Miraloma Park Improvement Club

Miraloma Life: March 2006

• www.miralomapark.org
• Picturing Miraloma Life
• Swan Lake – A News Poem
• Attention Miraloma Residents
• Spring Festival: Volunteers Wanted
• An Invitation from Leland Yee
• He’s at it Again, Again
• Another Fallen Tree
• West Portal Rail Replacement
• Waiting for Chertoff
• Where the Easter Bunny Lives
• Legal Ease
• City of Angels
• Ingleside Police Station Crime Report
• Design Matters
• Announcement
• Mother’s Day Garden Tour Features

www.miralomapark.org

by Joanne Whitney

There has been a great deal of discussion lately on the Miraloma Park Improvement Club’s website, www.miralomapark.org, about why so few people access the discussion pages. Some contributors have urged that an article in Miraloma Life might alert more people of the existence of the discussion pages. We have published articles in the past but have been disappointed at the small increase in website use.

Maybe, the tide is turning so please use this article as a guide to the website in general and to the discussion pages more specifically. To access the site, turn on your internet connection and type miralomapark.org in the locator box at the top of the page. You do not have o type in www. Press enter and you will go to the MPIC’s homepage. You can read our mission statement there, see the names of the officers of the MPIC and discover what meetings or other events are occurring in the neighborhood. At the top of the homepage are a series of boxes that will provide you with many hours of good reading.

If you click on Design Guidelines, you will be able to read the guidelines concerning housing construction, additions and renovations in Miraloma Park. These guidelines were written by members and have been accepted by the planning commission to assist in determining whether a new building, or the expansion of an existing one, is visually compatible with the character of the neighborhood. Please remember that these guidelines are suggestions that Planning Commission members use to help them in their decisions. Members of the Board of Directors spend countless hours helping the Planning Commission understand and interpret these guidelines.

You can find out about renting the MPIC clubhouse by clicking on Clubhouse Rental where you will see some great pictures of the clubhouse. The Clubhouse has been renovated recently and is suitable for weddings, christenings, birthday parties, organization meetings nd a wide variety of other uses. Remember, MPIC members get a substantial discount. If you are not a member, click on Join and join.

Your membership fee helps support the events the club provides, the newsletter, the website, better living in Miraloma Park and myriad other benefits and activities.

If you missed the last newsletter, you can read it by clicking Newsletter. You can get a feel for issues of historical importance to Miraloma Park since over 5 years of newsletters can be accessed.

If you are feeling nostalgic access Pictures and view scenes from such events as the Kitchen and House Improvement Tours, the Holiday Party, the neighborhood wide garage sale, political forums and other events. Look carefully, you might find yourself in there somewhere.

Clicking on Links and Feedback can be very valuable. You can find a Directory of City Services, ways to contact the Parks Council, the Planning Commission, committees at City Hall, Sean Elsbernd, our District 7 Supervisor, other Supervisors with whom you may agree or more likely disagee, the School of the Arts and other important services. You can even launch a search on any topic from this page. You can contact the webmaster with suggestions for improvement, complaints or just to compliment him. Ron Proctor is our webmaster and after exploring the site I am sure you will agree what a wonderful job he does.

If you are concerned about neighborhood issues, want to ask your neighbors about services or have an announcement to post, click on the discussion postings. You can directly post a message or you can access all of the postings for the past several months and add your two cents to any discussion. The topics are very diverse. On the discussion page right now are ponderings about the website itself, questions about how to handle bad neighbors, queries about what flowers, ornamental plants and vegetables grow well in Miraloma Park and a great deal of opinions on traffic on Teresita. Other topics of interest are Tower Market (Has Mollie Stone made it better or worse?), dogs (their leavings, do they belong in children’s playgrounds?), trees, paved over yards, parking across the sidewalk, panhandlers and is it safe to walk at night in Miraloma Park. The discussion board is open to all topics of interest to Miraloma Park neighbors. The discussion page can become heated but it is great fun and you can be fairly certain that there will always be somebody out there to answer your questions or comment about your concerns or to tell you that you are not quite right.

So please, have a go at www.miralomapark.org. Its success depends upon your interest.

