I came back from my dentist’s appointment and decided to walk it. It was around 5pm, and the office is over on Divisadero. That area is a kind of lower to middle class black downtown area, invaded by medical offices, UCSF and Kaiser. USF and its campus is a few blocks away, as is the intensely cutesy and massive Victorians of Pacific Heights. I start off and with me are about five older women in colorful, casual clothes, with little bags that look like they are from small boutiques. Part of me was thinking, this is me in twenty years? Shock, then acknowledgement that I would be *lucky* if that were me in twenty years, ha.

Ascend to Japantown, consisting of large condominiums and quietness. There are lots of trees, and while it’s cement, it’s a kind of dignified cement. Then, Cathedral Hill and lots of fast traffic as I pass Franklin and Gough, and descend into Van Ness. I’m a little surprised, I forgot how close I was to Van Ness, and recognized the landmark buildings from another vantage point. I frequently get confused like this, neighborhoods that I know conjoined, and at an intersection of them (figuratively) that is unfamiliar in my weird mind map.

The other side of Van Ness is POlk street… and it’s a slum, let’s just be honest. Lark street youth is nearby, and it is just some of the messiest street stuff going on.

Messaged a friend who works nearby hoping we could get coffee. I’ve perfected comprising short brief phrases (cryptic?) while walking. THis same friend teases me because she can write novels… WHILE DRIVING. Selfishly I was worried when she was driving my car on that occasion.

At this point I’m climbing up Nob HIll, and there’s a few people trotting down, probably on their way from financial district to the Van Ness buses, final destination – the Marina maybe? It’s a warm yellow kind of afternoon dusk. It’s warm for late February and it feels really festive, on a Monday no less. The cafes I start to pass are just brimming. My friend doesn’t answer back, later I find out she left her phone at home. Cafe near work is full of outside tables, each one taken, doors open, and people reading or chatting, on computers. It feels great.

I get out of work around 7:30 and it’s still abuzz from the warm, fog-free day. No longer romantic about fog, more into the late summer.