Bear’s-Eye View of Alameda for September 8, 2024

Perception

A while back, I was walking with my human companion (HC) along Central Avenue when we saw what some call a typical sight in Alameda. There were several mobile assistance devices placed in the planting strip area of the sidewalk. I say typical because I see household items placed by the curb every day indicating they are free for the taking. All the items were in great condition, and it made me think how expensive these items must have been.

As I checked them out, I got to thinking how happy seeing these items out for pick up made me feel. I imagined that the former owner of this equipment might have been suffering from some debilitating disease or injury and made a full recovery. I imagined that this person was released from the hospital and needed the wheelchair to get around the house. After a stint with a PT (physical therapist), they might have gained enough strength to be able to get around with the help of a walker. With a little more PT and the passage of time, the person got stronger and graduated to having to only use a cane. In the final phase of the rehab, the person may have built enough strength to be able to maintain balance and lose the cane—marking a full recovery. That thought made me a happy camper.

So, when my HC commented about how sad he was to see all this equipment out on the curb to be given away or donated, I did a double take. WTF (What the fir?) I thought.

Well, as it turns out he saw the opposite of a recovery process and only saw the items as the representation of the decline of their owner. In his mind, the person was a normal, healthy, and active person that had gradually declined. First needing a cane, then the walker, and finally the wheelchair. Since all these items were out on the street, the owner did not need them anymore.

WOW! This experience has made me aware of how people and canines can see—or smell, respectively—the same thing and perceive it in radically different ways. So, while a picture may be worth a thousand words, the story those words create can be radically different from person to canine.

Speaking of perception of a slightly different type, I did a double take when I saw the maintenance person at South Shore Shopping Center watering the plants. Check it out.

As I covered in last week’s report , a contractor painted stripes on the new road surface along Central Avenue. I noticed that some streets had no crosswalks painted on the roadway while others had either just the two parallel lines or the two parallel lines and cross stripes connecting the two lines. I do know that for school zones, the crosswalk needs to be painted yellow.

< Rant > I think I am going to start a campaign to try and get the city to make the phone companies transfer their wires from the old pole to the new one. It is visually unappealing to have to walk by these poles every day. < End rant >.

I have a few comments to share about some random things that popped into my world this week.

First up: I noticed this beautiful purple flower in front of one of my favorite houses. I love the color of this flower as well as the architecture of the building. It has that “George Jetson” type of design. Check out the metal trim around the curved porch in the front.

Finally, I am not sure why there are more and more “NO DOGS” signs popping up in Alameda, but you really should see this latest one. Is this lawn sign supposed to shame me into going in another location?

We are continuing the countdown to Halloween. 53 days until the best holiday of the year.

💀🎃👿👹👺🤡

Mouf, Roving Reporter
Bear’s-Eye View of Alameda

Mouf and his human companion can be reached via jeffcambraalameda@gmail.com . Their stories are collected at AlamedaPost.com/Jeff-Cambra/ . All photos and videos by Jeff Cambra.

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