Author: Manny Kagan

The pessimist claims that “things cannot be worse”, the optimist responds, “of course, they can”. There are many stories about optimists and pessimists. One of them describes how much water is in the cup. The optimist says the cup is half full, while the pessimist claims that it is half empty. I think that even staunch optimists have their moments of doubt. But then there is another way of thinking and being. Some people just know without any doubts that everything is going to be alright. It is well demonstrated in the Talmud story describing Nahum Ish Gamzu. Regardless what was happening, his response was “gam zu le-tovah”, meaning “this too is for the best”.

Years ago, I heard the story about a man who had a similar attitude. He had a beautiful horse. One day, the horse ran away. All of the neighbors had pity on him, and his response was, “We shall see”. A few days later, the horse returned with a herd of wild horses. The neighbors expressed how lucky he was. The man responded, “We shall see”. His only son tried to mount the wild horse, fell down and broke his leg. The neighbors had pity on the man. But the man just said, “We shall see”. Soon after, war broke out and military recruiters came to the village and collected all abled young men leaving the boy with the broken leg behind. After the war ended, many were killed, but the boy was alive with a healed leg.

In our family, my wife Elfa is a realist – she analyzes all of the possibilities, and tries to protect us from negative outcomes.

When we drive somewhere and are looking for a parking space, she uses a special “parking” prayer. My attitude is different. I do not think or worry about finding a parking space. And frequently, when we get to our destination, someone pulls out and gives us the spot (perhaps Elfa’s prayers help?).

I do not think about the cup being full or empty. I just know when I am thirsty there is going to be water. Perhaps this is why to the question “How are you?” my answer is “Always good.”

We recently closed a loan for clients, who inherited their home. The wife does not work, and the husband was in between jobs when we met, with a bunch of late payments and collections and a credit score of 512. At the beginning, I had no idea how I could help them. But just believing that everything would be alright, I found a creative solution and saved them from losing their home to foreclosure and in a few months will arrange a reverse mortgage, which will help them to keep it.

When I started writing this story, I had no idea which images I would use to accompany it. It was 7 am, and it was dark outside. By the time I finished writing, I looked outside, and saw a blue sky. The meteorologist told us that it is going to be raining. Though we need rain, I was very happy to stay dry today. For me knowing that regardless of an expert’s prediction, every morning the sun will come out (even if we do not see it), makes me happy. This is probably why I like to photograph sunrises.

P.S. On Sunday morning I was planning to go up Mount Davidson, to photograph the sunrise. Because of the time change, I was half an hour late. The sun was already up and the fog was rolling in. This gave me an opportunity to photograph sunrise in a completely different light. Enjoy and share.

 

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For the title of this story I paraphrased Earl Nightingale’s quote, “We become what we think about most of the time.” Actually, we follow both statements related to food and thinking, in our lives. I decided to write about food after listening to and reading “An Edible History of Humanity”, by Tom Stange. As the title states, our world evolved according to the availability of the food and tastes that we humans have developed. According to the Torah, it seems that the early people did not consume meat. “God said: “Behold, I have given to you all herbage yielding seed that is on the surface of the entire earth and every tree that has seed-yielding fruit: it shall be yours for food” (Genesis 1:29). Only after the flood, when Noah and his family were saved, God told them: “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; like the green herbage I have given you everything”. In “An Edible History of Humanity,” Mr. Stange points out that the first humans were hunter-gatherers; they could sustain themselves on food that grew from the ground and occasionally were able to kill prey to add to their diet. The life was similar to what Australian aborigines still have today: they spend about 20 hours a week working on gathering food and the rest of the time, they enjoy life. But after the flood “God blessed Noah and his sons: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the land” (Genesis 9:1). And since the only way to accomplish this command was to produce more food, humans developed agriculture.

