Alex's corner apartment is on the sixth floor southwest.  The apartment house is at the corner of Alamo Square on the top of a small hill in this great city.  The view is fabulous even on this misty day.  A Western Gull sweeps over the park in front of the Bernal Heights Hill to the south.  I could get used to living here, but the cost of everything is simply too high.

None-the-less we enjoy our time here.  Yesterday morning Anne and I took the bus to Fort Mason, now a park, at the Bay on the north side of the City (west of Fisherman's Wharf) and joined a Golden Gate Audubon bird walk.  That finished at ten giving us enough time to walk south on Franklin to the First Unitarian Church where we met Alex for the service.  The congregation's new minister presented his first service and there was celebration with food, wine, and music afterward.  One thing about Unitarians, they certainly have great celebrations.

We returned to the apartment, skipping the farmers market that is held every Sunday at Divisadero, a few blocks away.  The sun shined yesterday afternoon providing a grand panorama.  The folks here would like to see much rain, but that is unlikley to happen until winter.  Meanwhile we conserve water.  The mist keeps most of the vegetation, but not the grass, happy. 

Alex's recovery progresses with fits and starts.  We provide support and entertainment.  He is a gentleman to tolerate that. 

Anne and I will visit Santa Cruz this weekend to take a couple of boat rides into the Pacific in search of sea birds.  Pelagic birding is always an adventure and much like playing roulette.  One puts down the money and spins the wheel.  Likely one will get seasick and see only gulls.  Possibly some rare bird from the south Pacific that has never been seen from North American waters will swing by and glance down at the boat where primates are jumping, running about, snapping hundreds of photos, and waving at the captain to "chase that bird."  Then it tilts its wings and slips away across the waves much faster than a boat can course the seas never to be seen again.  We are not really gamblers but enjoy taking our chances on that.

Anne and I jog most mornings the length of the Panhandle Park.  On Saturday we left the park southbound to return along Haight Street and passed through the famous intersection with Ashbury.  The neighborhood remains a bit colorful and wierd with its famous Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream.  Our jogging routes usually are selected to avoid the steepest of the hills, but one does not move about this town without encountering slopes. 

We plan to take Alex with us for a week in the Sierras.  That should be an awesome trip, and our sleeping at an elevation of 8,000 feet should prepare Anne and I for our September adventure in Peru.  We get to compare the Andes to the Sierras. 

We will also switch seaons, staying in Peru in late winter and early spring.  I have trouble making sense of that.  We may greet birds from here arriving there "for the winter" as birds from Argentina are departing to the south "for the summer."  Red-eyed Vireos are in Peru year-round, some from eastern North America (boreal migrants) and others from the south (austral migrants).  There is some overlap, so they are always present, but probably none breed there.

Here the gulls are now all fading into "winter plumage" but the gulls there should be in prime "breeding plumage." 

We are studying the birds of Peru but will not learn to identify the some 1,800 birds there before we arrive.  We're hoping the guides can help us with that.  I'm working on my Spanish that I have scarcely used since high school.  We will be in a few places where "native language" may be spoken.  There, we will just smile and point.

I'll tell you when we get back if it is easier to adjust to California or Peru. 

Chuck S.