Walking in San Francisco Part One: Pretend and Real Animal

 San Francisco, land of real and fake animals! Well, at least land of sculptural animals and hip city dogs.

 There are a few beautiful and lavish sculptural fountains in San Francisco which I spotted while taking a walk in the city.

The first fountain I saw has a bear, snakes and an octopus...not three animals one usually associates with each other. The octopus especially seems out of left field.

By looking at the sculpture, here is what I imagine the story behind it is. An intrepid lumberjack donated this sculpture to the city that meant the most to him: San Francisco. He would have traveled by ship from Russia to make a home in California. While on his stormy sea adventures, a giant octopus would have crawled upon the ship and skulked around the ship, perhaps looking for prey. The octopus was just about to twirl it's tentacle around the beloved captain's neck when the lumberjack grabbed the hungry beast and through it back to the murky fathoms below. Later, when the lumberjack finally got to California, he became who he was meant to be, a lumberjack. One day, as he was about to chop down a tree, he stepped on a snake and it bit him, inserting poisonous venom into his blood stream. He would have surely perished if it were not for his dear friend, a fellow lumberjack who was once a doctor in Bolivia before deciding to make a new home in California with an entirely different life path. A couple of years later, while wandering the forest, a bear sneaked up behind the lumberjack and almost had him for breakfast. But the lumberjack had pockets full of blackberries that he tossed at the bear. The bear, who by no means was vicious, only hungry, dashed toward the blackberries and scarfed them down. The lumberjack was free to escape! But, the bear served as his wake up call. His life had been jeopardy by wild animals so often, he decided it was time to move to a city. So he went off to San Francisco. Days after he left, he heard the tragic news. His crew of lumberjack friends he worked with all succumbed to death when a giant tree landed on their sleeping tent. Dreams of San Francisco and the bear had saved him. Later, when he was no longer a lumberjack but a merchant, a job that led him to great wealth, he had a statue commissioned to honor the experiences that brought him to his beloved San Francisco!

The real story is this fountain is part of a larger sculpture called 'Admission Day Monument' that commemorates the day that California became a state. The bear and the snake represent the Sierra Nevada mountains and the dangers of the wild west!

The streets of San Francisco also house this ornate golden fountain with lion heads. By looking at it, this is the story I imagine for it. A Victorian woman from England who once could be described as stuffy left her her Victorian home in the Cotswold to come to San Francisco. She wasn't coming to San Francisco for adventure, but to escape a scandal. Her treacherous husband befouled their good name by taking up with a younger mistress, the scullery maid. The Victorian lady could no longer stand being in England in her social circle where she was thought of as a joke due to her husbands indiscretions. She wanted to get as far away from her horrible husband, so she used the last of their wealth (that which he had not squandered on his mistress) to buy a home in San Francisco, a city the Victorian woman read about and thought sounded so delightful. Once she got to San Francisco, things began to change for the Victorian lady. She was finally on her own. She no longer had the security of a husband. She must learn financial independence. So she became a seamstress. She was so good, that all the most elite socialites in San Francisco felt they just must have her frocks. Soon, she opened her own fashion house and amassed a great wealth. She used some of her wealth to commission a sculpture. The sculpture was adorned with golden lions because once she was a lamb, but in San Francisco she transformed into a lion!

The real story behind this sculpture is it is called 'Lotta's Fountain'. The beautiful sculpture was commissioned by San Francisco local, Lotta Crabtree, who was an actress.

The enchanting Lotta Crabtree came to her fortune during the gold rush era. Weary minors with pockets clinking with only small pittance of gold nuggets found joy in the charming and exuberant Lotta. Her joyful spirit and playful performances lifted their bedraggled spirits. Lotta would dance atop barrels, her little feet pitter-pattering and tap-tapping against the barrels, a bright, sunshine smile on her face. Her dress skirt brushing and swirling around her ankles. The minors, with there stubbled face, their sunburnt cheeks, their dimmed eyes, would watch and return her sunshine smile with smiles of their own-and gold nuggets! To really show their appreciation, they'd toss gold nuggets toward her. After her performance, she'd scoop up her earnings. With these earnings, she was able to purchase Lotta's Fountain!

In 1906, San Francisco was shook by a powerful and destructive earthquake. The survivors of the quake were fearful and confused, hoping for the safety of those they loved. They found a beacon of connection in Lotta's Fountain. Survivors with tear-smeared cheeks, dust-smudged faces, rubble stuck in their hair, scratches and blood and bruises splattering their skin, all came together at Lotta's fountain. Loved one's were reunited, and even those alone were together with other survivors. The city's people saw the strength of their fellow San Franciscan reflected all around them, and in turn felt the strength brimming within themselves despite the horrendous shared experience.

On a Christmas eve in the 1900's a disgraced opera singer, who was banished from singing in opera houses, found empowerment in creating a stage of her own. The center piece of that stage was Lotta's Fountain. Thousands of people watched the opera singer and thousands were inspired and moved by her beautiful voice, the the emotions she expressed. The people of San Francisco were transformed by the power of her performance. People who would never been able to experience the opera singer's gift were able to at Lotta's fountain. The fountain really was a connector of humanity in San Francisco.

There are real animals to be spotted in San Francisco too. Most notably, one of the best animals around- DOGS!

This person looks really cool...but her dog looks even cooler! He looks like he just got done with band practice.

See these two people get it. They can't take their eyes off that cool dog.