Hello everyone, I recently made an amazing discovery! If you don’t know about this already, this one will blow your minds. Next time you’re in the Mish at any point on 18th, 19th or 20th streets, start walking west. Trust me, you’ll be in for a surprise. What awaits you is a shining emerald oasis dotted with palm trees, blankets, guitars, sunbathers, dog poops and a healthy dose of earthy musk. It’s Dolores Park, and it’s awesome.
It’s two square blocks of sloped grass with a playground, tennis courts, crappers, and even its own set of chill food vendors (I think they were selling “PB&MaryJ”?). There are bottle collectors walking around, so go right ahead and drink a bottle of your fav. bev. and just leave it! I spent the entire day there just soaking up the place, it was amazing.
In the very upper corner we have people doing yoga stretches, tiny dogs on tiny leashes and people worshipping the sun. These people see the towers of downtown, and if the weather is right they can even see the San Francisco Bay. From their perch, the whole city is stretched out in front of them. To these people, climbing up to the top of the hill is worth the hassle for the feeling of connectedness and equanimity you can only get when surrounded by a people with a shared vision who are all equally comfortable with people in thongs.
At the bottom of the park, in the flatlands, people wear the shared uniform of nonchalance. They come to a beautiful urban park and plop down at the easiest, flattest, most accessible place they can find. They don’t mind the lack of view, they don’t need to know the rest of the city even exists. Besides, biking to the top of a hill is hard work in a bike with no gears! These people are content to sit or stand in tiny groups and maybe blare some obscure sounds out of a boom box while drinking beer from a can. Occasionally, a childhood game breaks out.
In between are other contiguous groups who occupy their own little portion of land and on occasion interact with their neighbouring group. There’s frisbee crowd, the gangsta crowd, the homeless crowd, the small crowd of families, the wine and cheese picnic crowd, the nerdy crowd, and sometimes the “let’s dress like giant plush animals” crowd. When visiting, carefully choose your place among the ranks and you’ll be guaranteed a positive Dolores Park experience.
I can’t believe I didn’t find this place sooner.
Dolores Park, or D.P. for short.
Alice Armstrong
Robby Aberdeen
