able to act

In the middle of a busy crosswalk a dying pigeon was shivering. Crossing the street with me: a young couple, a mother and child, an elderly man with a cane, and a strong Hispanic man/possibly a construction worker. The light was ready to change and a string of cars would cross right where the pigeon sat. We all looked right to left, at the cars ready to move, at each other, at the changed light, at the bird. A mild sense of panic and everyone except the strong man just stared. He scooped the bird up in his rough hands and carried it to the sidewalk, carefully placing it at the base of a street tree. Only one of us able to act at that moment. A huge lesson.

The photo is of a pigeon taken some months ago near the same intersection

street salad

The children at Buena Vista Horace Mann School in the Mission District of San Francisco have planter boxes around the entire block of the school. One side, a busy street is primarily water conserving plants and flowers. That side also has a mini-park that takes up two former street parking spaces that is a demonstration of how plants gain water, issues in water use and conservation, and what rain is all about. On the residential side, new planter boxes (about 8 boxes) have just gone in to provide free food for the taking, once the plants start producing. A great idea in helping children understand how food grows, but also providing the bounty to the neighborhood. Street salad…what a wonderful idea.