HALLELUJAHDearest Family and Friends
57 Cumberland Street, San Francisco CA 94110
Phone Number: +1 415 738 2112
April Highlights
Buying Nothing
In Month Four my mind-set shifted from the negative (not doing something) to the positive (doing something else). Away from the pursuit of objects towards all those great experiences available to us. 
We celebrated places, people and performance in fine style, and felt fulfilled, busy and enriched.The few purchases made this month included
sun hats for Esme for Mexico – second hand naturally – and I bought some picture frames to showcase a picture of a peregrine falcon given to Esme by Adam and some images of mine but squared my conscience by acquiring them from the thrift store.
Gift of the Month
Tom’s brother, Wes, and his daughter, Milla, came to stay for the Spring Break week and Esme had lots of fun playing with the year older girl. They held hands, and shared toys nicely.
Wes very very kindly bought Esme a magnetic drawing board, which she loves and has stood us in great stead ever since – drawing is a new favourite activity.Top
Live Experience
Buying tickets for live performance is allowed. Purists may quibble that one is purchasing a tangible piece of paper, but Music both stirs and soothes the soul. And April saw us celebrate musical endeavour across the spectrum.
From the ridiculously entertaining - Singalonga Mamma Mia at the Castro Theatre with Armani, which added a plastic blow up microphone to our collection of toys and into which Esme and I serenade each other – to the raw energy of 80s-homage White Lies, who we saw in a downtown live music bar where yoof hang, on the recommendation of our friend Siobhan, proud aunt to the lead singer. With Kristan and Steve, we also saw the fabulous fado singer, Mariza, whose energy and stage presence were truly remarkable. Thanks to Alex Sunshine for his top tip!
Leonard Cohen
But nothing could ever top the extraordinary privilege that was mine – to see arguably the best songsmith of many a generation two nights in a row – Leonard Cohen.
Adam had tipped me off that his World Tour (which I’d memorably caught at the Big Chill last summer) was coming to Oakland, and when tickets were released, I was there pressing the refresh button to no avail. The concert seemingly sold out in 30 seconds.
Distraught, I nearly paid 4x the asking price on various marketplace websites but decided to wait. Sure enough, a second date was added. I was in the playground with Esme 15 minutes before tickets went on sale. I allowed hope to surge forth and propel me, Esme and the stroller home in record time – although was convinced it was a hopeless case. I dumped her at the bottom of the stairs, galloped to the computer, pressed refresh at 10.59 and… amazingly bought 2 tickets! It sold out in 4 minutes. Ecstatic, I told all my friends and when a 3rd concert was added, Jen Daniel managed to secure two seats, as did Julie and James.
So Colman and I took BART across to Oakland and took time to marvel at the Art Deco splendour of the 1931 Paramount Theatre. Walking into the main lobby, with its gold ornamentations along the walls, curving staircase and glowing light fixtures is like taking a trip back through Old Hollywood. The bathrooms have ante-rooms, love seats and panelling adorn every floor, the carpet was custom-made in the 1970s to the original pattern. We took our seats, stunned by the opulence of the auditorium with its innovative ceiling grid, and stage.
Leonard Cohen bounded onto stage, dapper in fedora and sober suit, got down on one knee and opened with Dance Me to the End of Love. The musicians are now a year into the tour and the concert was smooth as silk – simple, effective lighting and extraordinary sound quality. The band were phenomenal – every musician an artist and the 3 magnificent backing singers, Sharon Robinson and the sublime Webb Sisters, alone one would have paid good money to see.
Forced to go on the road at 74 by his manager embezzling all his money while he was in a Buddhist monastery for five years (the courts found in his favour to the tune of $9.5m, he will most likely never see a cent), Leonard showed no signs of the trademark gloom of his early career. Utterly respectful to his fellow travellers who he introduced constantly throughout, every solo treated reverentially, self-deprecating, humble and relaxed, good-humoured, light of heart, and gravel-voiced – his voice now like thick chocolate – he radiated the qualities which speak of the absolute best that humanity can be.Through the catalogue they took us by the hand on a magical journey – from The Future to Bird on the Wire to Anthem whose refrain – Ring the Bells, that still can ring Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack, a crack in everything. That’s how the Light gets in – had us both in tears.
