gathering. day 6 in san francisco

on april 18th, 1906 at 5:12 am san francisco (and much of coastal california) was rocked by an earthquake. san francisco toppled. 3,000 people died. the city burned for 3 days. the only source of water that was still functioning, in the downtown area, was lotta's fountain. every year on april 18th (at 5:12am) people gather to commemorate.
1. so barb and i got up at 4:00 am. we expected that there would be only a few people. silent with their thoughts. but there was a parade! with vintage cars and fire trucks (sirens wailing) and people dressed in period costume. we followed this fireman to the fountain. rather than a sombre occasion, it was a celebration of a city that rebuilt. and a city that is preparing for the next great earthquake.
2. we went back to bed for a couple of hours and then had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel. best granola and oatmeal i`ve ever had. that`s a cable car going past the window.
3. we`d been almost a week in san francisco. my thoughts were turning to what i was bringing back. what new ideas. what colours. and we found our ``eyes``were changing (barb is an artist too). details jumped out. we stayed downtown this day and did a lot of window shopping. this dress popped out at me - little squares of silk chiffon.
(i`ll use that idea as applique on some of the felt pieces i`m making).
4. we went to the jewish heritage museum and then wandered over to the yerba bueno gardens to the martin luther king memorial fountain. san francisco has a history of fighting for human rights and you can sense that everywhere.
5. we had japanese tea and moroccan snacks at ``samovar`` - sitting outside and surrounded by draping purple wisteria.
6. a long time spent in the san francisco modern art museum where i visited with some of my favourite old artists (those are frida kahlo`s feet) and met some new ones.
7. then back out onto the street for more window shopping. this was a crazy glittery store.
8. and i can`t pass by a betsey johnson store (she`s one of my heroes). more silk chiffon - this time in circles. and we helped molly pick out her prom dress.
9. my last stop of the day was britex fabrics where i purchased - yes - silk chiffon - in san franciscan colours...