Only in SF

On Monday, while on my thrice-weekly-walk after a work-out at the gym, I saw something that amazed me, though perhaps it shouldn't. I turned the corner from Judah and walked down 11th Avenue toward Irving Street. The east side of the street was empty of cars, and the street sweeper whisked by me with it's enormous metal brushes that (supposedly) clean up the clutter of our beloved city. Within seconds of his passing, I saw the most remarkable scurrying of cars. They flew out of driveways, squealed into U-turns, or slunk unseen from around corners. Soon, there were eleven cars parked on the street where seconds before there had been none! I was so astonished, I asked two of the drivers how they knew when the street sweeper was coming. Alas, neither the Chinese nor the Latin ladies understood my question, or could explain the scene I'd just witnessed.

Walking on, I stopped to visit May at my favorite travel agency, Sunset's Oasis Travel. We chatted a moment, shared our latest news - she wished me well on our upcoming trip to Europe, and I offered congratulations to Saneh on the birth of her new baby. Then, in the middle of a sentence, May grabbed her purse, locked the door behind her, and rushed out the door! Amazing - she taught me what I wanted to know without saying a word. It's the sound of the sweeper going by, and the sight of him across the street, that tells all to move their cars before he rounds the bend and returns!

These are just some of the sights and sounds that keep me attached to my old neighborhood, SF's Inner Sunset. It's a wonderful community of residents and business owners that reminds me of all the best aspects of urbanization and, indeed, of civilization itself. In a few short blocks we have a mix of nationalities and ethnicities in a mass urban environment, yet it is also a community of citizens and friends that interacts on a human scale. The policeman (at least when I delivered mail there!) walked the beat, the maillady is remembered long after she's left, and the homeless are known by name. That's why I keep going back - I am energized each time I return to my inner Sunset - and I hope you are too!
Hank and Martha in 1999