Saint Francis

When I was a sophomore at PLU, I was able to spend a month in Italy, primarily Rome. On a weekend trip, I took a train to the mountain town of Assisi, which was one of my favorite Italian towns for various reasons. For example: It was blanketed in a thick fog, the people were friendly, old Italian women sipped cappuccinos in the caffes, the street were twisted, cobbled, and winding like those of Minas Tirith (Lord of the Rings reference), there was a huge protest for peace (this was four years ago when Israel was bombing the shit out of Gaza), and mainly, Assisi is the home of the Mystic wanderer and animal-lover, St. Francis. This is a man who made poverty cool again (think Jesus, Buddha, Ghandi, etc).

Around the time of the American Revolution, the Spanish took their reverence for the saintly man to a foggy little bay in the New World, establishing the mission of San Francisco de Asis. Since then, the city has seen waves of treasure seekers, banksters, hippies, fishermen, Asian immigrants, hella Italians, vagabonds, gay rights activists, rock'n'rollers, cultural pioneers, software developers, and Hagbos. What do you get when you have this cultural smoothie poured over a landscape of Full House-style architecture, European vehicles (and drivers), amazing city parks, constantly-changing weather, and behemoth bridges? Answer: San Francisco, CA.

After getting lost in the city for a second time, which included a zany drive through Chinatown (yes, it was as cartoonish as you're imagining), I arrived a my friend Claire's house. In the morning, when she went to work, I took off for another solo city-touring day. I found a sweet spot in the park, where I pressed the "Good Day Button," which was written on a tree in the hidden grotto that I came across while looking for mushrooms (yes, it was as cartoonish as you're imagining). And a good day it was.

Here's some stuff that I did: Wandered through steeply-trailed Buena Vista park to get a good look at the city. Walked up Haight Street. Took a bus downtown and checked out the people. Met with Claire and her friend Katie at a bar for trivia night, which turned out to be Bingo with crazy-enunciation Santa. ****** * **** in the ****. Went to a place called Mad Dog in the Fog. Got a futuristic cab ride home from SideCar, which was summoned with a smart phone, showed the profile of  the driver coming to get us, and gave Katie a $10 discount. Cha.....................Ching. Welcome to the future.

Here's a poem I wrote about the city:

Lady Grey, a rainy day
I watched the morning fade away
A lady rowed across the bay
and floated toward the milky way

Lady Fate, the Golden State
I hold onto the Golden Gate
I'm not surprised to find it late
as rain and roses rise on Haight

Lady Grey, a later date
and Lady patience has to wait
I'm drifting towards the Interstate
With people who can still relate