In the book, Stange also writes about how later on in history, Europeans developed a taste for spices. To find cheaper sources, navigators started crossing the oceans to find India, which is where those spices were supposedly discovered. This was one of the purposes of the trip undertaken by Christopher Columbus. When he discovered America (which he thought to be India), he did not find a lot of gold or spices, but returned to Europe with maze (corn) and sugar cane. This in turn, brought the slave trade to work in the fields. According to the book, the food led to many world developments, wars were won and lost; tremendous growth of the population and the death of millions, when there was lack of it. Reading the book gave me a better understanding of the events, which not only happened in the past, but how food affects our lives and our well-being today. In 1825, the renowned French gastronome Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin wrote, “Tell me what you eat, and I’ll tell you who you are.” Almost 200 years passed since, but today this statement is as important as ever. Most of us have a choice which food to consume. Choose wisely.

P.S. As I wrote before, I made my personal choice. My weight went down and my energy is up. As you can see in my photos, some people still have to make this decision.

 

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It was a gloomy Sunday morning. Something in San Francisco we are accustomed to. When I went out to pick up the newspaper, the humidity in the air felt like it was raining. We receive “The San Francisco Chronicle” and “The Wall Street Journal”. I prefer to scan the headlines to know what’s going on, and do not usually read the articles about the killings and disasters in the world. But I like to read commentaries from smart people. One of them is Peggy Noonan’ and her column, “Declarations”. On Sunday October 11th, 2015 the title of her story was “Shows of Strength From Trump and Putin.” She did not compare them; but rather, commented on the results of their bullying actions. While the Russian economy is crumbling as a result of the sanctions (a friend of mine who was on a business trip to Moscow a year ago, told me that steak at the Ritz Carlton Hotel’s restaurant, where he was staying, was $360.00 US dollars), Putin decided to help his buddy Assad of Syria, and instead of fighting the ISIS forces, is bombing rebels supported by the U.S. (and taxpayers’ money). She comments about Donald Trump that “Mr. Trump would remind some women of a blustery first husband.” She continues, “His supporters don’t think he’s a sweet, sinless businessman. They love it that he’s not.” Then she points out, “But this year has reminded us to expect the unexpected”.

I thought about this phrase when I ventured out for my regular weekend walk around our neighborhood. I often go up to the Mount Davidson (which I have previously written about), but it was quite foggy, and I knew there would be no view of the city to photograph from the top. But for some reason, I chose to go up into our hilly neighborhood, for the sake of increasing the difficulty for the purpose of building physical endurance (I am very good at justifying my choices). On the way, I photographed bushes covered with a spider web and water drops caught in it. I noticed a hummingbird busily sucking nectar from the flowers, when it suddenly decided to rest on a branch, giving me the opportunity to capture its glory. There was a tree with some berries, which looked very beautiful against the grey sky. When, without thinking too much, I arrived at the foot of the mountain, I had to make a decision. In the back of my head, I heard my wife’s wise words: “It is muddy and wet there, and besides it is all grey anyway.” But I overcame my doubts (for the sake of exercise, of course), and kept on walking. But for some reason, I chose to follow the lower trail along the fence (I never went this way, before). And suddenly I saw it in the distance a large bird sitting on the electrical wire. As I got closer to it, I realized it was a hawk. The hawk did not fly away and patiently waited for me to come closer. I came as close as I could. I did not have the 400 mm lens I needed for this kind of shoot with me, but it did not matter. We just looked at each other and I photographed. After a while it was enough. After all, I was in the birds’ territory. I thanked the hawk, said good-bye and started my ascent, repeating to myself: “Always expect the unexpected”. But as I approached home, the fog melted away. The bright sun warmed my back, and the sky was blue.

P.S. My Photo book “42 Encounters in San Francisco” is almost ready. Despite the fact that you are familiar with my writing and my images, please expect the unexpected. Enjoy and share it with a friend.

 

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You may have heard the expression, “An apple a day keeps doctor away”. This phrase seems to come from two origins. One is from a proverb originating from the County of Pembrokeshire (in Wales),“Eat an apple on going to bed, and you’ll keep the doctor from earning his bread”. But it was actually Ben Franklin who wrote in his “Poor Richard’s Almanac”, the famous proverb we know today. Apples have been known to have healing properties for a long time. I usually eat an apple every day for a snack, or to quench my hunger before dinner, while driving home.