Tower of Song opened the second half, followed by the iconic Suzanne - the first song I ever heard sung on the beach by the fire, and in the first film I worked on – everybody has their story about Suzanne. We cheered Democracy is coming to the USA, Chelsea Hotel, So Long Marianne and Hallelujah for the line ‘I didn’t come to Oakland [substituted every location] to fool ya’.
The Webb Sisters’ shimmering duet If It Be Your Will was a prayer, and just when I thought he wasn’t going to perform it, the stage soaked blue for Famous Blue Raincoat which had me in tears again, nostalgic for friends especially Jane with whom I’d seen him at the Big Chill.The encores kept coming – it was a three-hour set – and he skipped off stage as he had come on. Colman said it was the best concert he’d ever seen. We went home in a daze of warm profound beauty, tunes and lyrics wrapped around our brains and engraved on our hearts, where they have remained ever since.
The next night I went with Jen, Julie and James in great excitement, this time with my camera and binoculars. Jen was taken ill during the second song and had to go home. It was very upsetting – we had great views from our 2nd row seats in the balcony – and I missed having someone to share the moments with. The playlist differed slightly – he dropped two songs and altered some banter – and it was fascinating seeing it two nights in a row, and having the luxury of really being able to savour the poetry and melodies.All those I know who have seen this tour feel the same way – we email each other with wistful joy reminiscing about the elegant musicianship and extraordinary humanity. Julie and James were equally blown away. And we were so upset for Jen that we bought her Leonard Cohen – Live in London as some small compensation for her terrible night. Which is my Transgression of the Month in a Damn Good Cause.
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Easter
Family Outings
Colman went to Hawaii for a long weekend work trip with the sales team. Luckily Esme and I found much to amuse ourselves with. We were invited to an Easter Egg Hunt party with Armani and Marcus, at which Esme got the hang of putting the eggs in the basket a little too well, 
to the extent that her basket was overflowing and other children were deprived from participating.The following day we went on the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation charity walk which was 5km around Crissy Field. It was a glorious day, the Bridge glowed in the sun.
We went with Debra and Noa who we lost early on, and Tracy and Isis, with whom we shared the glory of joint last place – our fatal flaw had been to allow Esme and Isis out of the strollers after we had got half-way.
The other problem was letting Esme play with my house keys, as we have been doing for months, only this time she lost them. Luckily Kim was at home and we had left the back door unlocked otherwise we would have been in trouble. I’m now using the spare set as I can’t buy new keys this year – doh!
Over Easter weekend, we visited the packed Academy of Sciences with Jecca, Billy and Luca, and saw the rainforest exhibit; Billy and Esme resuming their love affair.
She spent a lot of time gazing at him adoringly and he was very kind and took time to hang out with her.Free Entertainment of the Month
2009 marks the 30th anniversary of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and so an extra-Indulgent Easter at Dolores Park was planned. The regular Easter Sunday activities, firstly Children's Easter and then the Bonnet Contest, were crowned by the ever-popular Hunky Jesus Contest.
That morning I was giving a talk on how to raise your child without diapers (yes it does work, yes it is more work in some areas but less in others, and yes it takes longer than I had hoped it would, but yes I’d do it again). In the afternoon we headed into the extremely crowded park. 
Where we met up with Adam and Jen plus some mates, plus Tom and Kim, Jonathan, Jen, Julie and James. 
And delightfully, my old friend, David Glass, who I’d not seen for 7-8 years or so, who was in SF for work – our Visitor of the Month.
David and Esme took to each other immediately and she loved all the bustle and excitement in the park. 
It was hard to get close to the Hunky Jesus contest and we missed much of the repartee (although we were assured it is the same every year), but it seemed the top three contenders were Victoria Secrets’ Jesus (a bearded wonder in deep red lingerie), Brokeback Jesus (two buffed gentlemen stripped to the waist in chaps strapped to a beam of wood), and Livestock Jesus who looked the part with long flowing locks, 
a shepherd’s crook and two sheep and a donkey which he somehow got to Dolores Park and through the adoring crowd. To our chagrin he lost out to Brokeback Jesus, it was pointed out to us that they did fulfil the brief of being ‘hunky’.
