I dragged my children excitedly up the escalator from the BART platform
to the Muni level, and then up the next escalator to the street, trying
not to touch the rubber moving hand railings that seemed ripe with germs
and trying not to fall and drag down one of my kids with me.
I didn't usually leave the house so early and willingly on a
Saturday morning, full of purpose and enthusiasm. But then, it wasn't
every day I was going to get to watch them experience 3D chalk art for
the first time and I just couldn't wait.
When I'm excited like that, it's contagious. My kids were in good
and giddy moods like me and we merrily walked hand-in-hand down the
crowded weekend sidewalk past the Hyatt with its cavernous futuristic
interior, past the street vendors with their appealing wares, across the
newer Muni tracks, across the street that was once covered with a dingy
freeway off ramp and into the bustle of the Farmer's Market at the
Ferry Building. We had to search around a little after that, walking
past temptations - fresh peach tarts, piles of cherries, baguettes,
cheeses and dainty Hog Island oysters. We had to weave in and out of the
crowd, avoiding the tall people who were gazing at distant points and
walking into us, high-tailing it around children focused on their treats
or not losing hold of dad's hand. And dogs, naturally. Plus the
ever-so-modern hydraulic strollers with 360 degree spinning baby
buckets.
Finally I saw a ladder in front of a big chalk image - Golden Gate
Bridge, the pyramid building, the park, and Cliff House along with many
other iconic San Francisco landmarks. I tried to maintain my excitement
but I'll admit to being a bit disappointed. First of all, it wasn't like
the chalk art in books you see where the monster looks like it is
coming off the sidewalk and grabbing towards you, or the woman is about
to fall into the Grand Canyon. It was too much of a pictorial and not
enough of an experience. And then, you really had to be at just the
right angle to have the illusion of the experience; whereas in picture
books, you have to work hard, very hard, to see anything but the
illusion.
And there was just the one. I had been misled by the event flyer,
assuming there would be many chalk drawings to enjoy, and it was only
after we had been there for a while as I tried to hide my feelings from
my kids, that I realized this was all a dot com marketing ploy.
Still, we had a good day.
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