MOTHER'S DAY....

.....a day is dedicated to all mothers  around the world....

and at Saint Brendan church....

... an anonymous person gave away

long stem roses to every mother present .....

the weather somehow is great....

warm and summer like....

i heard the blue jays cracking sounds

in the

tree tops ...

it's a good sign of springtime..

as far as i'm concerned...

i like these birds...they're noisy but friendly...

when i was in Eagle Rock... the blue jays

 and 

humming birds frequented the tree
 right next to the 
cabin where i was staying...

so i fed them....

 the squirrels joined them up when
they discovered the
free meals ...

 on second thought...

the squirrels may have been 
coming over on account of

 my beautiful

Ecuadorian neighbor....
whose house is perched 
on a higher level of the hill...

She too is now a mother
and i heard she's going back to the old country
to raise her son...

that's all folks!

jt

RAISING AWARENESS....

....the month of May is used to create awareness

for stroke and heart attack medical issues....

at Harding park golf course in San Francisco....

The Medical Heart Association 

conducted free blood pressure readings for those

who wanted to find out their HPs

Scott Hoa is a volunteer for the event

The 4 PAWS an organization of dog 

trained dog owners were also at the event...

their well trained dogs 

are used by stroke victims 

for their therapy

Hoola hooping is also a helpful exercise to reduce

high blood pressure

The medical sponsored event lasted all morning till noon

with a little bit of putting contest for

fun and leisure

....shooting the breeze with a friend...

is not a bad idea either....

to relax...

that's all folks!

jt

CINCO DE MAYO

.... today my painting session is on Bay at Larkin st. 

 "plein air " with the Ghiradelli tower in view...

t'was a great sunny Monday 

about 72  degrees...

though a little bit breezy...

after two hours of work i went

to SFAI for coffee...

as soon as i got there

Alejandra,

the cashier in the cafeteria

asked me to join in the celebration of

 "Cinco de Mayo",

the Mexican army victory over the

French in the battle of Puebla 

on May 5 1862

....so she asked me to wear

her Mexican hat

i thought that's not good enough...

so i grabbed her around the waist

.and posed as the 

bandido who got away...

with the

beautiful señorita....

The photo shows the Cafeteria staff....

in the middle standing is Dave and

Alejandra and Diana

are the ladies....

outside the cafeteria.....

I had a chance to take  a photo of Ozlem

seriously studying for her final exams...

she'd be going back to Turkey for

the spring break...

but before her trip 

she's joining our 

art session on 

Saturday....

that's it for now folks!

catch you later.

jt

HEAT WAVE

....the scorching heat sizzles SAN FRANCISCO ....

and water is always a great solution ....

these birds are bathing by the curbside water at Traders Joe

went to the SFAI library to catch up 

with my art readings...

and when i took a coffee break 

at the cafeteria 

i met  Naomi....

a sophomore, who's

finishing her lunch...

Naomi with her parasol

She gladly posed for

a painting project...

i think the reflections on the 

glass wall of the cafeteria 

would make for a challenging

great subject 

Lighter clothes was the order of the day

at around 6:30pm 

i made it to lake Merced to

do my plein air

Lake Merced view  at the Harding golf course

and this is so far what i accomplished

a golfer finishing the 18th stopped to take this photo

Milton Chen who is a Sr. Fellow and

Executive Director at 

George Lucas Educational Foundation

happened to drive by...

and stopped to express his liking

for the painting...

that's it for now folks!

i'll be in touch so you be in touch!

jt

Easter Sunday...

.... at Saint Brendan church 

Saint Brendan church

on Laguna Honda/Portola

the church area neighborhood

Every Sunday
Dianne Marquez

Dianne at the piano and Fr Daniel with violin

spends a few hours
as the pianist and the lead for the
church choir...

Very expressive choir singing

mother and child in one the pews

She makes the fellowship and
the community celebration
and worship upbeat
and warm...

She loves playing the piano
which she had learned
when she was six years of age ...

On weekdays she practices her
profession as a
registered nurse...

after the mass
like any other Sunday...

there is fellowship
and get to know time
for everyone
in the community hall
downstairs
where everyone

can grab their coffee.
orange juices and
danishes/doughnuts...

or half of the cake
when you have the
appetite...
sorry sister you're
half a second
too late...

that's all folks!

have a great Easter!!

jt

Easter Saturday

.... the Serramonte Farmers market is a great place

for fresh produce coming from Stockton and Salinas ....

This is where I get my organic Kale and other produce including strawberry, nuts

and freshly baked french fruit tart on Saturdays ....

today as i stepped out of the car at the parking lot...

 i heard sounds like its coming

from an accordion....

but as i walked closer to the booth ....

i saw a french man singing along  a barrel organ as it was

running a paper tape of the music fed to it....

today was a taste of Parisian sounds....

without the expense 

of flying over to Paris.... 

Michel Michelis 

the blue box is the barrel organ

of Boyes Hot Springs

gave us French music... (www.michelmichelis.com)

 Michel handing Pam, a farmer's market regular,
a business card

The Summer like weather is a little early this year
as evidenced by the clothes of these young ladies

and the outdoor bench chat at the Stonestown mall

days go by....

too fast...

Tomorrow is already

Easter Sunday

Happy Easter everyone!

jt

away from everything....

.....wouldn't it be great if one could get away...

from everything that spells trouble?

but that's wishful thinking.....

we do wish it just the same .....

and find ourselves striving for it in solitude...

only those who have had their reasonable shares of headaches 

can understandably

go through this wishful thoughts 

of peace and serenity....

for obvious reasons...

they know there are

problems that cannot

be resolved...

and so they would sit in

a quiet corner and stare at the

far and hazy horizon....

meditating or just staring

without thoughts....

looking for answers where there are

none...

why?

hope....

they think there is ...

hope....

but is there?

without hope...

there seems to be no sense

to live for...

we seem to look for order

and guidance from the Creator...

for the great unknown...

and we patiently wait....

and wait...

until our minds get tired

and in all these placid

commotions ...

we forget our 

wishful thoughts..

and console ourselves...

with the 

thought that at least

we gave it a

thought...

jt