Decided to travel light today

I left behind the laptop.

10 pounds on yer back adds up after awhile, and I just wasnt feeling it.

Good thing I did, for I saw some cool shytte today, things I wouldnt have seen if I were lugging the laptop bag.

- On top of the hill above Corona Heights, high above the city, a red-tailed hawk hovering on the wind, hunting for gophers.

Amazing display of aerobatics, balancing as if on a platform, wings spread, tail feathers and talons down - for a good forty-five minutes.

A magnificent creature just hovering overhead with a beautiful background for 360 degrees.

Gawd. A camera woulda come in handy then.

By the way, even tho I wasnt prey, a big-ass hawk hovering by you at eye-level, 6 feet away is *kinda* intimidating. Trust me on this.

Fierce, man.

At the bottom of the hill is the Randall Children's museum. Also pretty cool. Heh, the volunteers take the resident snakes and turtles out for air everyday.

"Arent you afraid the snakes are gonna escape?"
"Oh, this King snake did that once."
"Whoa, what happened?"
"He escaped from his enclosure, and disappeared into the building for a year. Then one day, he just re-appeared back into his enclosure."
"How did he survive?"
"Oh, he probably ate the wild mice that have escaped in the past, living in the building."
"And then he just re-appeared after a year?"
"Yeah, we think he got hungry and went back to where he knew there was guaranteed food."

Oh yeah, I got the privilege of seeing a snake leave spoor behind.

As the 4 foot red and gold reptile essed into the bushes going after shade, he spurted a gold-yellow-black pool, like a dog doing its business.

I dunno, none of the nature shows mention that snakes defecate.

"Whoa, never seen a snake do *that* before."
"No?"
"No. What do you feed him anyway?"
"Dead mice."
"Where do you get them?"
"The San Francisco zoo sends them to us."
"Why not live mice?"
"Because we dont want the risk of the mouse attacking the snake and hurting him."
"Yeah, I can understand that."

Take the #37 bus in the Castro by Market, get off at Museum Avenue. There is a dog park there at the base of the hill.
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Today's horrorscope sed:

Your life is unfolding according to a preordained plan, one that was fixed at the time of your birth. However, there is still an element of chance involved, and what happens today is not part of your grand design, so don't take it too seriously. Sometimes things happen for no apparent reason. It's one of the variables that keeps life interesting.

In a strange twist of fate, the replacement driver on that #37 MUNI was the very same one who drove me up to Twin Peaks back in 2000.

The day I decided to follow my dreams.

Yerp, a day I will remember the rest of my life.


"Yes, in fact, I *was* driving this bus back then!"
"The reason I remember you, is that I remember everything about that day, cuz that was the day I decided to live my life differently."
"Excellent! Did it work out for you?"
"Yyyyeeesss. Just way differently than I expected."
"Right on."
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Speaking of which, people keep on handing me their cameras to take pictures of them.

Heh, at one point today, I was handed 5 cameras at once to take pictures of kids and camp counselors on top of the hill today.

Hrm.

Its giving me an idea.