Bad to the Bone

I suffer from a minor obsession with shipping cranes, as I may have mentioned before. I’ve done a bunch of research online about cranes and watched videos. But there’s nothing like seeing something in person, particularly if you’re trying to write a book. So I ventured to Middle Harbor Shoreline Park today which lies sandwiched in the middle of the Port of Oakland. It was a beautiful, clear, chilly afternoon and when I arrived, there was a ship docked just feet away from me. A chain link fence with razor wire separated me from the dock and I pushed through a few barren bushes to get close enough to the fence to take pictures and videos with an unobstructed view.

I was absolutely in heaven watching the cranes unload the ship. I was taking notes about the sights and sounds on my phone when I suddenly heard a voice behind me. I turned around and there were two cops (US Customs and Border Protection: Field Operations) standing there looking at me very seriously. They asked what I was doing and told me I looked suspicious (I had on sunglasses, a baseball cap, a backpack, and sweats. Very unabomber meets soccer mom, I guess).

I explained that I am interested in shipping cranes and that I’m writing a children’s book about them. They asked who employs me and if I had a business card. I explained that I’m self-employed and unpublished. They looked so skeptical that I threw down the teacher card. I said, “Not only do I write, I’m also a substitute teacher.” Then they asked me where I teach and I explained that I work in two districts and that I used to teach full time but now I’m taking time off to write. Then they asked me where I used to teach. And where I live now. And told me that taking pictures and watching the cranes looks very suspicious. They also told me that if I had been sitting on a bench about ten feet from where I was standing that I wouldn’t have looked so suspicious. They told me that no one ever walks up to the fence to watch the cranes and so therefore I looked very suspicious.

I could tell they wanted me to leave the fence and suspected that they were just going to stand there until I did so. I smiled brightly and said, “Oh, I’m just so excited that I got to see what I saw!” And then I went to sit down on a bench and took out my laptop. They walked away and I started typing up the encounter. I assumed they had left, but I just looked over to the parking lot a minute ago and they were still hanging out at their car. I guess not much interesting happens at the Port of Oakland. Oh and one of the cops said, “Don’t be surprised if you get a call from the Port about this.” Well I actually would be surprised since I wasn’t able to offer them my business card. “Get questioned by cops” is now something I can cross off of my bucket list.

A couple of weeks ago I got scolded by a principal for using my phone while I was subbing. I spent a day subbing for a teacher who had a student teacher in her classroom. She left plans for the student teacher, but nothing for me. The only purpose I served in being there was to be a credentialed body in the room. So I read on my phone all day. And apparently got ratted out. Can’t take me anywhere.

Over the long weekend, my fiancé and I went hiking at Marin Headlands. It was a gorgeous, warm day and we ate lunch on the rainbow sand beach and hiked on the bluffs above the ocean. We poked around the deserted WWII batteries and had a blast.

We also went bouldering at Indian Rock in Berkeley. It’s the first time I’ve climbed outdoors since last March (before I had shoulder surgery). It was a humbling experience. I know that the grades I’ve been climbing in the gym aren’t representative of what I can climb outdoors, but I didn’t realize how far off the gym grades really are. I’m guessing a V5 in the gym is about equivalent to an outdoor V1. That being said, I climbed two V0s and a V1 and felt like a rockstar. I hadn’t realized how much I missed climbing on real rock. I had also forgotten how scary it is. video of me on a V0

What I’m Reading: I finally finished Confederates in the Attic. I really enjoyed it and found it to be an eye-opening glimpse of the South. I’m still reading The Emperor of All Maladies and Outlander.