Anselm's Birthday

Today is Anselm's birthday. At 7:40 a.m. he delivered made from scratch german chocolate cupcakes to our upstairs neighbors. (I'm sure they appreciated it. We have a pretty good relationship with them.) Then he rode the train to the City We Love with Mommy. They got of the train and rode the N-Judah * from the station at 4th and King to Emarcadero Station. Then they played in the fountain at Justin Herman Plaza. Then they rode the historic F-Line to Peir 39. At Peir 39 they boarded a Blue and Gold and took a cruise around the bay, even going under the Golden Gate Bridge. After their cruise they went to Barnes and Noble about 2 blocks away from Peir 39 and waited for me and Basil. (We were held up in traffic. Bad accident on 101.) Then we all went to the Randall Museum. The honey bee exhibit is very cool. Then we had dinner food at our fave (and also very inexpensive) Thai resturaunt, Mali Thai near the corner of Guerrero and 16th Street. Then we drove home. It was a fun. And Anselm is now five years old. It has been a fast five years. I hope they slow down a little.

*About 10 years ago, when I was working in SF but living in Sunnyvale with my friends George and Aaron, I missed the last train south. That meant I was stranded in San Francisco with very little no money and nowhere to stay the night. I took a bus from the train station to Ghirardilli Square, and from there walked to the youth hostel next door the O-Club at Fort Mason. They had no open beds as it was about 1 in the morning. As I was walking away I noticed a skinny black girl with short dredlocks following me. I said, "You need a place to stay tonight, too?"
"Yes"
"Well, you can come with me. I am going to check out two more hostels and then maybe some flop house hotels."
Everything was full. Well, the flop house hotels weren't full, but they they wouldn't rent a room for one night, they wanted a weeks rent. So, I had the idea of sitting on the N-Judah Owl for the rest of the night, since it would be safer, warmer, and more comfortable, than walking the streets all night.
We got on the bus about 2 a.m. And that is when I asked her her name. "I'm an angel", she said.
"Your name is Angel?"
"No. You heard me right. I'm an angel."
"Really?"
"Yep."
"Where are you going when the sun comes up?"
"With you."
"Oh. Well, I'm going to catch the first train to Sunnyvale."
"I am, too."

The bus driver was very kind and let us ride all night as he went back and forth. We dozed as much as possible until day light. A couple of times I woke up at the far western end of the route, on top of a hill, and could see all of downtown spread out before me and then the darkness of the bay and Oakland on the other side of the darkness. It was beautiful.

At daylight caught a different bus to the train station and boarded the first train to south. The girl/angel had no money so I bought her a ticket. I fell into a deep sleep. At our stop she woke me up and we walked to where I lived.

When we got there I think I remember giving her a bowl of ceral and a peanut butter sandwich. While she was eating I put a blanket and a pillow on the couch for her and went to bed. I woke up hous later, walked into the living room and she was asleep on the couch. I kept trying to figure out if she was an angel or a girl. Eventually, I decided to touch her to find out. But I didn't want to wake her up so I thouched one of her dreadlocks to see if it felt human or angelic. I had never touched a dreadlock before so I was not able to discern whether or not she was an angel or a girl.

A couple of hours later she woke up. We ate some more (pasta with garlic and olive oil, I think.) and then I had to go back to SF to go to work at Williams-Sonoma where I worked closing shift. We rode north on the train together but didn't talk. When we got off the train she thanked me for the train rides, the couch, the food. And then she said, "It was wrong to touch my hair."