From Boats to Buskers

The February weather this weekend was the kind that makes you want to move to California, even if you already live here.

We drove to South San Francisco's Oyster Point on Saturday afternoon, parking by new construction projects.

Instead of walking south, we ventured north along the Bay Trail on a jutting peninsula populated with office parks and small marinas. Unfortunately, the path was shared with way too many bicyclists grimly pedaling through pedestrian clusters as if by divine right.

Any blood pressure reduction from clean air and exercise was negated by sheer irritation at the bikers, so we bailed after a couple of miles and drove back home to Civic Center.

Hayes Open Streets on Friday evening through Sunday afternoon has returned after the latest pandemic lockdown, with Hayes Street closed from Franklin to Laguna, allowing for easy social distancing and outdoor dining in impromptu curbside cafes.

There were a new-to-me pair of buskers at Patricia's Green who looked like refugees from Cirque du Soleil or Palm Spring's Villagefest.

The picnic table crowd was suitably entranced, except for the sleepy woman next to me.

Watching someone playing a violin on a unicycle over a prerecorded soundtrack while a masked dancer does groovy moves is not my particular cup of tea, and it's not even the strangest thing one sees in this particular neighborhood on any given day, but it was a welcome, happy diversion.