Picturing Miraloma Life

by Jacquie Proctor

Ground breaking for Miraloma Community Church in October 1950 from Jeanne Davis MacKenzie, who grew up in her family home at 2 Arroyo. Her father and architect of the church, Stanley Fuller Davis A.I.A. in center, Rev. Leroy Nattress on the right, Scoutmaster Dale Jones on the left, Jeanne Davis on the far left, her brother, Stanley Davis Jr., on the backhoe, Grandfather Herman Quast Jr. in hat, Mr. Sutton in sport jacket.

The church building proposal brochure stated what many Miraloma families experienced at the time, “In this place we are operating as a Community Church because Miraloma Park is a distinct Community in San Francisco. Emphasis along Denominational lines would tend to weaken and destroy the Community Spirit…This entire Community stands as one whole unit; the Church, the School, the Club.” Fifteen neighborhood families pledged their personal worth as surety to get the loan to build the church. Can you identify anyone else in this picture? I am writing a book for Arcadia Publishing on the history of the Mount Davidson neighborhoods, including Miraloma Park. Please let me know if you have stories or pictures of Miraloma life you would like included.

Jacquie Proctor -584-8694 jacquie@mtdavidson.org

Swan Lake – A News Poem

by Stan Andersen

Now balletic
Swans of Hungary
Must die for human
Safety in mastering
Bird flu that spreads
Throughout the world.

In Navapur of India,
Ruegens on the Baltic,
Italy, France,
Indonesia,
Fowls die by
Tens of millions
For being stricken
By a virus only
God can fathom:

All those innocent
Chickens, ducks, feathered
Friends of mankind.

Attention Miraloma Residents

Converse International School of Languages is looking for warm, friendly homes to accommodate Professional International Students. They

would like to experience living with an American family during their stay in San Francisco.

Compensation is provided. For information email: SFhomestay @CISL.org. or call 415-971-3227.

Spring Festival: Volunteers Wanted

Would you like to get more involved in the Miraloma Elementary community? We are seeking volunteers to help staff the Miraloma Elementary Spring Festival on May 6th. We need people to staff games, serve food, and help clean up after the event is over. Interested parties should contact Kathleen Wydler at 863-5737 or at kath@blackketter.com.

Just interested in attending? That’s fine, too! Mark your calendar. Miraloma Elementary School Spring Festival.  Food, fun and entertainment for the entire family! May 6, 2006

An Invitation from Leland Yee

Speaker pro Tempore
California State Assembly, District 12

Dear Friend and Neighbors,

I am writing to invite you to the 12th Assembly District 4th Annual Community Breakfast. This event will be a time to share ideas, ask questions, learn new information, and get to know your fellow community members and Assembly office staff. This community pancake breakfast will take place on Saturday March 25th, from 9:00
to 11:00 a.m. in Saroyan Hall at the Armenian-American Day School,
825 Brotherhood Way in San Francisco. This event is free and open to the public.

Please come and enjoy pancakes and maple syrup and talk with Assembly Speaker pro Tempore, Leland Yee, about legislation being considered in the California State Legislature and issues of concern for citizens of the 12th Assembly District. Please RSVP, as soon as possible, to our district office at (415) 557-2312.

He’s at it Again, Again

Once more the familiar note, this time written on cardboard torn from a box of Serene Valley Select Mixed Nuts, was taped to the ventral aspect of my garbage can lid, by a party with whom we are now quite familiar. We should have guessed that our nocturnal neighbor would not let the comments of Seymour Squirrel, Sitting Secretary, SBS, go uncontested. As we are committed to, and rightly ought to be committed for, presenting both sides of every issue, every side of any issue, any issue of every side, and even issues that have no sides and sides that have no issues, regardless of size, please find faithfully reproduced below, and consistent with the stringent protocols of political correctness, Mr. Coyote’s latest missive.-Ed

Oh, these squirrels, aren’t they just cuuute as buttons, and mouthy as the day is long? Never mind that the dear little fellows haven’t a clue about anything you and I would find worth knowing. But then they weren’t put here to solve the world’s problems, were they? Can’t even keep track of the nuts and seeds they gather, and shrill as a snared seagull—but no matter, they’re simply adorable! Now I might try to explain to the dim little beasts that I only eat them for their own good: sacrifice the occasional individual even slower than the rest to avoid the greater privation they would endure when, without any control on their population, they inevitably ran out of food. And I might

inform them of the benefit of evolutionary pressure, provided by me personally, in ensuring that only the quickest and brightest among them (surely there must be a few!) will survive to breed generations of super-squirrels actually capable of understanding their proper role in the Great Chain of Being. I might do this, but I won’t waste my breath imparting wisdom around which they’ll never get their bean-sized brains.

