Day 33
Neighborhoods Covered: Hayes Valley, South of Market
Streets Completed: 10th Street, 11th Street
I may have neglected to mention in my original post covering the Walking San Francisco rules and regs that running the streets of the city serves the same purpose as walking them, if at a brisker pace and without the real possibility of stopping to snap photos. (Please. It's all I can do not to drop my iPod when I run; I would demolish my camera.) Crawling would probably count as well, though you would catch me dead (or severely inebriated) before you'd see me allowing my mitts to touch the DISGUSTING sidewalks of this city. (En route to a client's house last summer, I passed a mother and her young son on 22nd Street near Guerrero and was alarmed to see that the boy was barefoot. I mean, we all know I'm the farthest possible thing from parent material, but I would so unbelievably never allow a child to tramp barefoot through the hideous garden of glass, grime, and general grossness that is our sidewalks. What was she thinking?!)
Ahem.
Anyway, I decided to take advantage of this on Tuesday by knocking off two of the shorter numbered streets on a jog. It seemed a nice counterpoint to walking the interminable 3rd Street on Sunday. So I ran: down 11th, along what may be the most vile and poop-smeared stretch of Division (I know, I know: most of Division is vile and poop-smeared, and who am I to issue superlatives?), and back up 10th. It was, I'm sorry to report, a pretty boring run, but it did get the job done. Plus, my side butt has most definitely been in need of a workout more strenuous and side butt-engaging than walking, and this was just such a workout.
But I can't help thinking that I missed something interesting somewhere along my route. I mean, I wasn't exactly speeding along with such velocity that my surroundings blurred, but my attention and effort were much more focused on speed than keen, detailed observation. So I go back and forth here. Upside: two streets down in about half an hour. Downside: not much to report from the journey. Upside: less than a minute on Division. Downside: no chance to search for unusual visuals along the way.
Perhaps I'll save my runs henceforth for the streets I'm not so keen on walking--the remainder of Evans (yes, it goes on, and on) comes to mind. But even those, if I were to look closely enough, might toss out something I wasn't expecting to see.
Showing posts with label general quandaries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label general quandaries. Show all posts
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
The Bridge
Enduring Monument
Day 24
Co-Walkers: Mom and Dad
Neighborhoods Covered: um, Lower Marin? Outer Marina? Pacific View?
Streets Completed: Golden Gate Bridge
Is the Golden Gate Bridge technically a street in San Francisco? Sort of, yes, in that it's designed to convey people and vehicles and, depending on your perspective, it starts or ends in SF. But sort of no, too, as it probably officially becomes Marin County at a certain point, and also serves no stated purpose beyond the aforementioned conveyance. The tollbooths and Gifto Shoppu (for real) on the southern end of the bridge may pass for commerce, but there are, of course, no stores, houses, or points of industry on the bridge itself--none of the stuff encountered on your run-of-the-mill street, that is.
But no matter. My parents were in town and it was a beautiful day, so we joined the hordes and hoofed it across the bridge on Sunday.
Here's the thing: the Golden Gate is, of course, San Francisco's most recognized and ENDURING (please see above) monument, recognized around the world as a symbol of the city. And it's probably an engineering marvel or something, too. But since watching The Bridge, I can't see it or drive across it--much less walk the whole span and back--without half expecting someone to pitch himself off it.
I know that's a terrible and maudlin thing to say, but the fact is that for all of its splendor, the Golden Gate Bridge is the world's #1 suicide landmark. In 2004, the year in which The Bridge was shot, 24 people--or approximately one every 15 days--jumped from the bridge. (That's the official, known figure; there may have been more.) Assuming that figure hasn't changed significantly in the past few years, it's fair to guess that suicides on the bridge could happen at any time, regardless of how crowded or deserted the walkways might be. So now I keep half an eye on people standing along the rail whenever I'm on the bridge. And that's fairly creepy.
But I'm happy to report that although I had my eyes out, Sunday's walk brought nothing more than the standard flow of tourists, runners, cyclists, and Code Pink protesters. (OK, perhaps those last aren't quite so standard, but they were a sight to see, accompanied as they were by a literal small army of CHP and bridge officers. See photos of them here.)
It was a long and generally pleasant walk (although the traffic noise gets a bit deafening after, say, 50 feet), and by the end of it I got to revel in a decent sense of accomplishment, even if I didn't actually get to check anything off my Official List of Streets.
Co-Walkers: Mom and Dad
Neighborhoods Covered: um, Lower Marin? Outer Marina? Pacific View?
Streets Completed: Golden Gate Bridge
Is the Golden Gate Bridge technically a street in San Francisco? Sort of, yes, in that it's designed to convey people and vehicles and, depending on your perspective, it starts or ends in SF. But sort of no, too, as it probably officially becomes Marin County at a certain point, and also serves no stated purpose beyond the aforementioned conveyance. The tollbooths and Gifto Shoppu (for real) on the southern end of the bridge may pass for commerce, but there are, of course, no stores, houses, or points of industry on the bridge itself--none of the stuff encountered on your run-of-the-mill street, that is.
But no matter. My parents were in town and it was a beautiful day, so we joined the hordes and hoofed it across the bridge on Sunday.
Here's the thing: the Golden Gate is, of course, San Francisco's most recognized and ENDURING (please see above) monument, recognized around the world as a symbol of the city. And it's probably an engineering marvel or something, too. But since watching The Bridge, I can't see it or drive across it--much less walk the whole span and back--without half expecting someone to pitch himself off it.
I know that's a terrible and maudlin thing to say, but the fact is that for all of its splendor, the Golden Gate Bridge is the world's #1 suicide landmark. In 2004, the year in which The Bridge was shot, 24 people--or approximately one every 15 days--jumped from the bridge. (That's the official, known figure; there may have been more.) Assuming that figure hasn't changed significantly in the past few years, it's fair to guess that suicides on the bridge could happen at any time, regardless of how crowded or deserted the walkways might be. So now I keep half an eye on people standing along the rail whenever I'm on the bridge. And that's fairly creepy.
But I'm happy to report that although I had my eyes out, Sunday's walk brought nothing more than the standard flow of tourists, runners, cyclists, and Code Pink protesters. (OK, perhaps those last aren't quite so standard, but they were a sight to see, accompanied as they were by a literal small army of CHP and bridge officers. See photos of them here.)
It was a long and generally pleasant walk (although the traffic noise gets a bit deafening after, say, 50 feet), and by the end of it I got to revel in a decent sense of accomplishment, even if I didn't actually get to check anything off my Official List of Streets.
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