Okra and Earthquakes

I prepared okra for Sunday dinner today. The process was disgusting, even if the product was delicious - and I'm not at all sure it was an inverse relationship. Clearly my destiny is not as a chef. The okra was dipped in egg yolk and flour, creating a sticky mess which congeals on the fingers. I stared at my hands, appalled at the moist mess. My digits froze up, like a rheumatic old woman's. The task did reach completion, and we enjoyed the dinner.

I spent the afternoon at the centenary lecture of the AIA. I entered the Arguello Gate of the Golden Gate Park, and set off down the road as I had so many times. Too many years, unfortunately, had passed since I had done so, and therefore a level of uncertainty remained. I walked along the road, with toddlers biking up and down the newly paved road. I caught sight of the tower of the de Young, which struck a discordance by its height which loomed above the trees. It was not unattractive, but the height was so untraditional for the park. The swing music blazed from the back of the de Young. I found the cavernous lobby a bit disorienting, and I was a little too early.


The centenary lecture was prefaced by a recitation of the history of the SF branch of the AIA. Its first lecture was delayed by a certain 1906 earthquake. The lecture was about the instability of much of SF's soil, the conflict between practical reconstruction and real estate value.

At the reception, I didn't really get a chance to talk to Barbara McLaughlin, my former archeology professor, since she was busy hobonobbing with the other directors of the AIA local chapter. But I'm sure I shall see her again at other AIA/SFSU events.