David stayed for an impromptu dinner party at ours; Esme in her element with all her favourite men round at once. And we went to his hotel two nights later to bid him farewell. Stunning views from his 43rd floor suite to the Bridge and across the city. Hopefully it will be sooner than 7-8 years before we meet again.Top
Expedition of the Month
Baja California Sur
Our annual family holiday took us to beautiful Baja – which, for those unfamiliar with Mexico, is the long peninsula on the westernside of the country, bordered by California to the north. Perfect for Californians as there is no time difference, and only a 3hr flight.
We flew south along the coast, passing Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, San Diego and then down the sun-baked mountainous peninsula and over turquoise seas to its bottommost tip. Los Cabos resembles a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah, with green glistening golf courses, multi-storey hotels, hundreds of condos and timeshares, many still under construction, and extensive marinas. 
We hired a huge white 4WD, which we were assured was the smallest they had, and headed north for 2 hours up the Pacific coast into arid scrub with sage-green cacti spiking through the grey brush. The sun was hot, the sea disco-dazzling blue and the road out of Cabo straight and empty. Todos Santos
Our first destination was Todos Santos, an arty, laid back (one traffic light in the whole town) and attractive coastal Pueblo Magico, which has seen in recent years a boom in real estate, cafes, restaurants and stylish places to stay – hence our interest in visiting.
We stayed 10 minutes out of town down a very bumpy dirt track at Alegria Villas in an adobe-finished apartment for the first two nights. We soon settled in, revelling in our splendid picture window with views over the lagoon and beyond to the golden beach and Pacific, plus terrace, which caught the breeze most effectively, plus big muslin-draped bed, and high thatched ceiling which kept us cool. 
For the next two nights we moved to brilliantly coloured 4-roomed The Hotelito, between Todos Santos and the (mostly) deserted beach, run by an entertaining interior designer, British expat Jenny. 
Her verve and flair is writ large in this bijou B&B’s fabulous colour combinations –
think sea green alongside shocking pink adjacent to cobalt beside pillar-box red next to saffron, contrasting vibrant bougainvilleas everywhere. 
Each room has its own patio, sit out area and hammock. Esme loved the charming staff and the friendly dogs.
Our four days in Todos Santos passed agreeably in strolls beside the lagoon and down to the beach, watching the blue velvet sea, birding (Esme soon recognising brown pelicans at 100 paces), meals out, rest periods during the day, reading books and magazines, exploring downtown Todos Santos’ many charms including the burrito stand, 
the dogs (to Esme’s delight) and Hotel California - yes that Hotel California - where Esme and I danced to Flashback, a long-haired covers band. 
We did one afternoon’s ‘outing’ to a couple of beaches 20 minutes out of town – one was the ‘commercial’ beach where fisherfolk land their catch every day to the enthusiasm of assembled frigatebirds, pelicans, gulls and vultures. The other, Playa Las Palmas, is considered the only safe swimming beach in the area (although surfing is great all along the coast), and we were looking forward to our first swim of the holiday.
Esme had other ideas. She enjoyed the walk through the palm grove to the completely deserted playa, which had satisfyingly curling waves crashing onto fine sand. She was quite interested in the birds in the distance (although kept from closer inspection as they were intent on pecking at aromatic carcasses). But was completely freaked out at the sight of Colman striding into the surf, and became hysterical when he disappeared under a wave, clinging desperately to me. Nothing could comfort her and her wails of anguish only grew louder when Colman, oblivious, emerged from the sea to head towards an interesting looking cave rather than back to her for reassurance. So when it was my turn to swim, it was kept short, and we packed up and left, taking heed of her frantic gestures to return to the car.East Cape
On our fifth day we then drove north and then east over the arid semi-desert mountains, a stunning and empty drive. It was very hot inland, we were thankful to have air-con. Esme travelled well, reading books, singing and snoozing.
Our first sight of the Sea of Cortes didn’t disappoint – a precious rich turquoise blue. Our destination was Cabo Pulmo on the East Cape, reached after 15km on unpaved roads. Much of the coast road is unpaved between Los Cabos and La Ribera, which has saved the area from development hence far and it still feels wild and frontier-like. I kept telling Colman to slow down, Esme loved it and asked for more every time we went over a bump.
