San Francisco

What a day I had, it was an early start as I decided to get the bus into the city instead of drive.  It was nice to be on the bus and enjoy the scenery around me instead of concentrating on driving or riding.

The bus was full of commuters on their way to work, I love to people watch.  They all had their routines, a couple of girls....and guys...gave themselves total make overs during the trip and by the time we got to the city they looked absolutely fabulous, I would have loved to have taken before and after photos!  Others were reading books, newspapers or workstuff and the rest had earphones in or staring out the window.

Its great being on the bus, you can see right into people's cars!  My god there are some messy cars out there and its amazing what people have on their laps!

Anyway I get into the city and its pretty windy but the sun is trying to shine between the tall buildings, I walk on the sunny side of the streets to keep warm.  I head down to the Castro from Union Square and on my way I stop at City Hall, outside there are some farmer's markets and at one particular stall there is an extremely long line so I walk over to see what they are selling.  I hear chickens squawking and initially I think they are selling fresh eggs as I see some cartons thrown around the stall, then I realize there are hundreds of live chickens crammed into plastic crates.  There are about 5 people working this stall, as I look more closely I see a chicken taken out of a crate then stuffed into a brown paper bag and given to someone in line!  This guy must have seen the shock and confusion on my face, he wandered over and told me its fresh meat! I was appalled! How could this be happening, dont we have laws against this?  Are these chickens going to be given a humane death? Where are they going to get killed....in someone's kitchen?  Will this stall be selling pigs and cows next month?  I had to stop my thought process before I got too upset.  The guy who kindly informed me of what was going on thought it was animal cruelty and I had to agree with him!  Does Gavin Newsom, the mayor, know about this?  How could he not, its happening right outside his office!  I bought a veggie samosa and continued moving.

I went into City Hall, checked out Harvey and the area where everyone was getting married until prop 8 put a stop to that .......for now.  I tried to find Gavin's office so I could tell him about the chickens but I was out of luck.

I walked around the Castro, had a coffee and looked across the street at Harvey's old camera shop, now a gift shop called 'given'.  My mind wandered back to the time Harvey was alive and what it must have been like around the shop and the little apartment upstairs where he lived, there was always some activity going on....but that's another story in itself.

I went into Stompers, the boot store, I wanted to buy some new motorcycle boots but couldn't decide between the engineer style or the harness style.  I was disappointed that they didn't carry women's sizes and the men's size that fit me were a bit wide around the heel so I will try to find a place where I can actually try on a women's size as they come in a slimmer fit. 

I looked and looked and touched and stroked the police officer's boots.....my god they are beautiful, I asked to try them on but they didn't have my size, I told the guy just to give me the smallest size he had......out came a mens size 11!  Who cares, I slipped my foot into them and it was like...........Lord have Mercy!  I just sat there with those boots on, my eyes rolling back into my head....I'm surprised the guy didn't tell me to 'get a room', he must have thought I was bonkers!  I reluctantly removed the boots, peeling them off gently like silk stockings, thanked the guy for his time and continued on my way. 

It was lovely and sunny now so I walked up to North Beach and had a delicious lunch and a glass of red wine then walked through China town....fascinating what you find there!

Had a couple of beers at Lefty O'Doules then caught the bus home, it was nice to be able to doze on the bus listening to my music and thinking what a great day I had.

I always try to do something extremely physically challenging on my birthday, it helps me appreciate the physical challenge my mother was enduring as she was labouring and giving birth to me on this day. 

Today I calculated I walked about 14.5 miles around the city and quite a few arm lifts at O'Doules!!  I certainly did have a physical workout as I had a wee bit of trouble getting up out of my seat at the end of the bus journey!  I soaked in a warm bath with essential oils and started to feel better, thank you mum for getting us both through labour.........I love you.