Transition

Living in a North Beach hotel room, my schedule was to have my usual bacon and egg breakfast in the community kitchen there. Then I would walk to the Art Institute, from Washington Square Park down Columbus to Chestnut and up the hill a block and a half. I was taking classes in Etching, Lithograph, Painting and Ceramics which were in the evening, but mornings one could use the labs, like work on a lithographic stone.

Around noon leaving the Art Institute, I would walk up the hill to Hyde Street, and jump on the Cable Car which came up the hill from Fisherman's Wharf, and ride it down to the Market and Powell Street turn-around. I might stop in at Mohr's Cafeteria which was right there on Powell, with the giant Benny Bufano wall-tile murals. Walked over to Mission Street and caught the first bus that came along, they all going at least as far as 26th Street. In those days the Mission buses crossed over to South Van Ness at Van Ness Avenue, because Mission Street was closed between 13th and Army for the Bart underground subway construction. Often the bus ended its run at 26th and Mission, and it was an easy walk, if up-hill the last half the way, to Winfield Street.

So I would get to Coso which ran up the hill and pretty steep to Winfield Street and the pottery shop which was in a two-car garage right on the corner there, with a view all across the city to the bay and beyond, around one p.m. Around five I did the opposite; took the bus north to 5th Street and walked over to the cable car, where its cable pulled us up and over Russian Hill.

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