Merry Christmas to one and all.
The economy of the San Francisco Bay Area may be improving, judging by Christmas shopping. The parking lots were full this year, more shoppers on the march for presents and personal bargains.
The husband of a shopper naps in his car at a shopping center.
He reminds me of the movie Patton, when George C. Scott inspected a military headquarters building and stumbled over a man asleep in the hall. General Patton should have had the man brought up on military charges, but instead he told the man to resume sleeping. He was the only one at the disorganized headquarters who knew what he was trying to do.
Took a walk to the bay on Christmas day, and the shopping center parking lots were bare.
The only car here is passing through.
And the other side.
And the middle of the void.
I walked to the marina side of Emeryville, taking the scenic sidewalk under I-80. The lines of light and shadow remind me of the happy drunkard scene early in Clockwork Orange.
The shark-fishing pier from the steps to the Holy Mackerel seafood restaurant. You can see the fins above the water sometimes. But today is Christmas.
The marina from the pier.
A bird celebrates Christmas by buzzing another bird it never really liked.
The buzzed bird leaves the venue for El Cerrito.
Birds look at low tide for tiny fishes and baseball cards in the reflection of a towering condominum.
Back on the other side of the freeway, I walk home. A man pedals his bicycle across the empty parking lot of the shuttered shopping center, Discount Acres. If he tried this on any other day but Christmas, he'd be flatter than a shadow. Much to be thankful for today, though.
And it didn't rain.
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