Between the years

Sunset from Indian Rock in Berkeley

Christmas is officially over I suppose. Out tree is still up and will be until early January. We had a very quiet couple of days. Since we have no family around to visit and mostly everyone of our friends away to the snow or sick (with Covid or otherwise), we just hung out at home.

On the 24th we went out in the very late afternoon to go to Indian Rock park in Berkeley to see the sun set and look at a house that is covered with fairy lights from chimney to basement. The kids always enjoy going there, too. There are so many secret passages to explore and rock stairs and not stairs to climb that it does not get boring and we adults sat with all the others there and waited for the sun to slowly sink behind San Francisco city views – so pretty every single time.

Christmas house

So this is the house I mentioned. It’s very close to our first apartment. I want to say we ‘discovered’ it but honestly it’s hard to miss. The decorations grew a little over the years but the lights were there as long as I remember. I always wonder if they put them up themselves or have someone do it for them and how long it takes and what the neighbors think about it. It sure is a beacon of light and I needed that this Christmas Eve. I leave you with a couple more pictures.

Sunset angel

Ice bear merry christmas

On the way back home we stopped at another holiday display in El Cerrito. There once was a man called Sundar Shadi who started a holiday display in this little town in 1949 and continued to put it up and extended it until 1996. Now it is put up on the hillside by volunteers.

Shadi Christmas display in El Cerrito

By the time we were heading back the sky was on fire. It always blows my mind how red the clouds get after the sun is gone. It’s like magic.

Sunset good night

We had a quick dinner and the kids played us some Christmas carols on their clarinets before we unwrapped our presents. Everyone was really happy with the outcome.

Part of me was a tiny bit sad that we could not see family in person this year. I know we made the decision together and we all needed the rest (and traveling around this time of year is not rest), but still. I wish instead of AI they would invent beaming people back and forth – sigh.

Speaking of AI. Have you tried out ChatGPT yet? “Overall, ChatGPT can be used to create chatbots and conversational agents for a variety of applications, including customer service, social media, education, and personal assistance.” That is part of the answer I got when I asked the chat bot what I can use it for. But it also will write you stories given a prompt. I hope my son never realizes the potential. He hates writing with all his heart and this would fix all his problems – even in German. I am still trying to figure out how to feel about it. Same is true about Dall-E which you can find on the same website. What do you think?

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