Marilyn and the Blipper

I walked from my Pilates class to Flying Goat coffee, musing about the fact that Santa Rosa is not a particularly pedestrian friendly place. In order to make my six block walk, I have to negotiate myself either through the dreadful mall, which is built right on top of several main cross streets from downtown to Railroad Square, or in and around the acres of parking that surround it, and across the road which shoots cars onto the freeway. Whilst accomplishing this, my ears are assaulted by the incessantly repeated warnings accompanying the rise and fall of the admission gates to the parking lot, and the equally incomprehensible messages emanating from the changing traffic lights. What self respecting town would allow a freeway and a shopping mall to be bisect the downtown?

It was a relief to find myself looking into the window of a costume shop in Railroad Square where Marilyn stands, her skirts endlessly billowing up from the fan beneath her. I got a kick out of the shot of the glam, if not particularly realistic, Marilyn with the rather dumpy image of me in my workout clothes, jacket tied around my waist taking her picture with an iPhone. 

I enjoyed a lovely cappuccino and a cranberry almond scone, sitting at a table outside overlooking the unused railroad tracks. A "SMART" (acronym for something not particularly smart) train system is being created to link Sonoma county, not with San Francisco, but with a remote  part of adjacent Marin County to the south. If it went to San Francisco, I would take it in a heartbeat. A high speed rail system is also being built to ultimately connect San Francisco and Los Angeles, but due to lack of funds, geographic barriers like the Tehachapi Mountains between Bakersfield and the Los Angeles basin, and lack of political will, it is so far only designed to connect two central valley towns, Modesto and Bakersfield. 

 I chose to go through the shopping mall on the way back to my car. It was practically deserted save for the very young people working in the shops which cater almost exclusively to teen-agers. Teen age friendly music blared through the speakers, and the smell of unhealthy fast food wafted through the air. Interestingly, the first vegetarian fast food restaurant opened in the next town, and people waited in line for 40 minutes for veggiburgers and gluten free fries.

It was a relief to get back to my car before the meter maid  and drive home.