We were on a week vacation recently, to Calaveras County. When I went for a walk, I picked up some apples that had fallen from their trees, on my way. They were hard and actually only good for cooking. We also brought some apples with us from San Francisco. After speaking on the phone with my daughter Alona, who told me that she just did a cleanse for three days eating only grapes. The next morning I decided to try to do a cleansing as well. For me grapes are too sweet, but I like apples. So I googled “apple cleansing” and I found out that there is indeed a very simple way to lose weight/cleanse by eating just apples for three days. But before I share with you the results of my experience, let me tell you why this idea came to my head. About a month ago I decided that buying new pants or expanding the old ones is not the best solution to get rid of my protruding belly. My solution was to stop eating bread and desserts. I also started to write daily affirmations. My point of departure was 189lb. and 39 inches in my waist. The initial goal was 185lb and 38”. By reducing the intake of carbs and sugar, I had slow progress. This motivated me to change my goal to 183lb and 37”. This is when I was ready for a new approach, an apple cleansing.

The first day, I ate five apples and upon my wife’s insistence, a vegetable soup for dinner. The next day I had four apples, and another four on the third day plus soup and two spoons of olive oil. It helped that we were on vacation, though I walked a lot and we did a lot of sightseeing in the car. At the beginning of the cleanse, I decided to challenge myself and changed my goal to what I weighed years ago, which was 180lb. and 36” waist. When we got home, just as my goal and affirmations read, I weighed 180lb. And also miraculously my pants became roomier. Now the challenge is how to maintain it. I know I will. Where there is a will there is a way.

P.S. On the road between Murphy’s and Arnold (where we stayed) we found an apple stand, which sold 14 different varieties of apples. The owners were from the local apples orchards. We went there almost every day to buy different varieties of apples, as well as incredible tomatoes, and of course to photograph.

Enjoy your apples and share them with a friend.

 

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Since prehistoric times, people have expressed their creativity by drawing on walls. Over the years, not only have artists’ skills and materials improved, but also, the number of walls have increased. During the Renaissance, it was common for famous artists to paint murals inside of churches and cathedrals. During the 1930s, the well-known Mexican muralist Diego Rivera was commissioned to paint huge murals on the walls of the Rockefeller Center in New York. In San Francisco, Rivera also completed two frescos. One is in the San Francisco Art Institute and the other is at the San Francisco Stock Exchange. There is also a Diego Rivera-inspired mural by Jane Berlandina, in the Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill. And a mural by Lucien Labaudt in the San Francisco Beach Chalet is located on the Great Highway by the Ocean.

In our times, murals moved out on the streets. Many of them can be seen in the Mission District, which has become a virtual outdoor art gallery. Many artists painted the walls of Balmy Alley located between 24th and 25th Street.

Some artists have been commissioned by the city or building owners to paint some permanent murals, and were lucky to be compensated for their artistic expressions. But there is another group of young graffiti artists, who like to express themselves just by drawing elaborative and beautiful graffiti with cans of paint without any compensation. On September 18-20 Mission Art 415 celebrated the 28th Anniversary of Spraycan Art, which took place in the Mission District. Owners of the buildings on the three blocks of Osaga, Lilee, and Cypress streets between 22nd Street and 24th Street, agreed to have their walls and fences to be used as canvases for mural artists. I spent a few hours on Sunday, just seeing how a dull wall or garage door was transformed into work of art before my eyes. The artists are not paid, and after their work is completed, another artist can come with his spray paint and cover up their previous work to create his own new canvas. It is a remarkable cooperation and mutual courtesy. One artist told me that he started doing graffiti art in 1996, as a very young man. He works as a sales person for a big corporation during the day, and, as he said, lives a double life. It seems that being a graffiti artist is really labor of love.

P.S. It was difficult to choose only 4 images from so many I photographed on that hot day. Artists were really sweating while painting, while I stood in the shade to create my artistic expression. Enjoy and share with a friend.

 

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