Monday, September 3, 2018

Chinatown -- San Francisco

By MoBerries at 2:42 PM No comments

Five month in the Bay Area, and we finally made it into San Francisco's Chinatown. This Bay Area Chinatown is the largest Chinatown outside of Asia. It is also the oldest Chinatown in North America. Inside Guide to Chinatown

I Lava You

By MoBerries at 11:07 PM No comments

Story

Girl meets boy. Boy likes lights and dancing. Girl likes dancing and lights. They obviously fell madly in love, and went on to live a happy life filled with light, dancing, art, travel, and endless epic shenanigans!

welcome

Join us in sending good vibes into the universe on our magical day with a spiritually attuned ceremony at sunset on the beach. "We discovered how in ceremonial doses, raw cacao is a powerful heart opener that paves the way to transformation through self-love. It turns out raw, ceremonial grade cacao has been used for centuries to release negative emotions, and connect to pure heart energy.

the me

By MoBerries at 9:30 PM No comments

I get lost in the me.

Inside my head. Stuck in this room with nothing in the future.

Nothing…in the future.

So all I do is think, think, think.

Thinking of all of the things I have lost. All of the moments that have gone away. Things I could have, should have done differently.

No hope for a future.

My head spins on what is now. But mostly on what is not now.

Is all I have left the could of, should of, would of, if I had only known what tomorrow would be?

Mostly, my thoughts are a blurry, bumpy ride, wallowing in regret. And fear.

And panic.

So much panic.

I am suffocating under the weight of it so that I can’t hardly breathe.

This is me.

And I have nothing left.

Yet, looking back, I see a past of empty dreams and failed potential.

Nothing but a wasted life.

I will die on the street having done nothing worth remembering.

And no one will notice.

My Grandfather

By MoBerries at 12:47 PM No comments

St. Paul Boxing Legend Remembered For Notorious Publicity Stunt

Tommy Gibbons’ grandson, Tim Gibbons, says the fight was first devised as a ploy.

“This was just meant to be a publicity stunt,” Tim said.

http://www.tmgps.com/

"Dempsey could beat anybody he could hit. The only reason that he couldn't do anything with fellows like Tunney or Greb or myself was he couldn't hit us." - Tom Gibbons in a radio interview in 1949

244

By MoBerries at 9:26 PM No comments

Seven weeks, two days. This is what home looks like. Officially, it is still homelessness. That is what it will stay. It is still better than being on the streets.

Living in a hotel, with a few remnants left from a former life I can barely recall.

This is living high, because it only goes down from here.

I painted this collage painting of the Santa Monica Pier at sunset, one of my favorite places,

to put up on our bare walls. I hate having to just look at generic hotel prints all day long. I don't even have any photos of my own children to put into frames, right now.

Everything is about the money, money, money.

Still, I try to make this room feel like a home using all the brightest colored things I can find. We packed up bright colored blankets and a string of Christmas lights. I have carried my mother-in-law's lamp in my lap on every trip we have moved. This one was no exception.

So many random bits and pieces of nothing 'decorate' the counter tops and window sill. I have picked up a couple cheap herbs to try and get the heavy smell of cigarette smoke out of our non-smoking room.

It works only so-so.

We have two electric hot pot burners to cook on. They do not get hot enough to boil water. But, we can cook our own food, which is important. We also, surprisingly, have a teeny tiny dishwasher, which leaks. Still, who knew homelessness came with a dishwasher.

And, one of the most important things that happened this week was, for my birthday, my family got together and brought me my baby. My daughter and my husband each drove 8 hour round trips and met half way to transfer the cat from her world up to ours. 😊❤️️

When the kids ask why we would 'choose' to live like this, I make up a chipper, "This is what we have chosen, for now," story. Instead of the truth, which is we have fallen into a hole that we will never climb out of and have no other options.

As long as we don't turn to them for help, that is the story they want to hear.

Five Weeks

By MoBerries at 12:45 PM No comments

Five weeks today.

This is what homelessness looks like...

We just keep moving from place to place. Everything we have packed up in the back four foot by five foot space of our REBA truck.

Moving from one hotel to another. One 'online' deal to another. Trying to stay ahead of our bank account.

No money left for doctors. Prescriptions running out.

In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?

This Land Is Your LandWords and Music by Woody Guthrie

Life is Golden

By MoBerries at 10:54 PM #bayarealife No comments

Within a week of moving up to the Bay area, we have already driven into San Francisco to see the Golden Gate Bridge. Making it there just before sunset, we missed visiting the coffee shop and gift shop by minutes. It is sad because son Kevin's future mother in law says it is the best hot chocolate in the whole area. But, sunset at the Golden Gate Bridge is stunning.

The 1.7-mile-long Golden Gate Bridge, an icon of the San Francisco Bay region, connects the city of San Francisco to Marin County, California. At its completion in 1937, the suspension bridge was considered an engineering marvel—the longest main suspension bridge span in the world.

"One of the coldest winters I ever spent was summer in San Francisco."

I don't know who wrote this, but the first time are here is not summer. It is March. We are definitely not in Southern California anymore. Oh my gosh is it cold up here!!!

Driving to get to the bridge, we went off of the freeways and got the opportunity to experience the hills of San Francisco for the first time, as well. It is so beautiful seeing the rows upon rows upon rows of houses stacked up all of the hills. Such a beautiful city.

Driving up and down the steep, steep hills makes me glad they don't have the snow and ice like we had in Minnesota. Wow, would it be impossible to stop anything if you were slip sliding away. Can't wait until we have time to visit Fisherman's Wharf, Napa and all the other fun things in Northern California.