MY FATHER served in Korea and was lucky enough to get out alive and relatively unscathed. He served his country and didn't make a spectacle about it, it was just his job and that was that. There are millions of others just like him. To all those brave men and women, thank you.
It's been exactly two and a half years since mom passed. Every day is a downer. She raised me. She was my best friend. Where dad scuffled, my mom picked me up, all of us, and said in so many words, today would be a brighter day and that no matter the darkness we felt (I felt) that it's OK, we'll be allright.
Which is why there's no substitutes for moms. They perform with swift executions under any circumstances, truly domestic war heroes that are irreplaceable and invaluable. Don't forget to kiss you mom every day if you're lucky enough to still have one alive and well.
*A cold and windy San Francisco night the other evening. A city barren of people on the streets; a bitter emptiness permeated from the Marina and Cow Hollow to Downtown and Market Street. The financial district was empty, only a few guys in suit and tie looking for their Uber and maybe a pint at Tadich. Which, by the way, was empty. Doom and gloom everywhere even a post-election that was decidedly SF centric. But even with that, it was dank and dour from California street to the Embarcadero. A few KGO trucks were seen outside Front Street and the wail of a speeding car near the Blue Ship could be heard everywhere. Given the dearth of people and honking hors, it was welcome noise. Even the seagulls were energized.
As day turned to night, it got colder and starker. Throngs of people, even tourists, were now nonexistent. Herb Caen would have marveled at the depth and desperation of the moment. Sure, he would have been as depressed as the few rest of us but given Herb's pedigree, this whole scene was good for a thousand words of column. No dot, dot, here. The Pyramid building was half-lit and stood out solid in pre-winter SF pathos. Stark contrast to a dim Salesforce tower devoid of people and lights, as if the modern day persona had taken over and kindled its forces throughout. I saw a cop near Market and Mission, gave him the thumbs-up and he threw back a jolted salute. May the force be with you. Cool stuff, which was great because I was looking for anything, anybody, with a pulse.
Solemn nights are heavy.
Nice comment, Rich, Man. My own father also served in Korea. He was a Navy Hospital Corpsman, who saved many lives on the hospital ship he was on, as well as on land [ashore] when he was sent to help treat casualties closer to the front lines. A fellow shipmate actually had old 8mm film from back then [go figure on that one!] who he had converted to VHS, which I was able to obtain, and I then converted that to digital. It was totally insane to see my Dad as a Navy guy of his late 20s, in Korea! What a trip! Thanks to Dad, who retired as an E-8 Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman. Thanks too, Rich, to your father and those others, who served in the branches of the military, as I did as well.
ReplyDeleteOur country needs something to rally around. Would it be too much to ask KTVU to have more Rosemary Orozco, and less Bill Martin? Perhaps a weather report from poolside or at the beach?
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