Alameda Pride
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Traditionally, most cities celebrate Pride in June in recognition of the Stonewall Riots that took place on June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in New York. There is a good article on History.com [2] that takes a deep dive into what caused the protests and violent clashes with police that started the fight for equal rights for members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
In our city, Alameda Pride [3] is the nonprofit organization that puts on Pride in the Park (our celebration of all things LGBTQIA+), and they chose October as the month to have a Pride event. This year, it will be on Saturday, October 5 at Chochenyo Park [4]. Details can be found on their website [5]. While I plan to cover the October event, I thought it was important to recognize June as being important, too. Later this month, I will also cover Juneteenth, an important event in the African American community.
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June is also a big month for the island’s high school seniors who graduated this week. Congratulations to all of those young adults as they em“bark” on the next chapter of their lives. Pun intended.
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Wednesday proved to be a miserable day for those of us wearing fur coats due to the extreme heat. I spent a lot of time in my basement where it was twenty degrees cooler than outside. Unfortunately, nature does call and I had to go out to take care of some business.
Rather than taking my normal short “pee break” route, my human companion drove me to Chochenyo Park for a quick tour instead. There were lots of shade trees and, fortunately, no other dogs or squirrels. Check out the video above to see some of the things I saw.
On the way back, we drove down Park Street [8] and saw the contractor installing the green concrete barriers around the parklets. It was so interesting, we stopped to watch the process. I am fascinated with forklifts, and I discovered they activate my “chase” reflex.
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While we were walking back to the car, I also saw a new See Spot Run sign and realized that the business will be moving from its location on Santa Clara Avenue to Park Street. They will be opening for business at the new location tomorrow, Monday, June 10.
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On the way home, my human companion stopped off at Dragon Rouge to pick up some food.
Have you noticed the Park Street Bridge’s paint job? It’s looking a little “thin” and tired in spots. The bridges are managed by Alameda County. I may put a call into Supervisor Lena Tam and see what’s going on.
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Even though it was pretty darn hot on Wednesday, the crew was back at work on the Great Deck Project at my house. I have posted pictures for Day #4, #5, and #6. If you look at the Day #3 picture from last week’s report [12] and compare it to the Day #4 image, you might think that nothing was done.
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However, the guys were busy drilling, bolting, screwing, and nailing a bunch of metal brackets to the lumber. If there is ever another serious earthquake, you can be sure that I will be running for this deck. It’s not going anywhere.
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Day #5 was a half day in the shop because the stair stringers (step supports) had to be cut, and those cuts involved doing math. The boss arrived in the afternoon with the cut boards to do some field fitting. It was just too hot to work the full day.
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Day #6 saw the installation of the stair stringers. Next week, the deck boards will be delivered, and things will start taking shape.
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In other doings around my house, my human companion erected a tomato tower for the rogue plant that spontaneously started growing in the planting strip in front of my house. Nobody knows how it got there—it just popped up one day. He was going to buy fertilizer for it, and I had to ask why? Given its proximity to the sidewalk and that Alameda Avenue is a very popular dog walking street, I don’t think the plant will have any issues getting all the nitrogen it needs. I won’t be eating any of the fruit picked from the lower limbs, though. LOL!
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To close out this week’s report, I wanted to let you know that I have started counting the days it will take to remove the old section that is suspended from the newly installed utility pole.
Looks like the weather is returning to its normal pattern—my human companion is back to wearing ski gloves, the fuzzy hat with ear flaps, and three-plus layers of clothing.
Have a great week!
Mouf, Roving Reporter
Bear’s-Eye View of Alameda
Mouf and his human companion can be reached via [email protected] [18]. Their stories are collected at AlamedaPost.com/Jeff-Cambra/ [19]. Photos and videos by Jeff Cambra.