We Found Our Favorite HeARTS ❤️❤️ in San Francisco & Showy Flowers Too

After Cecile returned a dress at Nordstrom's and we had lunch at the Cafe Bistro, we strolled in and around Union Square. We saw the ever present cable cars, colorful flowers like the showy Yellow Trumpet Vine. We also saw the Heart Sculpture exhibit in Union Square Park, including Tony Bennet's America's "Greatest City By The Bay." HEARTS in SF is an annual public art installation that began in 2004 by the San Francisco General Hospital Foundation. The choice of hearts was inspired by the Tony Bennet* song, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco." Each year these sculptures are painted by different artists at various locations around the city including Union Square. They are then auctioned off at the end of the year. As of 2013, Ten million dollars had been raised for the foundation. The one with the Asian motif was our favorite. We feel so blessed to be only 60 miles away from one of the most colorful cities in the world.

*Postscript: Born Antonio Dominick Benedetto, Tony Bennett is a national treasure. He is not only one of the great legends in Jazz and popular music who served his country during the Second World War, but is an accomplished artist. A man of great humility, he admits to having made "mistakes," in his life. He lives joyously in the present and is revered by a younger generation of performers. Cecile and I had the pleasure of seeing him perform in New York after his book: Life Is a Gift: The Zen of Bennet was published in 2012. We have an autographed copy.

Celebrating our 40th Wedding Anniversary at the Plumed Horse Restaurant

Last evening we celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary at The Plumed Horse, on Big Basin Way, nestled in the Santa Cruz foothills in Saratoga, CA that has been in existence since 1952. When Cecile and I were younger we used to take our son Jason and daughter Michelle to this well known dining establishment to celebrate special family events. Around 2007 a group of new owners injected ten million dollars worth of renovations. Since that time it has transformed itself into a Michelin star rated restaurant for its attentive staff, elegant contemporary decor, outsized three story wine cellar with glass floor, arched barrel ceiling with shimmering Venetian plaster, and impressive sumptuous California-inspired cuisine. They have an IPAD wine list, Chihuly-like fiberoptic chandeliers that change colors and the ambiance, and comfortable seating. Patrons get a glimpse of the white-coated cooks bustling about the modern kitchen framed in by doors inset with glass. There is even a chef’s table of eight where diners can view them in action as if you were on the TV set of Top Chef.

Joining us in the celebration were Jason, Michelle, her fiance’ Kyle, his mom Kim and stepdad AL who have become dear friends. When I retired many years ago we pretty much gave up on fancy restaurants except for very special occasions, mostly due to the strict dress code back in the day that including a jacket and tie. Those restrictions have since been lifted and smart casual is now in vogue. 

As it turns out, the very capable and affable waiter assigned to our table was Joseph Karakas, the son of a former Matre Di of the Plumed Horse, Mark Karakas who used to serve us before he moved on to run the Mountain Winery and then partnering with a friend on other ventures.
All good things must come to an end, and after three hours of gastronomic bliss, decadent desserts including a banana and cream anniversary cake from the popular Icing on the Cake bakery, compliments of Kim and Al, we all hugged and said our goodbyes. As we were about to make our exit from this storybook setting, a couple at a nearby table got our attention and congratulated Cecile and I on reaching our 40th year milestone. They told us they were celebrating 7 years of marriage, and the couple next to them said they were celebrating 11 years. “Hmmm 7 and 11,” I thought. What are their odds? They looked happy, hopeful and after meeting us, perhaps inspired about the prospects of a long and happy marriage. We wished them well and left the Plumed Horse contented as we approach the final stretch.

Happy 40th Anniversary to my Beloved Cecile-A Modern Day Love Story!

Every married couple has a story to tell about how they first met. In 1972 I was employed at a local supermarket while attending medical school in Chicago and an elder teacher who came in for groceries encouraged me to attend a student party. Cecile and her sister Sherry attended the same party accompanied by blind dates. After a full day of classes, five hours of weighing produce and mopping the floors until 9 PM, this was the “last” place I wanted to be—until I met my future bride. My first impression of Cecile was that I had met someone very special. We spoke of our love for Italy and relived the old world charm of the towns we had visited, the people, my Sicilian relatives, the open air cafes, the pasta and of course the Italian gelato. We held each others gaze the entire evening as if we were the only ones in the room. We agreed to meet for dinner one evening and over time a warm and deep relationship developed between us. She was there for me when I had nothing but a burning ambition to become a successful doctor. Her love and faith in our relationship had been strong enough to leave her job as a teacher and close family ties in Chicago to join me in moving to California in 1975. Two years later we were married. They say marriage is a point of no return, but if I could turn the back the clock, I would still choose to love and marry her in a heartbeat. After 45 years of being together and 40 years of marriage, I am happy to say I love her more than ever and am grateful to still have her by my side.

Cecile, I know we will never forget the day our 300 pound safe was stolen from our last place of residence. As you know three of the many prized possesions that were taken were our 18 karat gold wedding bands and a Tanzanite ring I brought back for you during my travels to East Africa. It was quite a loss but we still had each other, our wonderful children Jason and Michelle and our little Maltese-Lily.

