Black Moon Chinese New Year: Welcome Horse
When there are two full moons in a month, they call it a "blue moon." But when there are two new moons in a month, it's called a Black Moon, apparently. According to Wikipedia the term "has no reference to astronomy" and is "a Wiccan term."
It's the end of January and we are welcoming both a Black Moon and the start of the Year of the Horse. On New Year's Day this year, our family took this adventure and I highly recommend it as a way to celebrate Chinese New Year:
Visit Fort Funston and the beach. Who can not enjoy a sometimes chaotic intermingling of dogs, families, children and the occasional ride by from a local stable? This is the most incredible and expansive dog park I've ever visited- it's a nice walk through the dunes down to the beach. It's not without its controversy however (as are most things natural and beautiful in our world) so depending on when you come there may be parts of the park newly off limits for wildlife.
After lots of time under the spell of the waves and hopefully good weather--and if you can manage to get back to your car, head north along the Great Highway. In theory, I would avoid this trip to dog park Nirvana during our "SummerWinter" which runs June-late August. It's just too cold at that time of year. Summer starts here in the Bay Area in late Augus and runs through October...or, it used to. Things are clearly changing as I write this and the water shortage weighs heavily on my mind.
As you head up the Great Highway you can certainly stop at the Cliff House or see the Sutro Baths, but I'd recommend skipping the tourist stuff to head to an amazing part of San Francisco's Outer Sunset. Turn right on Lincoln and head down to 23rd Ave. Turn right and head to Marnee Thai which is quietly awesome.
The restaurant made Sweet Potato hot cakes with Coconut Cream both delicious and adorable served in a mini-muffin/cake pan. I made that lunch in combination with the Avocado, Green Mango and Crab Salad. Done. Except for dessert- we backtracked west to get partake of exotic Chinese pastries at Sheng Kee Bakery (also on Irving).
I had Date Pastry which was lovely and my sweetie had the Macadamia Nut pastry. I don't know if the Date Pastry has a better name but perhaps someone will swoop in and give me a pointer like the last time I ventured into Chinese pastry. Yeah, check out the comment! That was my moment in lights to be graced by someone trained by Cordon Bleu. Man, I was much more on this whole blogging thing back then.
So that's it. Beach, lunch and pastry. I was missing the horse riding though. I did this ride down to the beach through the ice plant over 10 years ago as I was getting to know San Francisco. If you get the chance, Mar Vista Stable will take there. May you have a Happy New Year and may the horse take us on a journey to better things and higher consciousness this year.
迎春接福 Yíngchúnjiēfú (Greet the New Year and encounter happiness.) Gong Hei Fat Choi!
It's the end of January and we are welcoming both a Black Moon and the start of the Year of the Horse. On New Year's Day this year, our family took this adventure and I highly recommend it as a way to celebrate Chinese New Year:
Visit Fort Funston and the beach. Who can not enjoy a sometimes chaotic intermingling of dogs, families, children and the occasional ride by from a local stable? This is the most incredible and expansive dog park I've ever visited- it's a nice walk through the dunes down to the beach. It's not without its controversy however (as are most things natural and beautiful in our world) so depending on when you come there may be parts of the park newly off limits for wildlife.
After lots of time under the spell of the waves and hopefully good weather--and if you can manage to get back to your car, head north along the Great Highway. In theory, I would avoid this trip to dog park Nirvana during our "SummerWinter" which runs June-late August. It's just too cold at that time of year. Summer starts here in the Bay Area in late Augus and runs through October...or, it used to. Things are clearly changing as I write this and the water shortage weighs heavily on my mind.
As you head up the Great Highway you can certainly stop at the Cliff House or see the Sutro Baths, but I'd recommend skipping the tourist stuff to head to an amazing part of San Francisco's Outer Sunset. Turn right on Lincoln and head down to 23rd Ave. Turn right and head to Marnee Thai which is quietly awesome.
The restaurant made Sweet Potato hot cakes with Coconut Cream both delicious and adorable served in a mini-muffin/cake pan. I made that lunch in combination with the Avocado, Green Mango and Crab Salad. Done. Except for dessert- we backtracked west to get partake of exotic Chinese pastries at Sheng Kee Bakery (also on Irving).
So that's it. Beach, lunch and pastry. I was missing the horse riding though. I did this ride down to the beach through the ice plant over 10 years ago as I was getting to know San Francisco. If you get the chance, Mar Vista Stable will take there. May you have a Happy New Year and may the horse take us on a journey to better things and higher consciousness this year.
迎春接福 Yíngchúnjiēfú (Greet the New Year and encounter happiness.) Gong Hei Fat Choi!
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