San Francisco, CA

Sometimes, actually most of the time, we learn the most about ourselves from our friendships. For years, I had wondered who molded my hippie bent. Certainly not from my family, nor my extended family, until one day a dear friend exclaimed, "So that's why you're a hippie -- your elementary school teachers!".

How could I have overlooked this when even as a wee one I mathematically figured that, excluding sleeping hours, I spent more time with my teachers than my parents? They're the ones who introduced me to salamanders and Carl Sandburg. My English teacher wasn't certain if his poem Fog was actually about San Francisco but her description of the city was heavenly. Subconsciously I must have wanted to keep it that way because I made no effort to visit it until it was absolutely necessary. Another friend told me I have to stop living inside my head so much. He's right, my fantasies were shattered into diamonds. San Francisco is achingly beautiful, the heavens have literally descended here.

After a day of sightseeing, you'll realize why for two reasons. One, your thighs. The "hills" are perpendicular. And two: the asking price on 'For Sale' signs aren't written in binary -- that's a real number in base 10. The technorati set will get by just fine, but the rest of us may have to secure jobs (yep, plural) and a career. Three employers supplied my host's income, and she lived with a roommate to boot.


Still, the bygone times of beatniks and hippies saunters in and around San Francisco. Perhaps equivalent real estate prices do as well, but I was lost for a good hour and not once did I find myself in a grimy alley. The city is absolutely pristine. San Francisco's Chinatown is the largest in North America though one of the cleanest I've ever visited. That says something, no?

And if that's not enough, let's look at two more exhibits. Exhibit A, on your left,  is a picture from the Good Luck Parking Garage (aka North Beach Parking Garage). Each space has a unique fortune thanks to artists Harrell Fletcher and Jon Rubin. Isn't this a nifty way to start your day? Especially after questioning your existence during a morning traffic jam.

Exhibit B, on your right, is an image of a city worker crouched into a  metal wastebin. But what is he doing, you ask? He's hammering away a dent in the lattice. I know, I too was floored. Goodness knows how many trashy trashcans I've seen in small towns and large cities. I wanted to walk over and thank him but I was frozen. Kumbaya is so darn hypnotic and springs up on you from nowhere. Yep, my elementary class totally sung Peter, Paul and Mary's anthem in a circle under a shaded tree.



Length of Stay

Two days

Docking Index

       

Eight anchors, though it was seven initially. I loved San Francisco, but logistically I don't know how I can ever afford to live here. However, public transportation, farmer's markets, and co-housing reign supreme. I might not have enough for a rainy day after expenses, but I can snag me a sugar daddy in Silicon Valley...

Of course I'm joking.