I had the day off for Martin Luther King Day, and Bodhi and I found a break in the rains today to take a long walk at one of favorite dog parks Pt Isabel with our friends Allison and Jack. Check out the cool art car we saw there! When I was younger, in grad school, I was somehow enthralled with the idea of having an art car and since I didn’t have a car, I tried to convince one of my grad school friends with a junker of a car to donate it to the cause, but it was not to be. Berkeley’s one of those places where you see them every now and then and seeing one out and about always makes me smile and feel like I hit the jackpot for the day!
Category Archives: Quirky Berkeley
Rainy Day Sunday
I had a super fun rainy day Sunday with my friend Victoria and her two cutie kids—Eleanor and Sebastian. We went to Habitot Children’s Museum in Berkeley, which I hadn’t been to before but had heard a lot about from other friends. Of course, on a day like today, it seemed like every family in Berkeley had a similar idea and the scene was tot-madness. We had a blast playing on the climbing the Wiggle Wall, driving the ambulance and doing some “grocery shopping.”Who knew that grocery shopping could be such fun! The highlight of the morning, for me at least, was when Sebastian bumped himself and instead of running to Mom, jumped in my arms for soothing. LOVE. I’m sure he didn’t know it, but boy, did that make me feel special. Like winning the special Auntie Oscars! After Habitot we had burgers and fries. Fries with mustard no less—these are sophisticated kids! And then splashed through some puddles before heading home for naps. Eleanor and Sebastian are the sweetest kids and I love them to pieces. And by the way, their parents are pretty awesome too (that’s a shout out for you, Victoria and Luis!). But two little ones wear you out, so I was also glad to head home and spend the rest of the afternoon curled up on the couch with Bodhi finishing off my book for book club this week. A perfect rainy day Sunday!
A Ghoulish Great Night!
Happy Halloween!
Halloween this year was a blast. After carving our pumpkins and decorating the porch, we started the afternoon with the Halloween Pet Parade at the dog park at Pt. Isabel. Bodhi transformed himself into his alter ego, Super Bodhi, and, in my humble opinion, stole the show. My friend Judy came over for the day and we met up with another friend Allison and her dogs Jack (the shark) and Colonel (the pirate) and joined the other four-legged furries who were graciously humoring their pet parents by wearing all manor of cute and silly costumes. There were lots of Star Wars costumes this year and a few devil dogs and hot dogs (ha ha!) too! After the park, we met up with our friend Phil who had come over to help pass out candy and before the crowds arrived, Super Bodhi led his pack for a walk to check out the ghoulish and crazy decorations around the neighborhood. He kept us safe from all manner of zombies and skeletons and even a marauding squirrel who had taken down a neighbor’s jack-o’lanterns. Super Bodhi is not fan of squirrels! As the sun went down, the trick-or-treaters came out in force. We had loads of trick-or-treaters this year. Last year, I had the near panic of almost running out of candy so I was prepared this year. Lots of Elsa’s, storm troopers, skeletons, jelly fish, and even a few Minions. Holidays like this make me feel so lucky to live in such a great neighborhood. I can’t wait to someday have my own little one to take trick-or-treating. And Super Bodhi is looking forward to having a super sidekick!
Spooky Berkeley!
Halloween is in the air!
Halloween is in the air and my neighborhood takes Halloween very seriously! Skeletons, zombies,ghosts and witches but also crazy orange blow up pumpkins are everywhere. Cobwebs coat front porches and shrubs. Not to mention the tombstones that have sprouted up on almost every lawn. This has made walks with Bodhi more lively, especially now that its dark when we take our evening walk. Bodhi is not quite sure what to make of it all and has had several close encounters with skeletons and black cats, of the plastic kind. The first few tombstones he saw required an extra sniff, but now they’re a good stand in for a tree! One of the neighborhood teens down the street puts up a haunted house each year and collects donations to the local food bank from visitors. He starts working on it months before and its fun to see this crazy elaborate haunted house take shape in his driveway every year. The kids love it and its become a local tradition. And this being low-key Berkeley, the decorations will stay up for a good long while even after fright night passes. No one seems to care that the ghost hanging from the tree looks a bit droopy and out of place come Valentine’s Day. One of my neighbors lined their entrance path with skeleton head lights last year and when they were still up at Christmas, they gave each skeleton a green or red bow on top. Creative recycling at its best….only in Berkeley!
Halloween is in the air!
Waiting for my stork 