Glenn grew up in San Francisco in a little neighborhood next to Lake Merced. This foggier than normal spot had the added bonus of the sounds of peacocks in the early hours and the sound of the big cats at feeding time from the zoo. Oh and lets not forget the firing SFPD range and the public rod and gun club. Glenn said there was never a shortage of interesting noises. Sometimes the sound of the wind through the Eucalpytus trees would be replaced with the sound of the waves at the beach.
Yet in all those years that Glenn lived here, he never walked the perimeter of Lake Merced. So Saturday morning we did just that.
As we drove to the lake along Ocean Beach I saw more dogs and dog owners that usual. Then I remembered there was going to be a protest. Recent regulations restricting the access of dogs to public spaces has been hotly contested.
We parked at the old South entrance to the zoo across from the old Girl Scout Camp.
He said the Girl Scouts used to come there to camp out.
We crossed the street and started our walk.
Glenn noticed this heron in the tree.
"Look at that!" He said.
I said "That's what happens when you get up and go outside for a walk. You see neat things."
Canoe races on the lake, with the sound of drums beating out the pace.
It's graduation time.
This statue was dedicated in 1962, but neither
Glenn or his Dad knew about it.
Today has been all work. I am looking ahead to next weekend when we will be in DC celebrating our 30th anniversary. I hope we can survey the 3 day route and maybe practice a bit of it at the same time. It will be great to get away.
This week we lost a great man who in his own way did some remarkable things for Breast Cancer.
Budge Brown was a farmer, vintner, water park creator and a lover of life. When his wife Arlene died in 2005 from Breast Cancer after battling the disease for 8 years he said 'My wife died for no damn good reason." And being the kind of fellow he was did what he could to make a difference. He bought the Cleavage Creek label and began bottling fine wines where a portion of each sale went toward Breast Cancer Research. In particular he support Integrated Oncology. He felt like there must be a better way to fight Cancer than poisoning someone. He saw the havoc it played in his wife's battle.
He had semi-retired to Nevada, but he never slowed down. He enjoyed flying his experimental plane and did regular trips between Nevada and the Lodi Area where his children lived. He was on one of those trips "Going to see the people he loved, doing what he loved" when his plane went down in the Sierras. I wrote to the family even though I don't know Budge... I said "The measure of greatness is not how much you have, but how much you give. Budge Brown was a great man."
Follow this great man's example whenever you can. Live life as though you love it... and give whatever you can to make this world a better place.
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