My City By The Bay

I shot this video a while ago during a harvest moon festival in Chinatown which is a yearly event.  Grant street which is the main drag through Chinatown is closed off all the way to North Beach and musicians, lion dances and parades entertain the crowds while vendors hawk their wares.  It’s always so much fun to visit and especially on special occasions. Enjoy!

For The Birds 

It was a warm afternoon and I had been trudging the pavement in West Portal trying to find some festive garb for a special event I was attending. I had no luck and was tired and worn out so I decided to head back home. I waited and waited and then waited a bit longer for the L Taraval streetcar when I told myself  “I could have walked and been home by now.” Already frustrated I entered the streetcar and was drowning in my own thoughts not really paying attention to the subdued passengers adorning the seats.

I stood on the car against the middle doors thinking I would exit on 19th Avenue and hit that little Asian shop by the Gold Mirror restaurant to see if I could find some colorful attire.  While turning from Ulloa onto 15th Avenue a loud hysterical laughter erupted from a young Asian boy sitting by the door across from me. He was looking down at a couple of plastic bags the Asian woman next to him was holding. I looked over as did everyone else and wondered as to what amused this young fellow. Nothing out of the ordinary so we all continued on along towards Taraval street. 

As the streetcar turned onto Taraval the older Asian woman sitting by the young boy got up in an attempt to exit the car on 17th Avenue. As she stood, trying to get hold of her two plastic bags, all of a sudden without any notice two large brown pigeons came flying out of the bags and onto the heads of the patrons quietly sitting in their seats. The once melancholy crowd now animated in fear with screams spewing into the aisles, wings and feathers falling like snowflakes on dark streets a pandemonium ensued. The driver in his complete oblivious state did not even blink an eye, while the woman with her now empty bags attempted to collect her feathered friends.  

The car stopped on 17th Avenue, not because of the bird incident of course but because it was a regular stop, at which time I decided to forgo the nuisance of a pigeon nesting in my hair and exited the car as quickly as possible. I was already having a bad hair day and pigeon droppings would only add to the mess.  

I continued walking down Taraval towards the May Fung Fashions when I turned around to see what was happening with the winged marauders. As I turned I saw one of the pigeons fly up into the sky - free at last! While the other one was being delivered back into his plastic bag cage, head first by his owner. I smiled, continued walking and uttered to myself  “only in San Francisco.”