I *heart* Oakland: Lake Merritt Edition

It was a beautiful morning in the Bay Area.

(Those of you who have actually visited my blog may recognize this shot.)

As is my Saturday morning custom, I went for a run around Lake Merritt, one of my favorite places to run when I come back to Oakland. For those of you who are familiar with Seattle, Lake Merritt is like the Oakland version of Green Lake, by which I mean it is the Ghetto version. The trails aren't as nice, there is more goose poop, and there are more sketchy people at 8:00 in the morning. But it is almost exactly the same size, and it is situated in the middle of the city.



This particular morning, I encountered some of the people that make Oakland so special in my heart. While on my second lap around the lake, a white male in his sixties, walking with a bunch of other white males in their sixties, pointed at me and yelled "Warm Blood!" I assume was referring to the fact I was wearing shorts. For people in the Bay Area, it may have been cold, but I went running in Seattle on Monday when it was 20 degrees, so it felt balmy to me.

But the best encounter of the morning came when I was crossing the street. There were two men standing in the middle of the street, having a conversation, not making any attempt to move. Two "brothers", as my father would say. The older of the two, in his sixties as well, seemed to be giving directions to the younger, probably in his twenties.

As I ran by, the older man stopped talking mid-sentence, starred at me and said,

"Damn girl! Why you gonna run so fast?"

I replied, "Have a great morning!" and kept running.

I love Oakland, a place where men finally hit on me. Even if they are in their sixties.