Day in and day out, I get to witness bulldozers, excavators and sledgehammers tear through Christie Ave Park. While it’s been over six months of tumultuous construction — at all hours of the day — it’s starting to come together. They are rebuilding the park to include a children’s playground, grassy fields with picnic tables and a fenced dog park. I’m excited to see how it turns out; however, all this raucous is driving me up the wall. I think I can even chuck my alarm clock. It now seems like 6:00am is the new 8:00am.

Instead of lying in bed, I decided to get up, pull out my pen and paper, and sketch the serenity surrounded by all this madness. Waking up each morning to the Berkeley Hills and EmeryBay has been my serenity and my appreciation for this little city of Emeryville, soon to be bustling with more restaurants, more apartments and more recreation amidst the ongoing development. Transforming this quiet area and inviting the public to come together will be a good thing for Emeryville. I look forward to what’s coming. But for now, here’s a snapshot of EmeryBay on a typical Sunday morning — at peace and undisturbed by construction workers.