Sunday, August 01, 2010

Buddha Unbound



I worked my last day for the U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday, turning in shoulder bag and laminated badge before falling on a sword. After seven longs months laboring for a berserk bureaucracy, the feelings of freedom and relief are overwhelming. Meanwhile, Zhang Huan's huge sculpture in Civic Center, "Three Heads Six Arms Buddha" has been cleaned of graffiti, the ugly fencing around it has disappeared, and the Buddha looks Unbound.



Currently, my apartment building is being painted which necessitates scaffolding wrapped with dark muslin gauze for three weeks, adding considerable gloom to one of San Francisco's already grey, cold and foggy summers. Home has felt rather like the Tomb of Ligeia.



In a successful effort to stave off depression, we drove out of San Francisco's darkness Friday afternoon to the sunny Oakland hills and played golf at the Lake Chabot Municipal Golf Course for the first time. The place is inexpensive and its multiple hills, valleys, forests and views are strikingly beautiful. In addition, the other golfers looked like working class characters from every racial stock imaginable. This may be the coolest municipal golf course in the entire Bay Area.

2 comments:

Matthew Hubbard said...

Lake Chabot, where putting is an aerobic exercise! A great golf course for the price. When you get away from the holes that cross the road leading in, it's very quiet and secluded with some beautiful views.

Nancy Ewart said...

Ah, I thought I saw the ghost of Vincent wandering around the Civic Center - probably looking for that darn tomb.
I confess that I've become quite fond of the Buddha - didn't much care of it at first but it's grown on me. I sure like him better than Louise's spiders on SF MOMA's rooftop. I don't know which is chillier - the spiders, the rooftop on the fog or the attitude of the Blue Bottle Coffee people.