There is so much going on in the Yerba Buena Gardens! In addition to the gardens there is a children’s carousel and museum, an ice skating rink and bowling.
I walked around the block to see what I could fiind. Near the Center for the Arts building is the gardens. Such a beautiful spot and the church in the background was lovely. Lots of room to sit and enjoy the views.
Then I turned around and saw this:
I walked behind the waterfall and inscribed along the wall was a speech by Dr. Martin Luther King.
It was very impressive. I also took a short video of the fountain and the garden.
In the Chinese New Year, this is the year of the Ox and because of COVID the traditional Chinese New Year Parade was not possible so instead the Chinese Chamber of Commerce decided to have statues placed throughout the city and call it The Year of The Ox on Parade. This one was across the street from City Hall.
Unfortunately, they were only on display for a month or so and I wasn’t able to get around to visiting any other ones. Also, I didn’t realize that there was a contest going on and you could take a picture near the statue and submit it to win a prize. These are what the other statues looked like.
If you look really closely at this picture of Union Square you can see the orange ox right in the middle. This one actually was defaced and had to be removed. Sad that people do things like that.
I have one more “Y” for today since I wasn’t able to get to see the Ox on Parade, I did find another statue that starts with “Y,” Yoda! I mentioned when we were driving around the Presidio that the Letterman Hospital building had been sold to LucasFilms and this statue is in the garden entrance.
Isn’t he cute? Well, one more letter to go. You have to come back tomorrow to read the story of the hearts. See you then!
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Hi, Janet!
ReplyDelete"Y" is for yessum, the end of the A to Z draws near. Today you featured pictures taken at another tranquil location that Mrs. Shady and I would surely enjoy, namely Yerba Buena Gardens. I can picture us seated on one of those benches doing some people watching while licking our ice cream cones. As you pivot in every direction there are features of beauty to behold. I love how they have Dr. King's inspiring speech on display behind the cascading waterfall. It grieves me to read his message of hope and realize it fell upon too many deaf ears. All these years later, America has still not lived up to its promise to ensure liberty and justice for all. Shortly after that speech was delivered, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was gunned down, his voice silenced, but he lives on in the hearts and minds of those who loved and believed in him.
Thanks for showing how the Chinese C of C adapted to the pandemic by placing statues around the city and labeling the collective exhibit Year of The Ox on Parade. I'm sorry to learn that at least one of those statues was defaced, either by run-of-the-mill vandals or perhaps by misguided people whose anti-Asian sentiments were stirred up by the previous administration in Washington.
Hooray for wise one Yoda! You certainly didn't want to forget to include him in your "Y" post. I remember you telling me about the LucasFilms production company. Yoda is an excellent figure to guard the front entrance.
Have a good evening, dear friend Janet, and I'll be Z-ing your tomorrow!
Hi there friend - It would have been fun to go on a scavenger hunt for those oxen. Had I known they were going to be around for such a short time I would have made a more concerted effort to find them all. One was at the airport, right down the street from us. So many times I wonder where we might be if we had not lost MLK, JFK and RFK. Tomorrow is the grand finale. It has been one heck of a month!
DeleteI love the waterfall and I'm glad you included a video of it, so I could hear it as well.
ReplyDeleteYoda! What a fun statue to include for the letter Y
I'm glad you liked the video. I was going to try to do the inscriptions on the wall but it didn't work very well. Isn't Yoda cute?
DeleteLovely places, I like the waterfall with the speech, and Yoda of courses ;))
ReplyDeleteThanks Frederique! It was pretty spectacular.
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