Back in the day I found this great vintage card table.  It doubles as a sort of suitcase with metal legs that can unscrew and be placed inside, with room enough for games and such.  I've been using it as a table for years but it's been a long spell since games were played.  Tonight, I met up with one of my neighbors - bringing the card table and a couple chairs to the street, first thing he said was, "oh, if this card table could talk."   And yes, that old wood and rusty metal bits definitely have stories!

I loved hanging out with someone I usually only see in passing and really loved the sort of energy that gathered as the night went on.  Kind of like a buffet at a party, people just flocked to it.  Stories were shared and I even got to learn a new game: "7 card no peek".

Grateful for this day.  It was a little scary.  Felt like a school girl, asking, "hey, do you wanna play with me?"  But, you know, worse thing that could have been said was "no".  And I got a "yes".  Mission accomplished! 

First I chewed 20 times, then 30... these were easy, sweet, restful.  Then I attempted 40 and 50 chews, seemingly impossible with the cucumber and blackberries, but the jicama made it to 45!  The counting was so meditative.  After I finished, I felt calm, calm, calm.  

Oh my goodness, who knew it was going to be so difficult to enter a church! I've done this exercise multiple times over the years since first beginning Something New in 2014. There were always so many, especially in New York - and always doors opened wide. But somehow, I couldn't find an open church to save my life! This photo is from the time I ventured into a church with an art exhibit on the upper west side with my dear friend and mentor John.  

I'm going to revisit this one... churches always bring up so much for me - Day 18 will resurface again, no doubt! 

Life happened and I'm doing Day 17 two days later!  Gotta love what that brings up - Virgo rising - wanting everything to be done on time mind trip... (life lessons).

This morning my body was feeling a little sore.  Felt having something anti-inflammatory was the way to go.

Turmeric Grapefruit Juice
- Fresh squeezed organic grapefruit
- 2 droppers full of turmeric tincture
- Cracked tricolored peppercorns. 

​Down the hatch!   Anti-inflammatory goodness.  Careful of that last peppery sip!

Look up!  And such beauty all around.  Here's a simple little tree I stood beneath, with leaves and branches - more leaves than most... winter garb.  Grateful for you trees!  What did you see with your sights above?

What new poet, or new-to-you poet, did you discover?

I originally titled this chapter, 'Get out the House!" I added an "of" in print to make it correct, but somehow it rings more true and more fun without that preposition. So, get out the house!! (and that's just what I did). It was rainy, but with the encouragement of a friend, I ventured out to Petaluma. I ate yummy dindin at Central Market, skipped over to Speakeasy, and walked the streets slowly, which were particularly beautiful after the rain ceased. Oh, and a nightcap at Mario & John's. I love Petaluma. It still has that great old farm town energy. Great people. Great vibe.

Mural on East Washington St. Petaluma, CA

Years ago I learned from a Korean chef and friend that to best integrate wasabi into soy sauce you put the wasabi first in the small bowl and then add a VERY small amount of soy sauce.  You create a paste and then add more soy sauce once the wasabi is fully blended. So, for teatime today I tried a similar approach, using a muddler (instead of a whisk) to break up the matcha. Thereafter, I slowly added warm water to increase volume... it worked perfectly - no matcha chunks to be found!   

The irony was profound. I had an hour to spare in San Francisco so I let the street arrows, and spray paint, and signs lead the way. Which was at once haphazard and divine. What was the road least traveled that you traversed...?