Port of Oakland...

With yet another year under my belt, I woke up on Friday feeling happy.  Though the day was pretty much like every other, I was infused with a sense of excitement and a spark of optimism.  It was my birthday and I wasn't going to let my joblessness fill me with jadedness.  In a push to fill my current life with more meaning, I'd followed up with a former teacher about the idea of being her Teacher's Assistant.  The position would be unpaid, but I felt that it would be an invaluable experience. 

I woke up at 6:30am, which is something I rarely do, got dressed and drove across the Bay Bridge to Oakland.  No one at the high school knew that it was my birthday and I liked it that way, I'd learned from my former students that it is sometimes better to let them think that I'm older than I actually am.  The class began and I introduced myself.  I lead a discussion on a book and realized how much I had changed in the five years since I'd been in high school.  I hugged my former teacher and took some papers home to edit.

As I drove past the Port of Oakland and all of the metal cranes, I thought about how time passes and people are always evolving.  I used to think that the metal cranes looked like dinosaurs, and to be honest I still kind of do.  

Location: Port of Oakland, CA, U.S.A.