Many of the best neighborhoods in San Francisco are one step removed from a more popular, and thus more heavily trafficked, part of the city. The NOPA (North of Panhandle) district, with Hayes Street as one of its focal points, has always struck me as a much more agreeable spot for strolling than the Haight itself. Yesterday, during a late afternoon walk with the little guy, I checked out the business establishments to be found in the upper part of Hayes Street. An outfit that organizes treks for kids through the parks of San Francisco; a coffee shop that has not changed its slovenly decor since I first started visiting the neighborhood, about twenty-five years ago; a bicycle store where I took my first and only bicycle repair class, also sometime around 1985; a music studio which advertises the "natural method" of learning music; and--yes, a yoga studio--oh well, one yoga studio does not necessarily yuppify an entire neighborhood; overall, an eclectic and intriguing mix.
The fickle breeze was shifting all the time (one of those late-afternoon "devil winds") so it was hard to know in which direction I should take the stroller--no matter where I went the little one got wind blown in his face; in addition, the temperature had dropped about fifteen degrees in the last couple of hours (or so it seemed). Nevertheless, remarkably, the baby took his fourth nap of the day.
One of the joys of having a baby are those moments of lightness that spring up out of the blue--including the moment when you stare at your baby's sleeping face and realize that, if there's any such thing as heaven on earth, there it is on full display. The trick is--to internalize that heaven, make it a part of your every waking moment, let it enter into your thoughts and, even, your thought patterns...who needs religion if you can accomplish that?
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