Monday, May 9, 2011

Persistent, or "There's Still Sun in the Park!"

Incredibly, I am still determined to bike to work every day. Part of this, I am sure, is the sudden and wonderful turn of weather up here in the City. It has been uncharacteristically warm for over a week now, and I am trying to take advantage of every photon before the fog finds its way home, and I sulk back into the regular crowds and bus lines.

Thousands of people seem to have the same idea. As I rode home at the end of my week - having discovered a tricky zig-zag street path that avoids sudden and desperate inclines, endearingly called "the Wiggle" - I stumbled upon this group of impromptu musicians by the Conservatory of Flowers. The hodgepodge seemed iconic of GGPark, including various percussion instruments, a flute, harmonica, man on a sax, middle aged tech-industry guy letting his wild side out with maracas, a handmade pseudo-Chinese string instrument, an electric guitar duck-taped to a portable amp, a woman that no one knew but who wanted so badly to dance, and to the left a very old man enjoying his hash and his mop-puppy.

Fun fact: The Conservatory was purchased and brought to CA by the one and only James Lick - the hit-and-miss piano maker, romantic, trouble-maker business man of the 19th century, and financier of the Lick Observatory on Mt. Hamilton - who had originally meant for the structure to be built near his eccentric mansion in San Jose, but then left it on the docks for a nearly a decade until he died. Now we have it.

No comments:

Post a Comment