated neighborhood home for a holiday get together?  

House Present --- Day 13/357

Walk: Hood 

Distance: 4 miles

Ciwt's Personal Entry --- Day 13/356

Walk: Small Hood

Distance: 2.5 miles

Ciwt's cleaning woman brought her a beautiful flower arrangement, so now she has her own Neighborhood Holiday Decoration to share. 

Snowman and Santas --- Day 13/355

Walk: No, rebounding (and not scaring people) from Mohs

Distance: n/a

Not many winter and snow Holiday decorations in Ciwt's neighborhood.  It is possible that some people here have never seen snow or been in North Pole weather.  

Mohs Non-Momentum --- Days 13/352, 53 & 54

Walks: UCSF Dermatology Surgery, none, none

Distances: 1.5 miles, n/a,n/a

How good are you at stopping and resting?  If you are like Ciwt, not very.  So, her doctor's orders to do that after Mohs surgery the other day - including No Long Walking 😲 -was daunting.  But, once she got the hang of it, it has felt good to just relax on her window seat, look out at the stormy weather and actually enjoy her new home.

Much credit for her ability to do all that resting goes to Michael Connelly whose books never fail to engage Ciwt.  She saved her copy of his new one, The Waiting, to bring to the long Mohs process which involved maybe 2 hours of activity and at least 4 hours of waiting while slides were analyzed.  And the book worked its usual magic: drew her in from the first sentence and carried her right through.  When the Mohs was over, she almost didn't want to disturb the book's momentum by leaving the hospital.

So, if you like crime novels, have trouble sitting still but need to, treat yourself to The Waiting or any of Michael Connelly's other books. He is the creator of the Bosch, Lincoln Lawyer and Renee Ballard series as well as several stand alone books, so you have many to choose from. (Here's a link to all of them)

Stately Neighborhood Holiday Entrances --- Day 13/351

Walk: Hood

Distance: 4 miles

Neighborhood Wreaths, Wreaths, Wreaths --- Day 13/350

Walk: Hood

Distance: 6 miles

Cats and Mouse --- Days 13/348 & 349

Walks, Union Square Dentist, SFMOMA

Distances: 4 miles, 3.5 miles

So, if you have ever been to one of Ciwt's homes over the years, you are likely one of the people who has asked "Where are your cats?" or "Do you still have cats?" or just said "I've never seen your cats."

Well, here they are!  If you know anything about cats, you might see they have a lot of Maine Coon in them.  That's the look Ciwt goes for - puffy, long hair, tufted ears - and she has had six altogether.  Six that disappear whenever they hear the doorbell ring or a new voice.

Maine Coons are charming, playful, loving, athletic - and VERY shy with strangers.  Strangers meaning people who haven't been in their presence for at least three consecutive days.  Until then, they wait you out safely under the bed or some other hiding places even Ciwt doesn't know.

With that, Ciwt will let her cats return to their beloved obscurity.

Glad Your're Here --- Day 13/347

Walk: Hood

Distance: 3.5 miles

Ciwt has a bit of a thing for warm, welcoming front doors.

                                                

 

Tres Joyeux --- Day 13/346

Walk: No, Day of Reading and Rest

Distance: n/a

Notre Dame Reopening in Paris last night 

Thankful tribute to the firefighters and builders who helped save Notre Dame at the time of the devastating fire

What a Difference a Few Hours Makes --- Days 13/244 & 345

Walks: Hood, SFAnimal Hospital

Distances: 4 miles, 5 miles 

So, looks like Ciwt can uncross her fingers about her neighbors hiring that Christmas Lights Installer. See Days 13/342&3).  After lamenting the lack of Christmas Holiday Neighborhood Decorations, she went on an evening walk and was stunned to see she just needed to go out looking for those decorations after sundown.  She'll do that soon.  Meanwhile here is her neighborhood at dusk beginning its evening holiday transformation.

Fingers Crossed --- Days 13/342 & 343

Walks: Hood 

Distances: 5 miles, 3.75 miles

Today Ciwt has her fingers crossed for these things:

Many of her neighbors call these installers and deck their homes with lots of festive lights

Her neighborhood holiday decorations get quite a bit more elaborate, 

And the amaryllis her friend sent her will stay alive and bloom like mad

.

