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.

reaching out

Today, I had to visit the local utilities office to straighten out a problem that could not be accomplished online. I was third in line. Only one window open out of 6-8 at noon time. The line behind me ended at the door. A tiny, elderly Asian woman was trying to get the clerk to help her with a problem with her bill. Her gas charges were being made through a secondary company and she had not made this change. She asked the clerk to help her cancel it. He said, over and over, you must call the 800 number on the bill and ask them to cancel it. “Can you help me, I don’t know how to do that?” “No. Can you have a family member or a friend help?” “I have only my husband and he does not speak English. I have no friends.” The clerk was adamant and told her to move aside, as there was a long line. A young man was next in line. He pointed to a nearby chair and asked the elderly lady to sit down for a minute. His task was completed quickly. He walked over to the waiting lady, took out his “smart phone”, called the 800 number and dealt with her problem in a couple of minutes. At this moment, that woman had a friend.

The photo: a little girl at the Carnaval parade on Sunday reaching out her hand to connect with a group of Peruvian dancers moving down the street.

I realized that the issue of kindness had been in my blog last summer. Several meaningful quotes that relate to the scene in the PG&E office: 

http://duffaxsom.blogspot.com/2014/08/not-quite-universal.html

slightly out of focus

Recently I had a wonderful day with photo friends on a “shoot” at a commercial garden center in the wine country. Each area of the center was a garden commissioned for a specific purpose. Beautiful designs, some were gimmicky, others seemed to fit beautifully into the terrain. On the edge of the gardens was a large pond with a little island of water lilies blooming in the very warm afternoon. Obviously planned, but yet they seemed to break free from the human connection. I was so glad for the focus of this picture….enough out of focus to enhance their incredible beauty. Slightly out of focus is my creative mantra going into summer.

at home here

Nature, even in a big city, has so many aspects. I have often driven past this corner, but had not actually walked along this sidewalk in many years. The wonderful Victorian mansion at the corner and the two almost identical houses that were built by its owner for his two daughters in the 1880’s has always been of interest. It is lushly landscaped and I had admired that. I remembered the enormous tree, but had never realized its odd form—almost like a windmill. I assume that it is New Zealand Norfolk Island Pine, but have never noticed one quite in this form. It was a joy to sit on a busy corner and think about this ancient tree, thousands of miles from its origin and absolutely “at home”. So many of us fit that description. I do feel absolutely at home here.

it is

The calendar indicates that we are well into spring. The weather has another idea. Cold winds are blowing down from the Gulf of Alaska and there is a wintry chill in the air. I even thought about bringing out my favorite winter coat, one that got very little use in actual winter. Bundled up, I walked to the farmer’s market in my neighborhood. It is definitely spring. The burst of scent from these lovely sweet peas said it. The tiny spring onions and snap peas and baby carrots said it. So will I. It is spring. Btw, I struggle with whether or not to capitalize spring/Spring. My heart tells me yes, my early education says no. Miss Brickel from elementary school won. But, it must be Spring in my heart.

reclaiming

So often the world I live in is constructed, life is lived at fast pace and the people I know are very much “scheduled” in their lives. It is a good world, good people and interesting things happen at such a pace. But, there is something almost primeval in the need to connect at a different level—one that is recurring, not constructed and exists without anything from me or another human. This explosion of beauty took me out of the urban and into the natural…and it was in a corner being reclaimed by nature.