I just flew in from Marin, and boy are my arms tired

The view of SF from Tiburon

While boarding the Tiburon-San Francisco ferry to begin my commute home last night, a pigeon also hopped on board. As we ferried across the bay, the bird walked around the cabin investigating everything. It even hopped up onto an empty chair, and investigated the table in front of it.

Near the end of the ride, it had resigned itself to strutting back and fourth near the entrance of the cabin, and then stopped to take a poop. When it turned around after pooping (to continue with its pacing), it spotted the poop out of the corner of its eye, and plunged its head down to peck at it. Only when the bird’s face was half a centimeter away did it realize that the stuff was its own poop and not a piece of food that magically appeared during the poop break, and it recoiled. Continue reading “I just flew in from Marin, and boy are my arms tired”

Blow a Kiss to Mommy

Blow a kiss.

I sat near a young family on a BART train this weekend, as I rode from 24th street to West Oakland. The parents were in their mid 30s, the first child was perhaps 7 years old, and the second child was perhaps 2. Every family member had some form of assorted luggage with them, even the children. However, as the train approached Embarcadero, the mother began saying goodbye to her family, and kissed her youngest daughter several times as the train pulled up to the stop. The youngest seemed to enjoy her mother’s kisses, but was also calm and mildly disinterested; content to gaze out the window.

Continue reading “Blow a Kiss to Mommy”

A Conversation on Capp Street

Capp Street Houses (San Francisco, California)

One particularly balmy summer’s night of 2012, I couldn’t get to sleep until I had all the windows wide open to allow a minuscule bit of breeze in. Unfortunately, what was a sleep aid earlier in the night came to facilitate my abrupt awakening later on.

The sounds of a man’s voice shouting, a woman’s voice replying groggily, and a car engine idling rose directly into my ears via the open windows.

Continue reading “A Conversation on Capp Street”