photo of the week: painted ladies

Ispotted these colorfully painted Victorians along Foothill on my way between events on Saturday.

Pawfest 2014

Saturday was a fun event in Dimond Park celebrating the change that allow dogs in most Oakland city parks. There were many happy dogs and happy dog lovers.
More pictures:

walking tour: Old Oakland

Wednesday I played hooky from work. I started with a walking tour of Old Oakland, one of 8 free walking tours the city sponsors. I've been on the tour multiple times before, but I wanted to hear my friend John Tuttle and I still learn stuff even when I go on the same tour multiple times. One nice addition to the tour that John made was a brief trip into Pacific Coast Brewing to see their historic bar and learn a bit about how beer is brewed. I added in a bit about the history of beer in Oakland. At the time the buildings in Old Oakland were built, beer was a big deal, with multiple breweries (like the Brooklyn Brewery) and countless saloons.

We finished the tour in front of what was the 7th Street train station. One person on the walk was visiting from Canada and expressed interesting in learning more about Oakland in his limited time, so I walked with him past some murals (including the amazing new one on Alice Street), the Tribune Tower, and a few other notable locations. I left him happily checking out the pictures and displays at the Oakland History Room, and returned to Pacific Coast Brewing for some lunch.

The city walking tours are free, at 10AM on Wednesdays and Saturdays through October. They're a great way to learn about Oakland, so check 'em out.

More pictures from the walk and afterwards:

waterfall at Temescal restored

The EBRPD park at Lake Temescal recently got an old feature back. Most people probably didn't know it even existed because even when it was running, it was usually just a trickle. Now the Works Progress Administration project from the 1930s is back to its former glory. Read more: Lake Temescal waterfall restored, flowing again.

Next time you're near Lake Temescal and looking for a peaceful spot, walk up the stairs and check it out. Although there are two freeways nearby, the sounds of the water make it a surprisingly serene location.

Oakland Schools, Students, and the Planet Win With #MeatlessMonday

Meatless Monday is a concept that goes back to WWI, as a resource-saving measure during the war. It came back during WWII and through the post-war years to help feed a war-torn Europe. The modern movement in the U.S. began in 2003 when the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health re-launched the effort, with the message of "one day a week, cut out meat" as a way for individuals to do something good for themselves and for the planet.

It's a pretty simple idea. Raising meat takes a lot of resources (including one near and dear to the hearts of Californians, namely water), a lot more than the equivalent nutrition from plants. Eating too much meat can lead to health problems. So eat less meat, use fewer resources, be healthier—a win all around. While a lot of people aren't willing to give up meat or all animal products full-time, if they all ate less meat, we would all benefit. If the world consumed 15% less meat, it would be like taking 240,000 cars off the road each year.

The Baltimore public schools became the first major public school system to do Meatless Mondays in 2009; the Oakland Unified School District started in 2010. Overall the reception from the students has been positive. After tasting one dish, a 4th grader told his cafeteria manager, "I want to eat this forever!". The staff love Meatless Monday, too, and are working on expanding the vegetarian options which are available during the rest of the week as well.

The OUSD Department of Nutrition Services isn't stopping there. They've also recently started a "California Thursdays" program, as part of a USDA Farm to School program. it's all California-produced goods, many from the Bay Area. And of course, it includes some meatless options, too.

So are OUSD's meatless recipes the real deal? The Humane Society of the United States thinks so. They held a national Meatless Monday recipe contest, and while OUSD's "Yakisoba Noodles with Stir Fried Tofu and Bok Choy" recipe didn't win, it was one of the finalists and is what the 4th grader loves so much. The recipes of all the finalists can be found here (PDF), so try one out and give #MeatlessMonday a try. It's good for you and for the planet.