And now, we interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to once again let you know about a sighting of an oh-so-Haight contraption.
Yesterday at dusk, we spotted a small crowd gathered at Haight and Clayton Streets taking pictures of the west side of the intersection, where a giant whirligig had been planted in the dead center of Haight Street. It stood over six feet tall, it was made of what looked like metal scraps, and when the wind gusted, the propellers rotated silently.
We poked around and found the whirligig's creator among the crowd, reveling in the reactions. His name is Robert Dorsey, and he didn't want to have his picture taken, but he did answer a few questions for us.
Perhaps most importantly, he claims he is not the bubble stroller/hippie trap guy, which means that there are multiple Haight-area makers now in the mix. "Lots of people make creative shit around here," he told us, somewhat defensively.
So. What is it? "It's a whirligig!"
It's made from "stuff" he finds around, Dorsey said. He has a "whole back deck" full of whirligigs he's made, which he sometimes sells when he's out of work. "People love them," he assured us.
Why the middle of the street? It's where the wind is best.
After chatting briefly, he picked up his homemade windmill and whisked it off to another spot to catch the breeze. Maybe he'll be back the next time the fog rolls in. We'll keep a lookout.