Do they think I enjoy eating squirrels? Let me tell you, nothing epitomizes sheer culinary disgust more thoroughly than a raw, wriggling, hairy, stinky, clawing squirrel. I’d sooner a fine roast goat any day (oh my caprezzo, please come back to me!). But do I clog up the pages of this noble publication with endless complaint? No, I do my duty, make the necessary sacrifice, play the role in which fate has cast me, and with scant regard for my own stomach do what is best for squirrel-kind and, indeed, all living creatures—I swallow wretched squirrels (sorry about Chipper, Seymour, I had no idea he was your uncle).

Speaking of squirrely things starting with “S” which know not nuts from dolts—how about a certain San Francisco Supervisor? You know, the one who had the brilliant idea of our fair City’s adopting by resolution the Seattle Seahawks, much to the dismay of our own Forty-niners (and couldn’t he at least have proposed adopting the Superbowl winner?). Was he the same one who suggested we refuse to host a famous battleship, and that the United States Armed Forces be disbanded? But it won’t stop there, believe me. As the dear squirrels truthfully said in their diatribe in the last issue of this illustrious monthly, and as I freely admit, I can read humans’ minds through the agency of their pets, to whom men and women are quite transparent.

Exercising this ability to my patriotic best at the behest of the NSA (Nondenominational Snooping Agency), I have learned from a helpful housecat that one great brain among our Bored Soups has cooked up a plan to install, instead of a battleship, a Giant Blue and Yellow Rubber Ducky off Pier 39, to be visible for miles as a symbol of our City government’s inimitable Daffy-ness. Not only that, but a resolution will soon be introduced to replace our Armed Forces with the back-up squad of the Pittsburgh Steelers (at least a winner this time, proving a thimble of hindsight is worth a tumbler of wishful thinking)! Remember, John and Jane Q. Public, you read it first in the Miraloma Life!

Who elects these wizards anyway? Certainly not me—the four-legged are not allowed to vote (and is that politically correct?). Maybe it’s our good citizens’ disenfranchised pets, amusing themselves by influencing their owners—pardon me for being un-P.C.—guardians to elect representatives who have somehow eluded the iron law of evolution and survived despite a pronounced deficit of gray matter. So much for survival of the fittest. Perhaps it should be Supervisal of the Flittiest. But that’s another story.

Your Constant and Humble Servant, W. Coyote, Esq.

Another Fallen Tree

by Jonathan and Sarah Mergy

It seems that we are losing trees at an accelerated rate. Below are pictures of the tree next door and behind our house on Teresita that
was recently removed. It was a great tree but the current rains and wind finally took their toll.

West Portal Rail Replacement

Editor’s Note. The following contains excerpts of an article written by Supervisor Sean Elsbernd for the West Portal Monthly. He has given us permission to publish salient points since this is a matter of importance for Miraloma Park Residents.

I’d like to provide you with some information about a major public works project in our neighborhood, which will begin in late February or early March and with which we will be dealing for nearly a year. After over thirty years of use, the MUNI rails in front of the West Portal tunnel at the intersection of West Portal and Ulloa need to be replaced. Additionally, the L-Taraval rails along Ulloa, from West Portal to Forest Side also need to be replaced. While MUNI is digging out the rails, in order to save time and in order to save you a double inconvenience, the Public Utilities Commission will also be installing new water lines along Ulloa. Phase I of the project will be the work along Ulloa. Initially the preliminary roadwork will involve trenching along Ulloa to upgrade water and utility lines adjacent to the trackway. Work crews will be staging their construction equipment along the street during this time period. As an aside, the L-Taraval rail service will continue during construction, with the exception of some weekend shutdowns. As soon as MUNI knows what weekends, they will begin publicizing the information.
Workers will be working Monday through Saturday from 7:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. There maybe some exceptions to this rule when the L-Taraval line is shut down on weekends. If there will be earlier work or later work, MUNI will definitely give notice to the surrounding neighborhood. During construction on the southern side of the trackway on Ulloa, parking will only be available on the northern side of Ulloa.

Likewise, during construction on the northern side of the trackway on Ulloa, parking will only be available on the southern side of Ulloa. Construction equipment and vehicles will be parked and staged on the side of the street where parking has been removed. During construction, if you have any questions, or if you have concerns or problems that are not being addressed by the staff on site, please do not hesitate to contact me at (415) 554-6516 or by e-mail at sean.elsbernd@sfgov.org.

