Rats in San Francisco?
I live in Dogpatch, a historic San Francisco neighborhood on the east side of the city. Walk out of my building, cross the poorly maintained, railroad-tracked street -- I mention this lest some local official might see the benefits, with election year at hand, of repairing the mess -- continue a few hundred yards and you'll fall into the bay. Or turn south and you're at the old shipyard, a vibrant center of shipbuilding activity throughout World War II. There are no ships being built today, but many still arrive and are hoisted into dry-dock for repairs. These vessels often include ocean liners -- behemoth cruise ships with tennis courts, swimming pools, casinos, and thousands of lights that give our drab little neighborhood a festive, night-party touch.
Read the rest at Huffington Post San Francisco.
By the way, Gina Misiroglu of Red Room put me in touch with the Huffington Post people, which is one of the great ways she's bringing traffic to Red Room and getting attention for Red Room's authors.
Keywords:
Essayist, anthologist, novelist.”
—This gem of an anthology about what we fear, avoid, would rather not mention, let alone read about---death----is the funniest book I've read in years. (Beverly Donofrio, author of Riding in Cars with Boys and Looking for Mary)
About Victoria
VICTORIA ZACKHEIM is the author of The Bone Weaver and editor of five anthologies: He Said What?, The Other Woman; For Keeps: Women Tell the Truth About Their Bodies, Growing Older, and Acceptance, The Face in the Mirror:Writers Reflect on Their Dreams of...
Connections
Causes Victoria Zackheim Supports
Delancey Street Foundation Move-on Emily's List Susan G. Komen for the Cure Heifer International
Gentility and Rats
Victoria,
You've painted in words a most vivid picture of your neighborhood in transition, though I detected a certain almost indescribable subtle , satiric sub-text and resigned bemusement running through your piece. Approaching modern life with s similar attitude, I am able to readily identify with your experience. Maybe, it's becoming a new cultural trend!
Thinking inductively from the specific to the general truth, you must have come away from your "rat" encounter with a larger lesson about life, namely, when dealing with rats, gentility must defer to pragmatic ACTION if one is to both survive and prosper.
My "larger lesson about life"
Brendan, hello! And thank you for the comment. I think "resigned bemusement" is an excellent observation. As for gentility, I must admit that I struggle to associate that word with me...as much as I'd like to! However, I while did my best to banish the little @#$@((*& in a humane fashion, pragmatism did, alas, step in. Not that killing them was joyful, but I do admit a secret wish (a taunt, perhaps?) that they DARE to come back. This time, I'm armed and dangerous!
Hi Victoria, Thanks so much
Hi Victoria,
Thanks so much for your comments. I'll look forward to reading more of your narrative/anecdotal essays about life's adventures.
Keep truckin' [an old midwest idiom of encouragement that may not have reached San Francisco]
Brenden