the last sunset, or love in a junkyard

New Year's Eve this time around seemed very random to me. Unlike other years, I was in San Francisco, and not in some exotic destination. Also this was the first New Year's Eve that I wouldn't spend with Alexei since I met him. So when it finally rolled around, I didn't have any expectations, and I didn't really have any solidified plans. I futzed around the house for a while, then ran some errands. Heading west on Fulton Street towards home, I noticed what looked like a million little cotton balls that had exploded across the sky. I continued on past my building, thinking what better way to begin the last night of 2007 than to witness the year's last sunset. Words cannot even describe the experience that I shared with hundreds of other beachcombers, except that the sky looked like a ceiling of light and color. I only had my camera phone with me, but snapped away in order to share this evidence of a higher power with all of my loved ones.





After the sunset, I returned home and had my first glass of sparkling wine and toasted to 2008, the last year of GW, with my cat, then packed up a bag of more bottles of bubbly to go party with Lilia and Geoff. Where we would end up celebrating the countdown remained to be seen, but at least I was prepared.

Where we ended up was a junkyard in Bayview. Lilia knew about a bicycle party out there, to which we took a taxi, which I found ironic. Upon arrival, I knew we had come to something special. A party in a junkyard, complete with live bands, $3 cocktails and firepits inside empty oil drums. Lilia, Geoff and I sat atop a junked police car and popped open a bottle of Prosecco.

Chad the music teacher joined us. Geoff performed some card tricks which attracted a small crowd. And it was there, in this very odd but memorable location, that we counted down to 2008 under the stars, fireworks exploding en l'air, kisses exploding sur terre, a very drunken couple copulating in the front seat of the junked cop car, steaming up the windows and giving us all a bumpy ride.

Lilia and Geoff took off early, leaving me to finish my drinks with the music teacher. At about 3 am, we decided to leave, and since there were no taxis in sight at that hour in that neighborhood, Chad gave me a lift on the back of his bicycle, something I haven't done since I was eighteen years old. We rode from Bayview to the Mission which seemed strangely empty and made the ending to this celebratory night that much more surreal.