Thanks for a 'tour' of SF.

SF is one of the best cities to walk in, i agree. There is so much diversity in the city, and even some very odd areas, such as Haight Ashbury. It's fun to watch all of the "crazy" people handing out there at night. And even being from a small town, I didn't feel worried about my safety.

Enjoy the great city where you live!!

Love,

Sandihttp://www.ptank.com/catsynth/interface/emoticons/raspberry.png

Cheers,

How amazing is this??

I was clicking through on your links and when I got to the bookstore's wiki, I clicked on [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Ferlinghetti]Lawrence Ferlinghetti's wiki link.[/url] I had once read a poem he wrote, which was published in the Times quite a few years back and had caught my attention, and my heart.

I cut it out and taped it to the back of a framed photo of a loved one who was "missing." The tenor of it matched my internal impressions about her and the situation, and I was comforted by this [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coincidence]coincidence.[/url]

As I read about Ferlinghetti tonight, I came across the following: [i]He was raised by his French aunt Emily….Lawrence was placed in an orphanage in Chappaqua, N.Y. while Emily looked for employment.[/i]

EEK! And of all things, "Chappaqua" was mispelled — it only had one "p." I took the liberty of editing it first before I came back here to tell you about it this additional coincidence.

Next time you ramble past the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Lights_Bookstore]City Lights Bookstore,[/url] stop in and tell him what a small world it really is.

And feel free to tell him that an old catblogging friend, in the boonies of South Carolina, to this day is even more comforted by [url=http://www.levity.com/interbeing/99.html]his poem [b][i]#99[/i][/b][/url] — still taped to the back of the frame of the same photo, which I can easily see every day from where I sit at my desk.

Or, just a simple silent wave from me will do.

So, thanks for your wonderful article about walking around a wonderful city. The last time I was in a great city, it was November, 2001, in Manhattan. My husband and I had emerged from a show we had gone to see at the beautiful [url=http://www.amnh.org/rose/]Rose Center for Space and Earth.[/url]

There was still an hour or two of daylight left and we decided to walk back to Grand Central Station to take a commuter train to the [url=http://www.railroad.net/articles/railfanning/harlemdivision/index.php]N. White Plains station,[/url] where our rental car was parked. [We were staying in Armonk.]

Considering the date and [url=http://www.kevinfilan.com/Hybrid/2002/September2002/sept2002.html]what was going on downtown,[/url] we were surprised how alive and bustling midtown seemed. It was a Saturday and people were streaming in and out of entrances to fall-foliaged Central Park — wedding parties and teens and dog walkers, joggers and bikers, [url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1620767.stm]"NYPD" & "NYFD" t-shirt vendors[/url] were doing a brisk business.

I guess that's what the great cities do for us — me, at least — aside from and in spite of the planet's great tragedies and disasters, natural & man made: allow for the possibility of joy and poetry to return.

Thanks for your post. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Tickle tummy, Luna — city kitty!

d

I love the parrot photo!