Category: After Dark
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Glowing Tree
This tree caught my eye because the branches glowed and tree branches only glow in stories. Before a certain age my imagination was off limits because there were no magical glowing trees or benevolent tricksters. It’s fertile ground now and I intend to spend the rest of my existence growing as many things there as…
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Crown of Lights
For someone who doesn’t enjoy shopping, I derive a decent amount of pleasure from shopping for groceries for others. I tend to harbor very low expectations which can be easily satisfied when met.
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Light in the Tunnel
When it’s dark outside, the light is in the tunnel instead of at the end. Someone, because of my preference for sad music, called me a sad sack while I was 18 working at a liquor store in New Jersey. Even though they were using the term incorrectly, I knew what they meant. I was…
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Raised Arms
Unhoused citizens, living in Oakland, often build structures beneath the freeways in neighborhoods, where the homes of other disenfranchised citizens were destroyed to build those freeways.
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Dark Tower
I was around eight years old when I first stepped into a tall, frighteningly swaying, apartment building. I remember darting to the window to see if the building was falling. Seven years of ferry crossings had not prepared me for a building that moved like a boat. As an adult, I learned the fear quelling…
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Supermarket
Supermarkets, franchises and chain stores would like us to see the benevolence of their convenience above everything else. Above all, they want to be benign monopolies. They claim to do good for us because they are big and can save us money but I’ve yet to save money while spending it.
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Smoke Shop
I wonder if cities would be a lot darker and less visually appealing at night if stores, like this one, with numerous LED signs didn’t exist? From my casual observations, East Bay suburban downtowns, are often dark and empty, and despite aspirations of safety, feel less hospitable.
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LED Moon
Many of the streets in San Leandro are narrow with buildings packed tightly next to each other. People put things where they want and make changes to structures as needed. There is an unplanned organic elegance to the city. Many of the homes have barred windows and police patrol cars are in frequent.
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Surveillance
When I was a hyper self-conscious teenager, I wouldn’t dare adjust any part of my clothing in public. Now, half a century later, I couldn’t care less who is looking at me and why. Self-consciousness means something else and feeling embarrassed faded when I became a parent. I also think, sidestepping electronic surveillance, we are…
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Power Lines
Despite all of the visual stimulation we live with in a city, things still catch my eye. This time, it was the red and white power lines, above me, at this traffic light. Power lines are never red and white so I had to stop and look.