Waiting for Chertoff

by Jim O’Donnell
You may have seen or heard of the unusual plays known as “Theatre of the Absurd”. Samuel Beckett, an Irishman, Jean Genet and Ionesco, a Romanian who moved to France, round out the three most famous playwrights of absurd theatre, mostly written the in 50’s and 60’s. Absurdism is strongly connected to the French tradition of Existentialism, which featured such authors as Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre. In 2004, the Bush Administration had its own bout with existentialism; they survived for another four years, after a first term that an charitably be called quixotic. One new department, Homeland Security, was only two years old and still trying to find a place in the pantheon of agencies that make up our Federal Government. This department was created in a frenzy of post 9/11 activity, and is a good example of why the U. S. Government can be likened to a Twenty-first Century version of “Theatre of the Absurd.”
You may be familiar with the color-coded warning system for terrorist threats first championed by Tom Ridge, the first Secretary of Homeland Security: Red (Severe), orange (high), yellow (significant), blue (guarded), green (low), the colors of the Homeland Security Advisory System. Take your pick of either red, orange or yellow; you can bet it will never go to blue or green, because it just does not scare the public enough. Scared enough, however, to cancel their travel plans when the risk level goes up so that the businesses dependent upon air transportation stay depressed, which will mean more bail-outs of the airlines by Congress just to keep the industry afloat. We are currently at level risk level yellow, with no real idea what to do at any level, except to stay ready for the ubiquitous stripsearch at the airport.
Following this absurdity, Congress allocated many millions of dollars for anti-terrorist use, literally doled out as so much “pork-barrel” to just about every county in America, regardless of terrorist threat. One deputy sheriff from Oregon said that the money they had received was used to remove homeless people by transporting and unceremoniously dumping them over the county line. Another Tennessee county was featured on 60 Minutes, with the money spent on extra equipment for the police and fire departments, with little or no connection to anything remotely considered a terrorist threat. Meanwhile, big targets like the major cities and ports received an allocation barely adequate to accomplish much of anything. These examples are just a warmup for what happened during the response to Hurricane Katrina last year by the Department of Homeland

Security, now headed by Michael Chertoff. FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, had been transferred to DHS from being a cabinet-level department. It soon found out that it had been demoted to become an unwanted step-child of DHS, where its funding and authority were significantly cut. It also meant that the head of the agency was now more of a plum as political payoff, since the more visible Secretary of Homeland Security was in overall charge. As a result, Michael Brown, former head of the Arabian Horse Association (aka Republican Fundraiser Par Excellence), was appointed to this former cabinet level position. With several days’ notice, the level 4 Hurricane Katrina struck the southern coast near New Orleans, and as predicted, was more than the levies keeping back the Gulf and Lake Pontchartrain could withstand. For reasons still being discovered, FEMA froze and did virtually nothing for several critical days. Michael Brown insisted that his people could not go into New Orleans right away because it was much too dangerous because of the looters and snipers. Meanwhile, people are struggling to survive on rooftops above the swirling waters, now the color of the FEMA head’s last name.

The report that half the New Orleans police force did not show up for work brought into question the actual number of police officers on the payroll. The early resignation of the police chief indicates the “phantom” nature of many of these officers (the excess payroll being skimmed for private purposes). Another report had police officers looting a Cadillac dealership, which only added to the phantasmagoria of the whole situation. The Department of the Interior, with millions of dollars worth of equipment and human resources to offer, was effectively told that their help was not needed. In the event, it was the quick response of private boat owners crossing Lake Pontchartrain to help rescue people strand-ed in the disaster area that made national news.
“Waiting for Godot” by Samuel Beckett is the most famous of the Theatre of the Absurd plays, where the two protagonists are allegedly waiting for Godot to arrive. They both know that he is never going to show up. The new version of this play is called “Waiting for Chertoff”, since he was no where to be found in the early days of Katrina as well as his underling Michael Brown. The absurdity of political appointees in positions of responsibility is apparent since your only skillset is to look and sound good when the cameras are rolling. For the real work of the running the government, it looks like we will always be “Waiting for ______”. You fill in the blank for the department of your choice…

 

Where the Easter Bunny Lives

by Gladys McWood Birdsong
As legend has it in the Mt. Davidson area, the Easter Bunny lives behind a metal door at the top of the stairs near the cross. Last Spring before Easter, my granddaughter, Adrienne Long, called my sister Diane excitedly reporting, “My whole kindergarten class at Miraloma Elementary walked up Mt. Davidson to see where the Easter Bunny lives!”

