Friday 3 June 2011

happiness






walked old haunts gathering splendid windfalls
followed trails and found amusing and useful treasure
went to favourite caff for a sit down
and because it has nice big tables where you can spread out and do stuff


made bundles while sipping at africanos
had amusing conversations with other patrons

then

a guitarist wanders in, gets coffee, begins to warm up his guitar
minutes later he is joined by friend with ukelele
[i twitch, not, in general, being enamoured of ukelele]
the two begin to play
and it is like heaven
their repertoire is B I G
mostly they play swing with a haunting gypsy lilt to it
presently the ukelele player takes the lead
improvises exquisitely on Gershwin's "embraceable you"
the woman working on her laptop to my left
begins to sing sotto voce
i wish she would sing louder
she has the voice of an angel
my inner hyperactive mutters about spending time indoors
when outside there are things to be done
i tell the inner voice to be quiet and stay listening
they play for an hour and a bit

i take another walk

much later
at sunset
i sit in a favourite spot 
out of the wind on those lovely steps in the aquatic park


and make more bundles
somewhere up behind me
someone begins to blow a tenor sax
very, very beautifully.
my cup runneth over 


and then when i think it really doesn't get much better than this
i find a heart
in San Francisco


if you lost one*, let me know
[or just sing it in the shower]







*like this one, i mean
[i hung it on a glass for the snap...was too dark in the park]

23 comments:

  1. this is really living the here and now.

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  2. Am with you.
    truly.
    And still awake...

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  3. The music and surroundings sound like a bit of heaven. Your description is poetry. Thanks for sharing. I am curious though. Do you go around with leaves stuffed in your pockets so you can roll bundles anywhere? Perhaps a bit like taking your knitting with you. LOL! I'm impressed!

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  4. What a beautiful life, India. You are very lucky.

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  5. Wonderful to have a day full of live music.... and a great patch of California Poppies!

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  6. Finders keepers, great that you can take the heart of San Francisco wherever you go.

    XOX

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  7. Blissful serendipity!
    I had a day like that today, sea fret at Spurn Head, like walking through a (white) mist of aurora borealis! Just put pics on my blog and still cant quite believe it......Id say weve bneen blessed!

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  8. Full-on magic. San Fran apparently welcomes you!

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  9. A full wonderful day.
    And I bet it was 66 degrees, as it always is in SF. -J

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  10. wonderful to hear you sooooo happy.

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  11. so much lovely..... (I'm mostly experiencing bundle envy I think!)

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  12. think you needed some solace in sf, a heart is good solace.

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  13. This post warms my heart. It brings to mind a quote I read on Tumblr yesterday. I have no idea who wrote it....
    "It happened simply, beginning with a patch of sunlight on a leaf. She must have looked at it for just a few seconds, but time stood still in her mind emptied, for that brief infinity, of all thought and emotion save that of unconditional
    happiness"

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  14. You live the most idyllic life ... where can I find one
    thanks for sharing
    martine

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  15. happiness and gratitude ..the best travelling companions

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  16. Did you wear flowers in your hair?
    I could never live in a city...but if I did it would be The City.
    Thanks for the Memories.

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  17. let your cup and your heart spill over............ as often as possible.

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  18. "When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down "happy". They told me I didn’t understand the assignment. I told them they didn’t understand life." — John Lennon

    Just felt right to match it to you today...

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  19. in your wanderings and wrappings you were given several gifts of music.. lucky you!

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  20. Loved this post India...the angels were following you around on your journey. it was funny to see you in the cafe because l have often thought of doing the same..you have just given me the couragexxthank you. You were intended to find the heartl think!x lynda

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  21. A beautiful post about one of the few large cities I truly love.

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