I take heart…where I can. Who doesn’t? Important to compare notes. Key to weaving the social fabric. And we need all we can get.

Of course, there’s the lettuce. Salad on the brink. Quite a bit in my greenhouse, and more on the way. A gift that keeps on giving, or at least, photosynthesizing. In fact, there are days when I repair to the greenhouse, tilt my wheelchair back and enjoy. Precisely what I am enjoying is rather difficult to tell. On many days, it is simply shelter from the maritime climate. No fog and no wind in the greenhouse. And the greenhouse gases, if any, are of my own making. So there’s that.

There’s also the ongoing battle with Demon Fear. Which was certainly activated by getting robbed at my doorstep. And hearing news of others getting robbed at theirs. We are all in this together, my San Francisco neighbors and I. But frankly we’d rather be together in something else. Still, the experience has proved to be anything but isolating. Neighbors up and down my street have stopped to express their condolences. Yes, there’s also that.

In the mornings I manage about two hours of physical-therapy type activities. Exercise machines. Range of motion. And various forms of walking. Leaning on a rail. Walking with a stick. I do the latter fairly infrequently, but notice something when I do. My balance is a little wobbly and my fear of falling very high. Mental focus is everything, it turns out. If I keep looking at what’s ahead, what I might grab if I fall and how I might cushion myself in the event…it is all much harder. But if I concentrate on Dennis, remember that he is walking just behind me and to one side…that he has his arms out, that he is ready to catch me…things go much better. At such moments I remember that not only am I not alone…I recall that someone literally has my back…but I also have a choice. And it makes a difference dwelling on…what makes a difference. People. Not being alone.

And the TransBay Center. Believe it or not, it heartens me in to see San Francisco’s new railway station nearing completion. It says something about the state of construction that a guy in a wheelchair could tour the place. But last week that’s what I did. Along with five members of the citizens advisory board. An astonishing design on a vast scale, of course. Some of the palm trees for the five-acre roof garden are already in place. And should one be worried that there is nary a train in sight? Be concerned that the long-approved rail tunnel under San Francisco’s center is nowhere near construction…while the mayor’s office “studies” it? Absolutely not to worry. All will be revealed.