There is talk (and has been for years) of building a superhighway along the coast, and the expectation of untrammelled development to follow. We saw many signs (whether For Sale or Keep Out) on untouched land fenced off for miles. 
Apparently many are designed to trap an unwary speculator into buying land owned by a third party – ownership deeds and title are a murky area in these parts. Big development turf wars are on the cards, as we passed several chaps sitting by the side of the road with no building in sight, just keeping an eye out for claim jumpers/staking their own claim to land.
We can only hope the road is long delayed and hopefully the economic downturn will help our cause here because we really really loved 
Cabo Pulmo and we would have happily spent more time there. 
It is a two-horse town (literally roaming around the streets, in the pic below they're outside the grocery shop), off the grid (solar powered) and they use artesian water. 
The nearest shops are back down the dirt road, there’s the (above mentioned) very basic grocery shop in town plus 4-5 restaurants so we were fine for food, and we did bring some of our own. This is Esme on the mean streets of downtown Cabo Pulmo – and yes that was the speed sign!
It is opposite a small but important marine park, which has the best reef system in Western North America. I got to go on a snorkelling boat trip around the rocks and reef, and we saw an amazing huge shoal in one location, colourful reef fish at the main reef, plus sea lions swimming underneath us at a third.
My Fish of the Month was the King Angelfish Holacanthus passer for its fabulous psychedelic colours. Unfortunately as out of season they didn’t run another tour that day so Colman didn’t get to go and we were only there two days. 
We stayed at a vacation rental El Encanto de Cabo Pulmo which is beautifully done. Hand-crafted sinks, adobe walls, a great Mexican colour palette, folk art, a high level of finishes and a gorgeous tropical garden with a fountain and metal sculptures.
There were three accommodations, we had a casita in the garden with a muslin-draped 4-poster bed.
One night I woke convinced there was a large rodent of some description in the casita, scratching and gnawing loudly. I woke Colman and terrified, we steeled ourselves to turn on the light. Nothing could be seen. We couldn’t understand what the noise was until we heard a whinny and realised one of the town’s horses was chewing on our traditional thatched roof!
Everybody, Mexican and gringo, waves and says hello; one of the main attractions of Cabo Pulmo. 
One of those magical places where everyone is very interesting and charming, plenty of people come back year after year, there’s a real community.
At nights there was excellent stargazing , we took it in turns to catch the dawn, and the beaches were good for swimming and snorkelling. Esme was getting less alarmed if either of us went swimming. 
We spent time with her under palapas on the beach playing with pebbles and she began to accept that the parent swimming would return. 
She was also pretty good about wearing her hat, and at no time on the holiday got overheated or caught by the sun.
Our final destination Villa del Faro a pretty swanky and private place, 17km S of Cabo Pulmo, on the dirt road, on a hilltop overlooking the sea, with tiers and terraces cascading down to the beach.
It is owned by an artistic group of American friends who were real pioneers into the area, buying up and building 15 years ago and undertaking major landscaping.
They have created a magnificent place (although Colman wasn’t that keen on the Italianate style) with several casas, lush palm gardens, lots of space, a very attractive swimming pool and poolroom, pavilions –
all for the ‘family’ who still live there and also a hotel for the past 3 years.
The food was excellent and after extensive research, Colman decided they made the best margaritas of the trip. They describe themselves ‘exquisitely off the grid’ (solar powered, guests are asked to take short showers, no a/c, shop locally for organic produce and support the local community, buildings sited around existing cacti and trees) - overall more luxurious than barefoot eco-chic.
There was art , antiques, sculptures, folk art, playful details everywhere including trompe l’oeil paintings, fountains, cactus gardens, hammocks – in short an incredible amount of detail and comfort. The bed was the best yet, they even provided a muslin drape and beautiful hand-carved child’s bed for Esme (although she actually preferred to sleep in her cot). 
There are 5 units to book, one of which is this impossibly romantic tiny stone cottage on the beach.
From our terrace we saw incredible sunrises, gray whales passing, had our own iguana living in the stone fish sculpture and a dove nesting on our doorframe.
Esme loved running around the terraces; she progressed to not minding us swimming in the pool.
I went down to the beach for a swim on my own in the clear greeny blue waters. Literally not a soul on the beach for miles, and only 1 or 2 boats at sea. Stunning.
