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    Ashi
  • Ashi
  • Author
  • 05/28/2020
  • 703 Words
  • 1,003 Views
  • 4 Comments
Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
The story is a work of fictional, based on real locations weaved into selected major events happened in the year 2019.  The history of San Francisco is researched to the best of the author's ability.  Characters however are fictitious.  Attached photos are used to enhance the story but the author reserves the right to remove them or substitute them.  Please do not use/link photos without author's permission.

The Sojourner of San Francisco - 3. LTR/03: Loop the Loop, Nostalgia Divide by Zero

FROM: Sojourner

TO: Perfect Stranger

DATE: APR-05-2019

 

Dear Stranger,

I just printed out the ticket to Angel Island ferry, and I am thrilled. The last time I went there was on a 4th of July weekend, when I was still in elementary school. Everything was so exciting. It was my first time on a ferry ship. My jaw floored, and my mind transfixed as my dad extended his finger, “That’s Pier 41, where we left. That’s Coit Tower, on top of Telegraph Hill. And that’s Transamerica Pyramid, the tallest building in San Francisco.” My mom was still her happy self, feigned a complaint about the wind, so she could wrap her new silk scarf around her face. How things have changed since…, and Salesforce Tower is the tallest building in San Francisco now. Well, life moves on, and the wake of a ship stays behind.

Anyways, today I toured the city mostly on foot. I took Muni Metro and exited at Montgomery Station, forked right at the sight of Lotta Fountain onto Geary Street. Took a turn in Union Square and greeted Alma Bretteville and Ruth Asawa. The trip to Chinatown via Dragon Gate was pleasant if not a bit trite. However, seeing the Chinese pagoda building still stood right across St Mary’s Cathedral put a smile on my face. I ate lunch at Sam Wo, made famous by columnist Herb Caen for having the rudest waiter in the world, Edsel Ford Fung. Both Caen and Fung passed away, but the food there was still good.

Portsmouth Square was still bustling with seniors playing Chinese chess and poker. The community park offered an impressive view of highrises of the city. The public bathroom was still dirty, but not as nasty as I remembered.

Bordering Chinatown was North Beach. The vibrant Italian American neighborhood was filled with many treats for the palate: from pasta to pizza to gelato. After a brief walk to Washington Square Park, I was getting hungry. I was saddened a couple of my favorite ristorantes in the area had shuttered their doors. I wondered what happened? I ended up stuffing a couple almond pastries and started to walk back. The view of Transamerica Pyramid from Columbus Avenue was incredible.

As I took the route to return Market Street via California Avenue, the sun was setting. My vision tunneled toward the end; a sole cable car retired for the day, dwarfed by the skyscrapers of Financial District. I was drawn to the little guy and started walking toward it. I took a brief last glance at it as I descended to the underground Embarcadero Station going home, but the image haunted me. Do you think the cable car is lonely without riders?

Lovingly always,

 

Sojourner

PS. I’ll abstain from giving out email address, in spite of what could entail as a solution to the reply issue.

 

San Francisco Union Square Dewey Monument

The 1903 monument in Union Square is dedicated to Admiral George Dewey for his victory in Spanish-American War. The goddess Nike atop is modeled after San Francisco’s famous socialite Alma de Bretteville Spreckels, a prominent art patron. Spreckels’s other legacy in San Francisco includes California Palace of Legion of Honor museum, and Maritime Museum. Just behind Union Square, between Apple Store and Grand Hyatt Hotel is San Francisco Fountain (not shown) created by Ruth Asawa. Asawa is most famous for her wicker basket sculptures.

City Lights Booksellers and Vesuvio Cafe

In the corner of Broadway and Columbus is the San Francisco Designated Landmark, City Lights Bookstore. The independent bookstore was under national spotlight in 1957 due to its role in the publishing and retailing of the Allen Gingsberg’s Howl and Other Poems, which was charged under obscenity law for using direct language describing homosexual acts. The trial sets the precedent that a book with “redeeming social importance” is guaranteed of [U.S. Constitution] First Amendment protection. Vesuvio Café is famous for being the gathering place of many Beat Generation poets, including Allen Gingsberg, Jack Kerouac, and other celebrities like Bob Dylan and Francis Ford Coppola. The shared path between City Lights and Vesuvio is Kerouac Alley (after the Beat poet), which hosts many interesting murals.

Third chapter is introducing the format that's going to be used throughout the rest of the story. Part of the letter is about Sojourner's life, and rest is the history of San Francisco and other events that parallel Sojourner's life. Pictorial section is not always related to the story (but sometimes it is). Sometimes I just use them to add more rich fabric to the main letter. The very first part of this letter is foreshadowing upcoming events, which is a device I am going to exploit quite frequently with this story. All letters will add up, so do check back previous letters (or future letters) if something doesn't make sense in the current letter.
Copyright © 2020 Ashi; All Rights Reserved.
  • Love 2
I have tried my best to research depression and suicide issues.  My time writing the story runs short due to recall back to my real life work, so some parts may not be the best.  It is not meant to cause distress if the issues presented in the story are not well-represented, especially about the issue of depression and suicidal thought.  Please feel free to contact me via PM or comments, so I can improve the story whenever possible.
Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
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mollyhousemouse

i ended up googling some of the places you mentioned, what a beautiful place
unfortunately, i'm not able to access the pictures through the link as the link sends me to Dropbox
i like how you said the entrance to China town at that entrance is a bit trite. but that's not unexpected. you should feel as though you are stepping through a doorway into someplace new and exotic
 

  • Like 1
Ashi
3 minutes ago, mollyhousemouse said:

i ended up googling some of the places you mentioned, what a beautiful place
unfortunately, i'm not able to access the pictures through the link as the link sends me to Dropbox
i like how you said the entrance to China town at that entrance is a bit trite. but that's not unexpected. you should feel as though you are stepping through a doorway into someplace new and exotic

I can't get embedded pictures to work, so I used links.  Maybe I'll just post them in the gallery.  Thank you for the feedback.  I've gone through that gate a billion times.  It's like a ritual when I go to Chinatown, so I put that little detail into the story to make the story more authentic in feel.  BUT, the reason why Sojourner felt the trip was a bit trite is different from why I feel though.  I think I'll let reader interpret it as they see fit.  I just noticed I had a plot hole (something else, not related to Chinatown).  I'll see what I need to do to fix it, though I think most people won't notice it....  Thank you again, Molly.

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