And, as far as losses go, Rumi, the great 13th century mystic once said, “Anything you lose comes back around in another form.” With this in mind, I bought you a new Tanzanite ring to commemorate our 40th anniversary and the renewal of our wedding vows. With this ring I thee wed.❤️

Postscript: Tanzanite is a rare gem discovered by a Masai tribesman deep in the foothills of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

P.S. Dearest Jason and Michelle, thanks so much for the beautiful photo of your mom and me that was taken in 1974 by a friend that you had stylized, enlarged and framed. It would have otherwise been lost in the family archives. We love you.

Visiting A Serene Vietnamese Monk Under House Arrest at his Temple In Ho Chi Minh City

Anthony Bourdain of the CNN hit travelogue series, “Parts Unknown” said, “going to Vietnam the first time was life-changing for sure; maybe because it was all so new and different to my life before and the world I grew up in. The food, culture, landscape and smell; they’re all inseparable.” I share Bourdain’s view. Vietnam is an extraordinary place to visit and it’s people welcoming. But there is a dark underbelly that few travelers are aware of—the continuous persecution and oppression of certain monks.

When I went to Vietnam in 2004 with my son Jason, I visited the Venerable Thich Vien Dinh, the brother of a real estate broker named Truman, with whom I once had some real estate business dealings. Truman left Vietnam in 1984. His brother, whom he hasn’t seen in 32 years is the Superior Buddhist monk of two temples. One, in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), and, the other—a large 800 year old temple in Binh Dinh province in the countryside surrounded by farmland in the middle of Vietnam. During the Buddhist “Renaissance” movement in the 1920s, it was one of the most important training centers for monks and nuns.

When I visited him in his temple in Saigon as seen in the photo, he was under house arrest, but you wouldn’t know it by his calm and serene demeanor. His only crime was that he belonged to the United Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) and not the Vietnam Buddhist Church (VBC) under control of the Communist Party. I later learned that I was being watched; followed back to my Hotel; and copies of the photos I sent back to Dinh were confiscated. They also asked him how much money I donated to the Temple. While there I was introduced to Truman’s sister who he also hasn’t seen for 32 years. She cooked for the 40 monks who resided there including a secret mole spying on behalf of government officials.

Now, 13 years later on the Festival of Tet (Vietnamese New Year), Truman informed me that his brother is still under house arrest by the government but is permitted to live in his countryside temple, where he is very happy and peaceful. Through peaceful resistance and sheer political will, he is still leader of the United Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV).

A Peaceful Sanctuary in and Unlikely Place

We arrived in Las Vegas on Tuesday at 5:30 PM and checked into the MGM Grand to celebrate my birthday which officially is August 26. 

We took a walk toward Caesar's Palace. I wasn’t quite ready yet for the frenetic pace Vegas is known for. We ate a light dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and afterwards my wife Cecile suggested we go to Serendipity 3 for their famous Frozen Hot Chocolate dessert we first encountered many years ago at Serendipity’s in NYC. It is such a coveted guilty pleasure that even the late Jackie Kennedy asked the creator for the recipe for a White House function.
But it is here where the story takes an unexpected twist. While Cecile was placing our order I turned around and spotted a Brahma Shrine tucked away in an unlikely place, between the Roman Plaza and Serendipity 3. It is a replica of the Brahman Shrine at the Erawan Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand, similar to those I had seen during my many travels & meditation retreats in Southeast Asia. In fact this extraordinary four sided shrine was actually created in Thailand and installed under the supervision of Buddhist monks. The shrine is “renowned throughout the Far East to people of all faiths as a place of prayer.”

As I lit the incense stick to make an offering at the altar of the shrine, the pleasant scent brought me to a peaceful meditative state and suddenly all the noise of the Las Vegas strip vanished. 

Like Life, a Waterfall is Always on the Move and There is Always an Uneven Flow to it

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Powerful rain storms continued to wallop Northern California this week, increasing water storage levels in our reservoirs not seen in many years, and forcing dam operators to release water to reduce flood risk. There were flash flood warnings in low lying areas and power outages two nights in a row in the gated community where we live.

Awhile back, some of you who live locally took my advice to visit the Vasona Dam Spillway when the cascading waterfalls surged 10 feet high. Yesterday, the surge was over 20 feet height and 30 feet wide. Before I realized it, a vaporous veil of mist overtook me. I was drenched from head to toe—and loving it. The roar of the turbulent waters was so great I could feel its powerful vibration. Like life, a waterfall is always on the move and there is always an uneven flow to it. I met a Vietnamese immigrant who barely spoke English but we had no problem communicating, agreeing to take each others photo while celebrating this graceful moment in time and space with a fellow human being.

Today, at long last, the sun came out. I took our niece Annabel, a University of Michigan senior student, visiting us from Ann Arbor, MI to 8 AM yoga class. Afterward, sharing the experience of the waterfall with her. The fury and intensity of the surge had eased, but was more accessible, less perilous and still amazing to witness.