oakland hills. june 2012.
i have a car now. i stayed late at work for a meeting and got out just as the sun had made up its mind to set. the air was breezy and damp, a little mean, but so refreshing after a long stuffy meeting. the light was fresh and nimble.
i dropped my things at home and sped upwards to the hills, trying to catch the last rays. almost did. top of claremont and then right, park on the side and walk along to the private hill; ignore the sign and wind through the dried grass. right leg hit by nettles. sit on a fallen tree and finally feel the cold (good thing you brought your jacket). watch the fast moving fog that must be forming right there over the bay because you see the break there but it never gets to you. then it finally does. figure out that the place where a darker blue fades to lighter faster that the rest of the sky is the earth's shadow, already overhead. let thoughts trickle through your head, not really paying attention, as the red smog deeps and layers upon itself, like icing.
jump down, walk back. find a shortcut through the windy hill roads. think about all the trips you can take now that you have wheels. think of the next place you want to watch the sunset from.
