Trump and his Republican slaves – Ukraine and the threat of World War III – the pandemic (now it’s the BA.2 Deltacron variant) – America’s poor battered economy and all the empty downtowns – crime, encampments and crazies in the streets – the racist abuse of the honorable Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson in her SCOTUS hearings – the continual attack on LGBTQ rights by evangelical Republicans – has it ever been this bad? It’s enough to make you crazy.
Still, it’s important to “keep a smile on your face” and “walk on the sunny side of the street.” Sometimes those old clichés are worth remembering. I try to apply that lesson here in Oakland, the city I love so much. I complain a lot about conditions here, and the appalling City Council, but there’s so much to love about Our Town. I moved here 35 years ago, knowing almost nothing about Oakland except it was sunnier and warmer than San Francisco and didn’t have the same level of excitement and nightlife. But it didn’t take me long to appreciate Oakland’s qualities: a working-class town, gritty, tough and resilient, with charming neighborhoods, creative artists and musicians, great bars and restaurants, Lake Merritt and Lakeside Park, gay-friendly, and, yes, the weather was fantastic: not as cold and foggy as S.F. but milder than on the other side of the Caldecott, where summers can be a furnace. Oakland was, in a word, perfect.
Another thing I like about Oakland was street fashion. I’m not a fashionista (obviously) and I don’t study these things, but I recognize sartorial creativity and edginess when I see it. Sagging, hip-hop clothing, Goth, hair styles, and of course the rainbow beauty of every ethnicity and national background on Earth, all here in one smallish Town. If I was young again, with a full head of hair, I think I’d grow it high and curly on top, and buzz the sides. It’s great being young and Oakland is a young town.
Still, current events sometimes get me down. I meditate. I nap. I binge on T.V. I walk a lot: one of my favorites is to stroll down Lakeshore Avenue, then through the restored tidal wetlands in back of the Oakland Museum and Laney College, all the way down to the Estuary. Then it’s back through Jack London Square and up Lakeside. Maybe I’ll stop by Sweet Bar for a cappuccino and cookie. You have to give yourself these breaks, to stay sane.
I hope you’re getting through these times with centered balance. Thank you for reading this blog.
Steve Heimoff