i know i write about girls in my blog alot.

i picked up a hitchhiker today. this is where it all starts.

to keep a variety in my routine I've started driving home through San Francisco. Up the peninsula on 280, a quick jump off at Sixth Street and then across the bridge and down into home. But today, turning onto the onramp at Third, I saw a man with a red flannel sticking his thumb into the street. I couldn't resist.

i once hitchhiked to Pensacola, FL from New Orleans and then back. The mileage was not the most impressive, but the climes ill-suited for two white boys with torn jeans and scruff beards. At an onramp in Alabama (after a $3.00 Waffle House breakfast) we waited for 3 hours with no ride. Finally, exasperated, we walked.

its really hard to hitch in a big city and i felt sorry for this guy. I couldn't tell how old he was at first glance but getting closer I saw he was older than I wanted him to be. Old guys hitching is less romantic and more kinda sad - but thats a generalization.

'Where're you headed?"

"Reno"

"Alright... I can take you across the bridge if you want."

and he didn't say a word, just threw his bag into the back.

this is not the first time I've picked up a hitchhiker.

i could go over a few specifics about forced short conversation but that isn't important and hardly interesting. We kept our mouths shut for the most part and slugged through traffic until the other side of the bay.

"You know which freeway you want? 80, 580?"

"Umm... 580. East."

and so it happened that I was coming down Broadway at 34th, 30th, 26th 25th. Again, it was a while out of my way but the variety was welcome. There are no faces to look at on the freeway, nobody pushes shopping carts or holds their kids by the hand. As I got down into the more familiar downtown intersections my eyes got excited - the people spilled out of the buildings, they poured out of buses, they idled at the curbs. I was trying my best to look at them all.

and then at 14th and Broadway, right at that brick corner that leads into Ogawa Plaza, a girl walked up with her headphones in. I was stuck behind someone turning right and never so happy about it. I caught her profile, her hair just obscuring, I inched forwards and she looked straight across the street unaware. The person in front of me found their opportunity and all of a sudden I was pulling forwards...

she yawned. oh god, she yawned. it was amazing. if a girl can look beautiful while she yawns (on the street in the middle of the day?) then you know she has something special. this was not a drop-dead gorgeous but something more comfortable and familiar. she wore a backpack and a hat. I could see inside her mouth.

and so the whole thing was worth it, just to see one beautiful expression. this girl made my afternoon and had no idea, just sleepy on the sidewalk.

I dedicate this blog post to a guy named Norm on his way to Reno.