thisisclaire

born in north dakota, raised in oregon, and living in san francisco. this blog will be as random as where i've lived, and hopefully much more interesting!

This should be posted somewhere…

Found this old write-up from 2007 buried in my Google Docs. Whit and I had been back from our around the world trip for a couple months and were temporarily living in Oakland. It’s a great story, so I decided it should have a home on the public domain…

One night we came into San Francisco from Oakland so Whit could pick up a hard drive from Hilary’s place in the Inner Richmond. Around 10:30, we walked out to the car to go back to Oakland, only to find Ted, a neighborhood guy, looking under our car with a flashlight. Um, weird.

He said that he heard a cat meowing from under or in the hood, so we popped it open to take a look. By that time, Whit and I had heard the meowing as well, but it took a good ten minutes to actually see the tiny face of a kitten nestled in the engine. How it got there will remain a mystery to us. Coaxing it out with a can of tuna failed, as did jacking up the car to try to get the kitten out from underneath.     

That’s when we called Animal Care & Control, who responded pretty quickly with some serious tools. The ACC worker proceeded to poke around under the hood for fifteen minutes before getting the kitty out, who was covered in fleas and grease but was otherwise un-injured.

Ted and his girlfriend adopted the calico kitten and left with the ACC worker to the animal clinic, debating between Jetta and Volkswagon for its name. Whit and I got in the car to go back to Oakland, at which point it was 12:45am. Four blocks down the road on California Street, the clutch went out – literally dropping all the way to the floor. We got the car off the road and called AAA, who towed the car to a 76 Station.

With minimal sleep, Whit went back the following morning to figure out the problem with the help of a Honda Parts Store employee, and Weland from the 76 Station. Turns out a bracket that holds a shaft for the clutch had broken off completely, and was all that needed to be fixed (or so we think). And thank goodness for that!

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Farming is Cool

Since I’ve been back from South America, I’ve heard about the Hayes Valley Farm a few times. The farm is the epitome of urban agriculture, located on two city-owned blocks near the US 101 freeway ramp, Fell, and Oak Streets.

The first time I heard of the farm, I was both proud and inspired. San Francisco has been so committed to the environment. Composting is required by law, and the organic produce movement has been embraced via numerous farmers markets and the abundance of locally-grown products in stores.

During our around-the-world trip a few years ago, Whit and I spent four weeks at the Virgin Islands Sustainable Farming Institute at Creque Dam Farm on St. Croix. Run by a young Georgian farmer dedicated to agriculture and sustainability, VISFI was built to “promote local and sustainable agriculture with the hopes of spreading this message to communities around the world.”

Our experience there (as captured in our travel blog) certainly aligned with that mission. I miss waking with the crow of the rooster, the soft pattering of gecko feet on the cabana roof, and the sense of truly living not on, but with the land. On top of all that - the food! The beautiful food

Seeing a city-based program with the same mission is like a dream come true. Now I just need to get myself down there to discover it first-hand!

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