(I first published a version of this 19 years ago.)
One of my favorite discoveries lately was Found Magazine, which publishes random items discovered by its readers — “love letters, birthday cards, kids’ homework, to-do lists, ticket stubs, poetry on napkins, receipts, doodles - anything that gives a glimpse into someone else’s life.”
Sometimes things like that land right in front of my house in the Mission District of San Francisco.
That’s because my side of the street -- the west side -- is the recipient of many lost items, courtesy of a wind tunnel that swirls through here much as those that used to cause those pop-ups of legendary movement back at old Candlestick Park.
This note I am posting tonight came drifting into my front yard the other day.
It has has two sides, and reads:
I am trying to sell my car. I need bus money only to get home to Detroit. Michelle this is your moms car. Do you want it? My food stamps didn't come. I don't want to cause anyone any trouble. I just want to get home!! I'll see you later.
***
Most of us who live here, in this city perched unsteadily above the San Andreas Fault on the tip of a peninsula that measures almost precisely 7 by 7 miles square, have spent many years hearing references to a certain number -- "49." How many of us realize how mathematically perfect this number is for our town? We all know, of course about the Gold Rush that built San Francisco back in 1849, but that isn’t the origin of the nickname.
It’s the geography.
San Francisco is also a windy town. There must be a million scraps of a million stories like the one I found blowing in the wind.
HEADLINES:
California Highway Patrol to protect Kamala Harris after Trump pulls Secret Service detail, sources say (LAT)
Chicago mayor signs order aimed at resisting Trump’s planned immigration crackdown (CNN)
Preparing for federal troops, Chicago mayor says city will stand up to Trump's 'tyranny' (USA Today)
Border Patrol arrested firefighters as they were battling a wildfire (WP)
Federal judge blocks Trump's effort to expand speedy deportations of migrants (NPR)
The new head of the CDC has no training in medicine and once helped Peter Thiel develop man-made islands floating outside U.S. territory (Fortune)
Will the C.D.C. Survive? (NYT)
Trump administration cuts grants for child care on college campuses (WP)
Trump’s Fed meddling pushes investors closer to their red line (Financial Times)
Indonesia's president cancels China trip as protests continue (Reuters)
20 Years After Katrina, New Orleans Is ‘at a Tipping Point’ (NYT)
D.C. tourism was already struggling. Then the National Guard arrived. (WP)
Red Cross records surge in number of missing people (Reuters)
Zuckerberg’s AI hires disrupt Meta with swift exits and threats to leave (ArsTechnica)
Area Dad Informs Busboy He’s Ready To Order (The Onion)