Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,
I’m writing you this morning from the 11th floor of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in San Francisco where Kate and the boys and I have been enjoying three days of adventure and of the San Francisco Writers Conference. I have served every year on the faculty for the last 14 years, so I have many friends here. Every February I feel like I get to attend a summer camp reunion!
Because we want to go enjoy the City on this Presidents Day, I am going to turn to my wife Kate to be the guest-author of today’s newsletter. She wrote this update for friends on Saturday while I was giving poetry talks and catching up with old friends.
We stepped out this morning on Day Two of our adventures in the City on a mission to nowhere except to discover where our feet took us. As it turns out, our feet stepped over 24,000 steps — for [pour French Bulldog] Margot’s eager puppy steps, we must multiply this by at least four. And while she’s used to long walks at home, she’s also used to long naps. On this day, I brought her “puppy Bjorn” and carried her whenever she needed a rest.
For me, the highlight of the day was the surprise discovery of the Greenwich Steps starting at Coit Tower and leading down 400 steps and the equivalent of 25 flights, through gorgeous, hidden gardens with views of the Bay Bridge, all the way down to the Embarcadero. “It’s like a secret forest right in the middle of the City!” Truman declared. At one point, Jukie stopped his descent, seeming to be fascinated by the sky. When I looked to see what he was smiling at, I saw a fast flying flock of bright green wild parrots. “Hey, it’s the wild parrots of Telegraph Hill!” I told the boys. How lucky are we to see them, we thought.
Just then, we happened upon a small, guided walking tour, which Jukie slyly joined. I’ve learned from Jukie over the years that when you act like you belong somewhere, and if you follow along without saying anything, usually no one questions you. So we enjoyed our tour, learning about the tropical birds and about the city, for a good while until Jukie lost interest. Then we met a letter carrier who agreed with me that he had the luckiest route in the U.S. At least I thought so until we came to the last series of steps which triggered my intense fear of heights; the descent at this point was so steep and it looked so treacherous that Jukie had to be coaxed, and Margot had to be carried. And I resolved never to walk down those steps again.
Then came Truman’s highlight: the discovery of Starbucks at the bottom of that hill. The boys needed some peppermint hot chocolate, and we all needed a place to rest our feet. Warmly welcomed by the baristas, Margot immediately started snoring in my arms when we finally sat down.
As the boys fell asleep tonight, we talked about the magic that comes with a day spent with no agenda other than discovery and enjoyment of each other’s company. We best make such discoveries when we don’t have a clear destination, and we can best enjoy them when we are not guided by a map. Both were true today as we scaled and descended the insatiable hills of San Francisco.
Thanks to Kate for filling in for me today, and for so much more. You can read more of her writings at her blog.
In addition to topics raised above, tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature questions on Africa and Europe, resins, divisions of literary labor, streaming music alternatives, bridges, big prizes, the importance of Hugo, highest peaks, clothing manufacturers, Luxembourg and Malta, the city of San Francisco, mayors in linen sombreros, everyday superheroes, British authors, citizenship, The Wizard of Oz, touchdowns, redecking projects, deputies, unlikely record albums, sublime mists, family guys, strongmen, Nebulas, Republicans in San Francisco, t-shirts and jerseys, drumheads, fabulous witches, Indian words, heard and overheard voices, chemical alternatives, and Shakespeare.
Poetry Night is Thursday at 8 at the Natsoulas Gallery. Please plan to join us! Also, I hope to see you tonight. I will be dressed formally, but you should come as you are.
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Here are three questions from last week’s quiz:
- Popes Named Gregory. Which of the most famous popes named Gregory introduced the Gregorian calendar, the most widely-used calendar in the world? Was it Gregory I (590–604), Gregory VII (1073-1085), or Gregory XIII (1572–1585)?
- Science. Starting with the letter S, what kind of fruits are found on apricot, cherry, and peach trees?
- Shakespeare. In which 1606 Shakespeare tragedy do we learn that Life is “a tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, / Signifying nothing?”