Imagine our surprise, because the origin of that tale lies with our grandfather, and we had no idea that anyone outside our family had heard the story.

In 1945, our family lived at 254 Juanita Way, just across from the stairs leading to the cross at the top of Mt Davidson. Our athletic 80-year-old grandfather was visiting from Southern California, and he invited Diane, our friend Tommy and me to climb to the top of the mountain. As we approached the top, we saw a large metal door. We asked, “Grandpa, what’s that door for?” Grandpa, who always had a twinkle in his eye, replied, “Why, that’s where the Easter Bunny lives!” My sister Diane was 6, and I was 3, and the Easter Bunny was alive in our minds. We were so excited with this news that we ran back to our street and rounded up several of our other friends to make the climb to see the Easter Bunny’s home. Apparently, those kids grew up to pass the story along to their children and grandchildren in the neighborhood.

Our family moved from San Francisco in 1947. What a delight that a charming Easter Bunny story told to us by our grandfather in 1945 has been passed down in the neighborhood where my grandchildren, Julian and Adrienne Long, attend elementary school. I know the very day we made the climb with Grandpa; he kept a diary with photos of his trips. For Sept. 21, 1945, his diary says, “Climbed to the cross on Mt. Davidson with Diane, Gladys and their friend Tommy.”

Gladys now lives in Nevada City, California, and may be reached at mcwood@gladbird.com

Diane McWood Nowland lives in Clermont, Florida, and may be reached at dnowland@jps.net

Legal Ease

by Steven Solomon
Q: I just won a small claims court judgment for $3,000. The defendant has not paid the judgment voluntarily. Now what do I do?

A: In one of the great mysteries of the legal system, once you obtain a judgment, the Court does not collect the judgment for you. There are several options, though: if you know the bank account no. of your losing party, or if it/he/she has assets, such as a business or a car, you can get a writ of attachment, usually from the sheriff’s office. The writ costs you, but that cost if recoverable. I once did a “till tap” on a business, where the sheriff showed up & told the cashier “give me the next $1,500 in your cash register.” Imagine what customer relations effect that scene had on the people in the store then! Another option is to obtain a lien on the losing party’s real property, but your judgment will not be paid until the property is sold, which could be quite a while.

Steve Solomon is an 18 year resident of Miraloma Park. He just relocated his law office to West Portal where he continues to represent consumers and business groups in a variety of legal issues.

City of Angels

School of the Arts (SOTA), San Francisco’s acclaimed public arts high school, announces its annual gala musical theater production, “City of Angels,” with six performances in early March – here in Miraloma Park. Set in 1940s Los Angeles, “City of Angels” is a film noir story with murder, mystery and sex. SOTA is located at the old McAteer campus, 555 Portola at O’Shaughnessy. “City of Angels” performances will be on the mainstage, with convenient free parking on site.

Performances will be held: Thursday, March 2, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, March 3, at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, March 4, at 2:30 p.m.; Thursday, March 9, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, March 10, at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, March 11, at 2:30 p.m. Tickets and information: www.sfsota-ptsa.org or 15/695-5720.

Ingleside Police Station Crime Report

If you are interested in keeping up with the types and numbers of crime which occurs in the Ingleside District you can do so by requesting

the daily crime report from Captain Paul Chignell. Simply email Captain Chignell at Paul_Chignell@ci.sf.ca.us and request to be placed on the

mailing list for the crime report. It is fascinating stuff and fortunately not too many incidents occur in Miraloma Park.

Design Matters

Peter A. Zepponi, AIA – Architect

This is a monthly column addressing basic residential design and home improvement topics of interest to Miraloma Park residents. If you have a question or topic you’d like considered for a future article please send an email to: pazdesignmatters@aol.com or call 415.334.2868.

Q: What are the new cool gadgets for 2006?
A: Below is a list of some new and innovative products for 2006.

