Blogs from San Francisco, California, United States, North America - page 7

Willie Mays is the best baseball player in history. This article by Scott Ostler and book by John Shea proves it. url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/giants/ostler/article/Why-Giants-legend-Willie-Mays-is-the-kind-of-15347417.php?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=briefing&utm_campaign=sfc_sports_giantssplashhttps://www.sfchronicle.com/giants/ostler/article/Why-Giants-legend-Willie-Mays-is-the-kind-of-15347417.php?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=briefing&utm_campaign=sfc_sports_giantssplash... read more

Just to fill your holiday during the stay at home, or rather Ground Hog Day existence we are now living. Some totally useless information that may bring a smile or a snicker. So, let's check into Twinkies, fried chicken, catsup, and apple pie and ice cream. From the NYT: Twinkies as we know them now are simple: yellow cake filled with vanilla cream frosting. But when the sweet snacks first appeared in 1930, the tasty filling was banana-flavored, not vanilla. Twinkie inventor James Alexander Dewar, then a baker for the Continental Baking Company, came up with the treat when he was looking for a way to utilize the bakery's strawberry shortcake machine when strawberries were out of season. He substituted banana cream, and the Twinkie was born. Unfortunately, with the advent of World War II, bananas ... read more

In the mad rush to celebrate our mothers, I forgot to mention my two grandmothers. Both, in my opinion, were pioneers, and adventurers in a strange, new world. Both were here by arranged marriages back in Japan. Neither spoke a word of English when they reached San Francisco or Seattle via ship. I cannot imagine what they must have gone through. I know more about my fraternal grandmother, Yuki, since they lived across the street from the time I was born until I left for UC Berkeley in 1964. Perhaps most astounding, is that she took care of us four children for almost two years while my Mom was hospitalized in Auberry at a tuberculosis sanitarium. She rose to the challenge, taking care of four children, with myself the oldest at 7 years of age! Another ... read more

Rarely does anyone discuss travel budgets PRIOR to a trip to a far away place. I am so very fortunate to have the inimitable Mr. Mike as the best travel buddy in the universe. We have been all over the world, with rarely a hiccup. He knows how to travel (we both traveled extensively on business during our working days), and does not skimp on anything. Furthermore, we are not joined at the hip, stay in separate rooms, do not fly or sit together on planes, and pursue our own interests once at our destination. But I realize this is a rare occurrence, and most people who know us find this arrangement hard to fathom. We get asked often if people can join us on our trips. And to my great delight, he says I am ... read more

On Tuesday 17th March, San Fransisco city started the 'Shelter in Place" order. We were given the news the afternoon before and so Herve went to the local shop (very crowded) to buy some basic supplies. This shop has since been such a saving grace. It is small, open all day and restocks daily. The bigger supermarket chains are crowded, have many rules and regulations and also run out of everything. The order, by SF mayor London Breed, was put into effect to slow the exponential increase in the COVID-19 cases. Case 1 was Feb 1 and this escalated to 872 cases (and 14 deaths) by today 12/04. It was the first in California but the state soon followed suit by ordering Shelter in place two days later. Twitter was ahead of the game and one ... read more