How I ended up spending ten years of my life in San Francisco.

I have been posting more of my sketches from the past of San Francisco at the present moment where I had spent over ten years of my life ( re- Face Boook addr. Shamsul Bahari). Where I met my late wife Nancy and had two children there. These sketches are of the everyday life and situations, mostly focused on the cafes and restaurants where I ahd visited as a customer, some on a regular basis, like The Clarion on Mission and sixreenth for those wh know the City. As an artist I had a few solo exhibitions in the area and it was some of my memorable days that will be cherished in my mind as a landmark. I remember the day I stepped out of the San Francisco International Airport with my bag Pack on my back and portfolio full of prints in the other. I had just arrived on a Flight from Austin Stroebel Airport in Green Bay, Wisconsin after closing eight years of living in the Mid West State of Wisconsin. I had burned my bridges behind me, I was on the road on a one way ticket. 

My intention was to find my way to meet Dennis Kelly the eldest son of Rosella Kelly a fellow prin making club member at the Print making studio at UWGB> Rossela in her sixties back then and i was standing by the copper plate polishing table elbow to elbow, one evening and otu of the blue she said in my ear, "Sam, I think that you have to leave Green Bay and move on with your life. I was stunned but I agreed with her without hesitation. She saw me like her son needed to be nudged in the guts to wake me up; this was the lesson I cherish most in my experience with the Print Making Club, The she said, "You know you should go and join my son who has just been ordained as a Zen Piest in New York. He is about to open his own place, maybe you can help him." Yes! My heart leapt in me, a door has opened and I am going to step in, into what lies ahead, into the unknown. So I ran around trying t raise enough cash and said goodbyes to those I left behind and I was on the plane before I nkew what was happening. Only I was not heade to new York but to San Francisco instead. Dennis had changed his mind, instead of opening his Zendo in New York he had decided to move to the San Francisco Bay Area, in Marin County to be exact. 

As I stepped out of the sliding doors I felt the heat hit me and physically spun me back into the airport and as I was swung around I bumped into a bald headed all clad in white robes swinging a thick walking stick Korean  Zen Monk. We automatically bowed to each other in apology. I was given a leaflet by one of his assistants as they rushed him into a waiting Limo and they left me standing there feeling like Wow! This is not happening. This was how I felt upon my arrival into the City of San Francisco where I had since spent over ten years of my life. I loved the City with her mixed cultures and out of the ordinary people whose life was intertwined with each other in harmony. The poor and the rich alike had their own charms, From those who lives in the Sunset District to the Homeless one sees the  harmony of coexistence, of mutual respect and tolerance. This was back then when I had joined the community moving from one life style to another till I was married and had children. Mostly through my vocations i got to know the San Franciscans and their City. It was the best and the worse times of my life, and then again when was it ever not. I remember celebrating my fortieth birthday at the Fairmont Hotel in Down Town SF courtesy of my former boss,Will Harris Jr. We were the only ones there my wife and I and was taken care of with special attention. I also remember when I had to leave Green Gulch Farm after two yeas of Practice as a Zen Student, practically booted out for being accused of a 'Disruptor.' I found myself Homeless. I was out on the streets of SF with only whatever I had on my back. 

I did help Dennis to open up his Zendo at 20 Magnolia Blvd. in Corte Madeira in Marin County. Dennis had rented two classrooms of an abandoned school joined together to make one larger room for his Zendo. Through Dennis's connections, I started my first regular job working for an English man who did renovations and installations of office buildings around the SF Bay Area. He was a great man to work for, a no nonsense Englishman who got the job done no matter what was asked to be done. I landed at Green Gulch Farm/Zen Community after I fell ill and could not do heavy physical labor. Having nowhere to go or anyone to turn to I pleaded to be allowed to stay at green Gulch to nurse myself back to health. In more than one way I saw my destiny being played out as things evolved from one phase of my life to another. I was destined to fulfill my original intention of joining a Zen Monastery upon arrival in SF, however i did not realize how this was to happen.