% WaterTile by Kohler: This is a flush mount square shower head that tilts. It is 4 7/8″ x 4 7/8″ making it easy to integrate into most tile patterns. It has two adjustable spray intensities and being flush, it allows you to install it in small showers without having a shower head projecting into the space.
www.us.kohler.com/onlinecatalog

% Insight Pro Microwave Drawer by Sharp: This innovative product allows you free up counter space by being installed into the cabinetry. It is Ideal for smaller kitchens, open space plans, and kitchens with few upper cabinets.
www.sharpusa.com

% Eve Faucet by KWC: This cool new kitchen faucet integrates LED technology into the head of the faucet to give you light right where you need it.
www.kwcfaucets.com

% Angle Power Strip by Task Lighting: This is an electrical power strip that can be mounted under your upper cabinets. It takes the standard plugmold power strip a step farther by angling the strip to provide easier access. A great way to add a plug everywhere you need it in your kitchen. www.tasklighting.com/ap/angle-strip.htm

% Brew Express by Lance Larkin: A built in coffee maker without the need for extensive plumbing. It is available in four and 12 cup models. This machine is self filling so you’ll never have to manually fill your coffee pot with water again. It is also recessed into the wall to take up less counter space. www.lancelarkin.com

% Solid by Estoli: Is a new flip down shower seat to help prevent falls on slippery and wet surfaces. Only 15 7/8 x 16 1/16″ it doesn’t take up a lot of space and adds some stylish safety to your shower. www.estoli.com

% Acrylic Safety Tub by Safety Tubs: Now this is a great idea. This is a bathtub with a door! No more having to risk slipping and falling while trying to climb into the bathtub. It comes with a built in 17″ high seat, built in safety bar and slip resistant floor making it ideal for homeowners with limited mobility. When the door is shut it becomes a watertight bathtub!  www.safetytubs.com

* This column and its content are intended to be a source of general information. Applicability to your specific project should be verified.

Announcement

District 7 Supervisor Sean Elsbernd has announced the allocation of a $225,000 capital grant for site upgrades to the Miraloma Playground and Field and has requested community comment and suggestions regarding specific improvements to site.

Please send your comments and suggestions directly to sean.elsbernd@sfgov.org.

 

Mother’s Day Garden Tour Features

by Jeanne Halpern

Of the many gardens featured in the Mother’s Day Native Plant Garden Tour this year, an unusually high number comes from right here in the Miraloma, Mt. Davidson, Glen Park area of San Francisco. The self-guided tour, sponsored by the Yerba Buena Chapter of the California Native Plant Society, highlights the many ways that native plants are being used in landscaping throughout the city.

You can visit “designer” gardens in Glen Park, Potrero Hill and South Beach. Gardens in back yards and front yards in Miraloma, Mt. Davidson, and West Portal are also featured. And there are gardens at unexpected places – a grocery store in the Mission, a school in Oceanside, a magical children’s play land in the new Visitacion Valley Greenway, the Randall Museum, and the Miraloma Firehouse. The native plant garden at the MPIC Clubhouse is now being fitted out with plant labels and a well-defined path, so neighborhood residents can take a stroll and get to know the native plants that lived here long before O’Shaughnessy Boulevard was carved into the landscape.

One reason native plant tours have become so popular in the East Bay, the Peninsula and San Francisco over the past few years is that natives add habitat value, attracting butterflies, birds and bees to local gardens. Another is that native plants don’t require pesticides or fertilizers, making gardens safer for children and pets. And natives don’t drink much water once they’re established. As noted in Miraloma Life (February 2006, page 11), gardens contribute to the overall health of the environment. And also as noted in that issue, a walk up one of the trails on Mt. Davidson is like visiting a showcase of California natives.

Since the dual focus of this year’s tour is to delight and to educate, sites on the tour also include the wonderful demonstration garden at the Presidio Native Plant Nursery, where you can learn about plants by walking among natives grown from seeds gathered throughout the Presidio. You can also visit the most abundant site of San Francisco native plants for sale in the City and see how they look when grown, at the Haight-Ashbury Recycling Center. Selected sites will also have native plant gardeners to speak with and handouts of plant lists, articles on how to grow native plants, and book lists.

The self-guided Mother’s Day Tour takes place on May 14, 2006, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. To see the initial list of gardens on the tour, plus photos, go to the California Native Plant Society website www.cnps-yerbabuena.org/gardentour. Gardens will be added through April.

To recommend a garden featuring native plants, or if you have questions, contact Jeanne Halpern, manager of this year’s tour, at 415-841-1254 or jeannehalpern@hotmail.com.