One of the few nice things about walking to the BART at 6:45 in the morning is walking past a huge church with a glowing "chubby Buddha." I know, there really isn't a corpulent Buddha--it's Hotei, a god of luck in Japanese mythology and Budai, a wandering monk from 9th century China.
Whatever he is, I am cheered on these dark and dreary mornings of daylight savings as I trudge up 22nd St. and see his smile of encouragement. Thanks chubby Buddha!