Refinished and Warm --- Day 13/341

Walk: SFMOMA

Distance: 4.5 miles

When Ciwt moved into her new place, the outside wooden doors were weathered dark brown, dry, sad.

But now they look warm, golden and handsome like the front doors. 

Small Beginnings --- Days 13/339 & 340

Walks: Hood

Distances: 3.5 miles

The Winter Holiday Month begins with small neighborhood decorations:

Red and Welcoming --- Day 13/338

Walk: Presidio

Distance: 4 miles

HAPPY THANKSGIVING --- Day 13/337

Walk: Presidio

Distance: 4 miles

Have a delicious Thanksgiving meal

and a nice nap afterwards

Love, Ciwt (aka many years ago Pooh)

Possible Contest on the Horizon --- Day 13/336

Walk: Hood

Distance: 5 miles

So on her neighborhood walk today Ciwt caught sight of someone working on Christmas! house decorations.  And...as she walked further she saw a couple of other houses decked out for the upcoming winter holidays.

This is good and surprising news.  If it keeps up after Thanksgiving tomorrow, we may have quite a Neighborhood Winter Holiday Home Decorating Contest coming up!

No Expectations --- Day 13/335

 Walk: Hood, T. Joe's

Distance: 4.5 miles

Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg 

So hearing there was an actual, grown up movie in town, Ciwt went out in the rain to check it out.  She had no idea what it was about and no expectations except that Jesse Eisenberg would be his usual hyper/ compelling and Kieran Culkin would likely be excellent.  That is the way she suggests her readers go, and chances are they will find themselves, like Ciwt,  increasingly caring about the two characters and thoroughly enjoying the chemistry between the two lead actors.  And, yes, Kieran is every bit as outstanding as he was in his Succession Emmy winning performance.  

California Dreaming --- Days 13/332, 333 & 334

Walks: SFMOMA, Vogue Theater (A Real Pain), Housebound, Quick Hood in Light rain

Distances: 7 miles, 2/3 mile around home, 1.5 miles quickly around hood

So, from time to time Ciwt thinks "All I want is a little cabin in Alaska."  Then San Francisco gets its first big storm of the winter season, and she huddles inside thinking "Thank goodness I don't live in Alaska."

About That Sky --- 13/331

Walk: No, atmospheric river and bomb cyclone (see below)

Distance: n/a

Just in from our local newspaper under a banner headline in RED:

Officials are warning San Francisco residents of dangerous flooding as a powerful atmospheric river propelled by a churning bomb cyclone moves through the region. 

Ciwt wonders if atmospheric river and bomb cyclone are what people used to call rain and wind.

How Much Can Elliot Eat? --- Day 13/330

Walk: Quick Hood errands in cold, windy, wet

Distance: 2 miles

 

Let Ciwt introduce you to Elliot, a Russian tortoise.  He lives in the rehab center her friend was in recently (luckily she has now been able to fly home!), and Ciwt and her friend both became quite fond of Elliot.

The answer to the headline question is: Elliot eats a Lot.  He is a burrowing animal, and you can see him relaxing in his beloved burrow-type shelter away from the warm light.  You can also see the size of his new meal of mostly leafy greens. It's one of his species' favorites so he comes right out to eat and, when full for now, goes right back into his burrow/shelter.

Ciwt and her friend feel lucky Elliot wasn't in hibernation when we were there.  On average, Russian tortoises hibernate anywhere from 8 weeks to 5 months throughout the year.  Some have been known to spend as much as 9 months a year in dormancy.  Whenever Elliot does hibernate it must do him good; the average life span of Russian tortoises is 50 years, and Elliot is 80 according to the sign outside his cage!

Ciwt and her friend are also glad Elliot wasn't on the moon.  It turns out that two Russian tortoises flew there in 1968, circled it, and returned safely to Earth on the Soviet Zond 5 mission.  Accompanied by mealworms, plants and other lifeforms, they were the first Earth creatures to do that.  Who knew?  

Bye Bye, Elliot.

Waiting, Waiting for CIWT to Return --- Days 13/324-332

 Walks: Hood, Jewish Home mostly

Distances: 4 miles average

Alfred Stevens (Belgium,1823-1906) Melancholy Poster

Edward Hopper, Cape Cod Morning, ca. 1950

Carl Holsøe (Denmark, 1863-1935), Light of Spring (Detail)