A Broad Abroad

maybe it’s the settling down: anticipating the path of the sun as it travels across the horizon and then back again. For the first time since moving from the house i grew up in, i’ve been in one dwelling for 4 years. i’ve been in one city for almost 10. the seasons pass so quickly now.

for the first time in my life i have geographical markers, from my evening perch, for the solstices and equinox. during the the winter solstice the sun sets just past the alameda county court house (over jack london square), the equinox over city hall, and the summer solistice in between mt tamalpais and the park bellevue tower. it seems to rush back and forth across the horizon these days. i almost hear the white rabbit saying “i’m late, i’m late, for a very important date”. it’s nearly frantic.

do we really fear the accelerating passage of time as we age? or do we find reasons to keep the sun moving quickly along its path…..the weekend, the next vacation, retirement? never taking advantage of the days in between. drawing out the seasons. yes indeed, i can “do better”.

Isla Holbox, Quintana Roo, originally uploaded by peggydaly.

skimmers hanging out by the sea. i kinda got my heart set on being here again soon. sigh…..

Wet and Green, originally uploaded by peggydaly.

Hiking to Pua’po’o lava tube. Free hike, with ranger escort, every wednesday. The lava tube is amazing! Volcanoes National Park, The Big Island, Hawaii

Pololu, Hawaii, originally uploaded by peggydaly.

sad that i never wrote more hawaii tips. gotta get around to doing that!

if you’re an oaklander and haven’t been by lake merritt lately……..GO. you will be impressed by the progress!! once they got to work, they got to WORK. if you know me you know i love lake merritt. i have some interesting wildlife sightings to report but first some business….

new paths are complete ringing the lake’s edge from the grand/lakeshore pergola to E. 18th and on this same section the wider jog-path along lakeshore dr. is nearing completion. the paths from E. 18th to 12th st remain unimproved and i’m not sure what the plan is for the lakeside dr area around the camron-stanford house (from 12th st to the new, improved boathouse). maybe this will all be part of the 12th/14th st re-work. anyone know? is that $ approved in measure DD? the lakeside dr. boathouse is also looking great. the landscaping is going in and the parking lot is shaping up. cafe on the lake…YAY!! from the boathouse to the madison/lakeside dr intersection the paths are complete but from madison all the way around grand ave/lakeside park to the pergola there are no new improvements. again, not sure what the plan is but certainly new paths will be coming. can’t imagine they will mess with this during the high-traffic summer months tho, eh?

ok – now to fun stuff. i mostly keep my eyes on the water as i have my daily walk around the lake. each season brings new wildlife. now that the winter birds are gone i cast my gaze beneath the surface as the clear water flows in from the bay and the lake provides a safe place for fish to spawn. i also occasionally see huge flounders skimming the bottom. new this year are the large, white jellyfish. i’ve seen one on 3 different days, 3 different parts of the lake, pulsing thru the water. one day the tide was carrying the jelly under 12th st to the estuary. interesting! other than that the circle of life continues despite the inevitable challenges encountered by a lake bounded on all sides by an intensely urban environment. i’m amazed every day by its resilience! i will post some new pics soon.

when i’m not gazing at the water i’m conducting social experiments to learn the demographic who most often makes eye contact and who subsequently smiles. i’m a big proponent of smiles. the best religion i know. maybe one day i’ll write about my smile-study findings…….

i love urban nature. so much to absorb.

Lake Merritt Calm 2, originally uploaded by peggydaly.

a particularly calm morning……

ok, ok…this isn’t really about eating turtle eggs. i called my sister julie from whole foods today. i needed eggs and they had brown “fertile” eggs on sale. well, i knew that most store-bought eggs were non-fertile and thought she might know if there was a difference (taste-wise, texture-wise, etc). she’s intellectually curious that way. no she’s not a baby-eater but she knows what is healthy.

when i called her i asked “have you ever eaten fertile eggs?” and she exclaimed “have i ever EATEN TURTLE EGGS??!!”. heehee. after i clarified she was relieved because as she said she was pretty sure eating turtle eggs was wrong. and indeed, she is right however didn’t know the answer to my question. after some investigation i found there is no nutritional (or other) difference between fertile and non-fertile eggs. much like there is no difference between white and brown eggs. now, i always eat brown eggs. i don’t know why. isn’t that funny? and i’ve read that people have pre-dispositions towards brown or white or fertile or non-fertile eggs, but i’m quite sure that in a blind taste-test of a cooked egg they would not be able to identify any of those.

it all makes me wonder what makes us drawn to one or the other. thoughts?

