SWIM A MILE 2015

Last weekend was the 20th annual Swim A Mile for Women with Cancer, a two-day event to raise funds for the Women's Cancer Resource Center in Oakland, CA.  

This was my 18th Swim A Mile and I raised over $2700 with sponsorships from friends and family. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart!

I swam with Harriet, Janet, and Amy. The four of us were a team called "Beverly's Angels." Our team raised over $7300 and we know more donations will be coming in over the next few weeks (donate online at wcrc.org, click on the Swim a Mile button and search by name for "your" swimmer).

Here we are, ready to dip our toes (and heads) into the pool.

The swim takes place in the beautiful Mills College Pool in Oakland, CA.

We all did the mile in well under an hour. Here's Harriet on her victorious finish.

This year, I swam in honor of 40 people and in memory of 28 people. This is the board where we swimmers post the names of those we honor/remember.

Something new this year was that everyone who completed the swim was personally awarded a very nice medal. We really felt honored.

With wet heads and swim suits, we savored our accomplishment.

And, then, we dug into the array of tasty food and enjoyed some time together.

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Until next year, Beverly's Angels!!!

Amy Winehouse at the Contemporary Jewish Museum

After recently seeing the new documentary about Amy Winehouse, "Amy," I've been trying to learn more about Winehouse and her short life (suicide at age 27 in 2011) and her extraordinary career.

The Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco is currently featuring (through November 1, 2015) "Amy Winehouse: A Family Portrait," a very personal exhibit of her belongings and about her family.  Winehouse's family donated the items to the Jewish Museum London. Although the exhibit occupies just one large gallery, Barbara and I left it feeling like we'd stepped into Amy Winehouse's family and life.

Barbara and I talked more about Amy Winehouse over lunch at Wise Sons Jewish Delicatessen, probably the best Jewish deli in San Francisco and maybe the Bay Area.  The museum's Wise Sons is a branch of the main deli in San Francisco's Mission District. The menu is less extensive than at the main deli, but very much worth a visit for their made-in-house corned beef, pastrami, rye bread, bialy, rugulah, and more.

A Note of the Contemporary Jewish Museum:  It is located downtown San Francisco on Mission Street, between Third and Fourth. It's entrance facade is a restored facade of the 1907 Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) Power Substation (designed by architect Willis Polk) that previously occupied this site. The interior of the museum, and the rest of its exterior,...note the "box" structure to the left of the facade...is ultra-modern, designed by architect Daniel Libeskind.

The Museum features an ever-changing variety of exhibits.  With Hardly Strictly Bluegrass just over, I enjoyed the ongoing "Hardly Strictly Warren Hellman" exhibit  which celebrates Warren Hellman, one of San Francisco's greatest benefactors and founder of this annual Bluegrass festival which is held in Golden Gate Park. 

Back at the Rosie the Riveter Visitor Center

When my friend Diane came to visit me for a few days this week,our big outing was to the Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Park in Richmond, CA.  It is one of my favorite and most special places to go.

Because it was Diane's first visit, we spent all of our time in the Visitor Education Center where there are educational and interactive exhibits.

Every Friday at least 4 or 5 Rosies who live in the Bay Area are there to tell their stories and to chat with visitor.

Since we went on a Thursday, I emailed my Rosie friend, Marian Wynn, to ask if some of the Rosies might be there for some special event.

Immediately, Marian offered to come over to spend time with us.  Marian is typical of the Rosies in that she has retained her energy and enthusiasm and "I can do it" spirit for her entire life.  She was a welder at the Richmond shipyards during World War II a year after she graduated from high school.

What a special treat it was to have her meet Diane who now has an up close and personal insight into what awesome ladies the Rosies are and were.

There are always National Park Rangers at the Visitor Center and we lucked out this visit to have Betty Reid Soskin there telling her stories. Betty, at age 94,  is the oldest active full-time National Park Service Ranger. She grew up in Richmond and did office work in the all-black auxiliary of a segregated boilermakers union.  During her wartime working career she was not working with the Rosies at the Kaiser Shipyard and admits that she really didn't know what was going on right at the shipyards. As she puts it, the story of the Rosies is "really a white woman's story."

Later in life, Betty was part of the planning group for the Rosie the Riveter Park. In this period she became a Park Ranger. Now she is stationed at the Visitor Center and gets to tell her story as well as to talk about what the city of Richmond was like during the booming World War II period and to talk about the Rosies.

The Visitor Center is staffed by National Park Rangers, all of whom are passionate about this park. They are eager to share their knowledge with visitors.

Of course, we had lunch at Assemble, the wonderful restaurant in the building that was the Ford plant where the Jeeps and tanks for the war were built.  It's just a few steps from the Visitor Center.

All told, a wonderful day...and thank you Marian for making a special trip to be with us.

SCULPTURE IN THE GARDEN 2015 IN WALNUT CREEK: THROUGH JULY 19

For one month every summer, The Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek, California is transformed into an outdoor art gallery.

The Garden is a "hidden treasure", less than 30 miles east of San Francisco. Ruth Bancroft's collection on the property where she still lives at well over 100 years old, is known for its world class collection of succulent and drought-tolerant plants.

The Garden provides a spectactular backdrop for the displayed art works, most of which are for sale.

We attended the opening of the exhibit last week and got to meet several of the artists.

My favorite piece is by Leslie Safarik, whom, I, by chance, starting chatting with while enjoying a glass of champagne and tasty finger food. Her big red cat sculpture is the at the beginning of this post.

The Garden's final event during the Sculpture in the Garden show will be on Friday, July 17: Blues, BBQ and Beer Sunset Social. Tickets can be purchased on the the Garden web site.