One night we went out to eat in the local beach shack which was hilariously simple with vistas of miles of unspoiled sandy beaches. Yet the food was good and it attracted a big crowd and we realised there are several large villas/rental properties in the area, it is fast becoming ‘discovered’.
On our last night I got up in the middle of the night to see the stars burning so brightly above given additional intensity by the clarity of the skies so you could see them right down to the horizon. I watched Scorpio rise over the silver sea, and a meteor shower. Phenomenal.
They are only an hour or so back to the airport on the dirt road through undulating hills, a village and the grey-green scrub, but it did feel a world away from brash Cabo. Really a piece of Paradise.Homeward Bound
At the airport we were surprised to see baggage handlers wearing masks. Esme pointed to a large advertising hoarding, which featured a glamorous bottle of tequila and some glasses, and said, “Daddy!”
The flight home was a breeze once she went to sleep, and mildly frustrating before she did.
Our holiday was a great success from every point of view: we weren’t overambitious about distances and activities given the heat and with Esme, she slept really well all week and loved each place we stayed, and was a hit with all hoteliers and staff, 
we were able to completely relax, the food was good (seafood & fish & lots of guacamole) and we loved the under-inhabited semi-arid landscapes which were unexpectedly bursting with life. 
And it was really enchanting seeing Esme spending so much time with Colman – she adores him and it was “Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!” all week.
Unfortunately she developed a high temperature the day after, we went to hospital and it wasn’t flu of any sort (which we knew but good to have it confirmed, and it did give us a bit of a thrill to be behind a door with isolation notices on it) most likely caused by the change in climate and temperature – San Francisco was rather chilly our first few days back! This window display is on my route to Kristan and Steve’s twice a week and they ‘dress’ the model topically – brilliant!Top
Bird of the Month
Baja Birding
We saw 46 species in our 8 days including 13 new Life Birds.
We had a Bird of the Day, which ranged from new Life Bird Gila Woodpecker (Melanerpes uropygialis) feasting and perching atop cacti seen from our window at Alegria Villas – these birds often nest in cacti and are typically seen in low desert scrub - to the brilliant beauty of the
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) with its crested head (a common bird east of the sierras but isn’t found in California) and its bi-coloured cousin with a parrot-like bill, the Pyrrhuloxia (Cardinalis sinuatus), another Life Bird – both visited us in the tree outside our casita at El Encanto.
Excitingly sighted on my solitary walk and swim along the pristine beach at Villa del Faro was the slight and graceful Least Tern (Sternula antillarum), which is endangered in San Francisco where a rigorous programme tries to protect it. Also a Life Bird.
Bird of the Holiday for its very physical and almost omnipresent abundance was the Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis), whose distinctive silhouette was visible from dawn to sunset on both coasts and in numbers. Although we were concerned to see many dying in Todos Santos – we were told varyingly that it was a virus and also they were dying of starvation as the seas are becoming too warm for their prey fish to breed. 
Bird Moment of the Holiday was on our second night when gazing out at dusk from Alegria Villas, and saw these amazing aerial acrobatics being performed at high speed by creatures I initially took to be bats. Except that they flew like high-speed swifts at low altitude, banking and dashing at incredible velocity catching insects before night fell. Identified in the gloom finally as the Lesser Nighthawk (Chordeiles acutipennis) – my first ever nightjar. Esme was less excited by getting up close and personal with Villa del Faro's resident cockatiels.
Birds of the Day ranged in size from the extraordinary looking Northern aka Crested Caracara (Caracara cheriway) seen at The Hotelito first and then subsequently on our voyage to the
wonderfully teeny Xantus's Hummingbird (Hylocharis xantusii) which weighs 3g and is 8cm long – both were new Life Birds for me. At El Encanto a resident pair perched on our clothesline and we got within 2 feet – Esme was entranced. 
They were elevated to Bird of the Day status at Villa del Faro when we saw two of them, about to fly, still in the nest – one of those moments you’ll not forget, and so are April’s Bird of the Month.Top
Mural of the Month
Stencil of the Month
Bumper Sticker of the MonthWhere Are We Going? Why Am I In This Handbasket?
Love and hugs
Nadine, Colman and Esme xxx
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