Anyone driving through North Beach last Friday around 9am may have wondered about the sudden appearance of tall thin trees in black pots standing in empty parking spaces on Grant Avenue. Eventually, furniture appeared, or hula hoops, Buddha on upper Grant, then a forklift and men rolling out sod onto the asphalt in front of a variety of local businesses.

Park(ing) Day, an international day of repurposing vehicular space and turning it into temporary public parks, happened Friday from 9 to 5. North Beach had an enthusiastic group of merchants participating and having a wonderful time, each enjoying a carless view out the front door.

Tourists stopped to play croquet with handmade mallets in front of Schein & Schein as Jimmie & Marti laughed from inside their Dutch door. After kicking the cars out of the metered spot in front of Macchiarini Creative Design, anyone could sit down on the couch and watch the latest documentary about infamous Art Cars. A person could sit down in a quiet space on the lawn in front of Lola and The Enchanted House and read a book graciously provided by the same. A lemonade stand with Regular or Adult lemonade was helping socialize a stuffed giraffe nibbling on the fake greens in the 'wild' at Grant & Union Streets.

I thought about this last Friday as I sat on a couch in the street, enjoying Art & Culture's "Art Lounge" parking spot. We had kicked out the parked cars for the day, only to end up watching a new documentary about Art Cars on the computer while out in the sunshine. I don't own a vehicle, so this was my one day of the year to utilize a public parking space to try and 'balance' the commercially acceptable use of the same space for cars the rest of the 364 days. Before there were automobiles, there was no parking in the streets, but somehow society had decided that this was the best solution. I am not convinced anymore of this necessity for parking, after a day of having a mini park where I could sit outside comfortably without blocking the sidewalk and chat with passersby, have a drink, eat my lunch in the fresh air, and even see the whites of the tourists eyes on Segways as they buzz by in groups.

I really like sitting in the street!

P.S. The Art Car 'conference' is this coming weekend and a spontaneous Art Car parade will probably wind its way through North Beach at an unanticipated time. Keep your eyes open for the Alleluia Chorus of singing lobsters and fish. You won't want to miss it!