CITY BY THE BAY

We started heading west to attend wedding at the end of July in the hills east of San Francisco. Francesca’s niece, Mariana, will marry her boyfriend Daniel. As we drove across America we got spent most of a month in the wilderness.

Now we’re in Berkeley surrounded by millions of people who love this place. There is plenty to love... cool air, sourdough bread and our friends and family who live here.

ONLY IN BERKELEY

Francesca’s sister, Carmen and her husband, Doug, live in a work of art. Their house, perched high in the hills of Berkeley, amazes. We opt to camp in

their guest bedroom. I took a few pictures then stepped outside to shoot from the street.

Just then a family marched past with their pet llama. I tried to say hello but they weren’t interested. Llamas must be serious business here.

Brother Doug knows as much as anyone about multiple sclerosis. While we were there he was working on a 26-page paper on the relationship between genetics and MS.

A sample is below.

Yesterday, driving up Cedar Avenue a man had painted his house and car with matching cloud designs.

The weather here seems perfect.

When Francesca’s son, Ruy, arrived from Washington DC yesterday, he stepped out of the airport and kissed the ground. The temperature had dropped, for him, from 98 to 68 degrees. “From Hell to Heaven”, he said.

Coconut Grove’s former resident, Terry Ferrer, lives in Berkeley too. When we stopped by he introduced us to his pet squirrel, Scoogee. She lives in pine tree out back but will come down to snatch peanuts from her master’s mouth.

Berkeley, California, is a different kind of place.