San Francisco street art

San Francisco is chock full of incredible street art.  Have you seen some of it?  What have you enjoyed?  I've started a small photo catalogue of the things i've run into - excluding the "big" walls like Clarion Alley or Haight and Laguna murals (even though these sites ARE incredible).

Check out all of those photos by clicking here.

And, let me know what you're seeing.  

One of the reasons behind wanting to document street art is this idea that street art is often ephemeral - a piece is often only up temporarily, or may be something fleeting or mobile, like an art car.  So i wanted to document some of the things i see - with an intent to be able to visit the sites, but also to realize the impermanence of street art and the beauty in that.

Beautiful Dreams, 4 of 5

Beautiful Dreams, 4 of 5, a photo by n_yoder on Flickr.

SF Street Art, a set on Flickr

Tribute to John-Alex Mason

This is a tribute to my friend, John-Alex. He died last year, 2011, in October. I still can't believe it. He was 35 years old, an extraordinarily talented musician, a beloved father, friend, husband, son, brother. He had a quick smile, an incredibly humble and open approach to life, and he was a true friend to me.

I met John-Alex through a mutual friend. We didn't spend all that much time together, but we became fast friends anyway. He was interested in conservation biology and planning, which i was steering toward as well, in my studies and eventually my career. Even after he quit the conservation planning track for a career (to go make incredible blues music), he consulted with me as i wended my way through the trials and tribulations of finding my own path. He counseled me on several cornerstone occasions - times when i was considering a big change or taking a risk for my job, my path, my life. He shared his insight with me, and encouraged me to find my own way, without judgment. I miss him dearly, whenever i come to find myself understanding that he is indeed gone. Most of the time, his death doesn't seem real; like some off-color joke, told to an unappreciative crowd and leaving a bad taste in our mouths. What do we do with this, with the loss that is inevitably part of life? We grieve, we find ways through, we tell stories of remembrance.

John-Alex, i'm thinking of you this week as i make some decisions about my life path.  And i'm thinking about your widow, and your children.  I wish you were still here.  There must be a new normal for this world without you in it, but our lives will always be moved by your genuine, shining presence.  You made the world a better place, and now i can think of your contribution, and i think of how short life is in every way, and how there's no time to lose, to celebrate and appreciate each and every moment.  Like one of my Buddhist teachers said, its like counting the stars.  We will never get there, but we still try, over an over, and appreciate all the beauty along the way.

So long, dear friend.  I miss you.

California dreamin'

Okay, so we (the royal "we") are posting again. I know, its been a while. I've been a bit busy and preoccupied with Zen studies and doing lots of Nothing. So. We'll see how this goes, but i aim to post more often now.

 I'm living in San Francisco. How can i exist in the noisy, busy, breezy city? I keep asking myself this, and i don't have a good answer yet. Chop wood, carry water. But it does seem really different at the temple in the city, than the temple in the mountains. I've started volunteering for the GGNRA - a lovely little acronym of a place, made up of vastly different stretches of land: park, forest, mountain, beach. I'm helping collect, and eventually analyze, samples of zooplankton and invertebrates in the Recreation Area. Specifically, i'm working at Mountain Lake (in the Presidio), at Rodeo Beach (Marin Headlands) and Muir Beach. I went to the Presidio yesterday to meet with the folks i'm working with and get a sense of the project. Afterward, i went for a jog at Baker Beach. I realize: i seek out the ocean, i seek out wild places, wherever i go. I was overjoyed to run at the lapping waves' feet, to chase the foam up and down the pebble-strewn wet sand, to have the company of White-Crowned Sparrows. And there are fascinating bits of wildness, throughout the city. So what is wild? What is my value - do i like watching wildlife, if they're birds nesting in the old telephone pole across the street from my window? Or do i need to be out, away from the squeal of wheels on the buses and the roar of sirens? I'm not sure, but i certainly seek out wildness and experiences of watching and interacting with wildlife and plants, any chance i get.

 California dreamin'. So it goes.