Right away, I could see that walking in the neighborhood accompanied by our Rasta visitors was going to be different than my walking by myself or with others at GoE. Before we reached the first corner we had stopped a few times either to engage willing passers-by in conversation or to window-shop some of the magnet-like stores. Someone had mentioned that the man who managed the coin laundry on our block was a good friend to us and to the neighborhood. When we reached the laundry, Jim and Matt asked that we take them in and introduce them to our good friend. Our group of nine crowded into the aleady busy laundry. Our friend, Vince said he was honored to meet the Rastas and they responded in kind. By the time our group exited the laundry new friendships had been forged. And there were more to come. Being in the company of Jim and Matt reminded me of politicians campaigning for grass-roots support. It was reallly beautiful,though; these guys were not running for office, they were just truly interested in their surroundings and those encountered there-in. During our entire walk that day, not one of those engaged resisted or objected in any way. I do remember some who seemed puzzled or amused, much as if they wondered if they were meeting some celebrity that they didn't recognize. For their part the Rastas seemed to be meeting old friends again.
It was about mid-morning when we reached Alta Plaza. From our first day on "D" st the plaza was on my favorites list. It sits atop Pacific Heights, bounded by Jackson,Steiner, Clay & Scott streets and affords some breath-taking vistas of the Bay to the north and the City's downtown sky-scrapers to the south and east.,day or night.
No comments:
Post a Comment