Day 21- $1 a day

Yes well, seems I’ve missed a day of blogging and will have to forfeit my perfect attendance certificate. I only have a boring excuse of being exhausted after a long work week, and being unable to rummage up the brain power to post an entry. However, as usual, I was released from my self-induced sense of uber-responsibility by my friend Elizabeth who frequently reminds me that not everything has to be orderly, consecutive, or mandatory.

Right then. Here in San Francisco I have enjoyed four different public parks in the last four days—Dolores Park in the Mission, Sutro Heights Park by the Cliff House, Golden Gate Park, and the Presidio (which may be technically a “recreation area”). I got to thinking about how much I love being in parks and how they are fantastically free. I wonder if city-dwelling people who live with lower incomes take advantage of public parks?

I haven’t noticed one way or the other in San Francisco, but when I lived in Burlingame I frequently observed that there were older cars and trucks in the parking lot of Coyote Point Park and few higher end automobiles to be found. I suspect that middle class and rich people have parties and family gatherings in the landscaped backyards of their lovely large homes. But for people who dwell in grim living conditions, parks are a great place to escape. There is so much peace and joy to be found there as we relax and play in the midst of bright green ferns, seasonal wildflowers, red robins hopping about, and pond-dwelling turtles and herons.

I’m grateful that I live near so many beautiful parks and I have to admit that I have not explored the lower-income areas of town to see what condition the parks are in for those residents. I’m going to watch for opportunities to explore more parks. If you have observations about parks from your explorations around your own town, I’d love to see them in the comments.