….. me. yes…i’m a white girl….but i’m more painfully aware than ever of a fundamental disparity. i walked around lake merritt today, pondering the BART police killing, our crumbling inner-city schools and talk of a post-racial america. while i am terribly inspired by the obama presidency….. i’m not blinded to the lingering reality. we have much work to do. i live in downtown oakland: a wonderful, messy, diverse and occasionally violent place. a child’s success is against all odds. if you have not lived in an inner-city, you may not know what this means.

i imagine my black skin and being held to a different standard in the eyes of the law. being hassled and jailed quickly. being scrutinized every hour, every day, on every street in my neighborhood. then i see robber-barons, kings of wall street, rob banks of billions as they hold their hands out for govt assistance. are they arrested? are they called welfare queens? these rich, white mthr-fkrs who reaped far more than they sowed, given every privilege and every opportunity, stealing hundreds of billions. they walk the streets free. i can only shake my head and say “that is not ok”. i don’t know why i’m poor and black but i am, and so are my neighbors, and it’s a problem, and *america* isn’t asking why. but we need to, because we rise together and we fall together. if we don’t, we will all break under the weight of this injustice.

this is only an exercise in in my head. i have a kernel of rage in my heart but if this were reality and i’d lived it and breathed it, would my rage overflow? would i lash out at the world, raise my clenched fist? would you?

while working on the Obama campaign i came across letters written by 1st and 2nd graders from around berkeley. all made me smile or laugh but several also revealed ills in our society as seen thru a child’s eyes. i made copies so i thought i would share all the letters here. All were written on October 21, 2008 and transcribed exactly as written:

Dear President,
I would like t.v.s and computers and frogs tanks on ours desks. I would like frogs in class.
Sincerely yours, Harry

Dear President,
I would like you to put 16 computers in my class room. I want to go to bed when its midnight. I want to drink chocolate milk before I go to bed.
Love, Quaseem

Dear President,
I would like Obama to win The Vote. I would like to bring a DVD to school. I would like to stay at school.
Sinceely Yours, Imani

Dear President,
I would like School to be longer. I would like to learn much more. I would like to do science everyday.
Sincerely Your, Khopera

Dear President,
I would like something to happen in my school. I would want to get out of school at the next day. I would like to keep playing and playing and have hot chocolate from Starbucks with whipped cream and extra caffine and strawberry and blueberry ice cream with sour gummy worms.
Sincerely, Jason

Dear President,
I would like a nice park in Vallejo, California. I would like to have everyone to go to bed at midnight. I would like all of the children to have coffoe during class. I would like children to drink chocolate milk befour we go to bed. I would like for us to not go to school on Monday.
Sincerely, Regina

Dear President
I want to be the President. I like Obama. Will you be the president?
Sincerely yours, Shaunte

Dear President,
I would like you to give Black People more money than White People. I would like you to make more video games and for kids to have coffee. I would like if you stop the war and for you to make stores free and for everybody to go to the doctor even if they don’t have money.
Sincerely, Njata

Dear President,
I would like school to be only on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays and science every day at school.
Sincerely yours,
Chase

Dear President,
I would like you to put computers in our school.
Sincefely yours, Kanya

Dear President,
I would like Obama to be the President. I would like to bring costume to school.
Sincerely Yours, Allen

Dear President,
I would like you to give the world some more money. I would also like some more education. I would also like some more love to the world.
Sincerely Yours, Ahmara

…………as you can see, some requests are beautiful in their simplicity and some painful in their complexity. good luck mr president!!! i am behind you 100%.