Nothing But Blue Skies

"The coldest winter I ever spent," Mark Twain purportedly reported, "was a summer in San Francisco." We, on the other hand, are experiencing a winter unlike any other I can remember in the Bay Area: crystal-clear skies, balmy days, and visibility for miles. The conditions are so enticing that I've been taking the long way home (like this detour, up into the Marin Headlands) any time I can get out and about. According to our local meteorologist, those lovely days are numbered, but I won't forget how lucky we've had it these last few weeks...

Moon Over My Heart

Coming home from San Francisco on Saturday night, I was somewhat disappointed when I couldn't fully appreciate the moon over the fog-enshrouded city (necessity requiring that I keep my eyes on the road). As I walked in the door, Chloe said, "Hey Mom! Look at these pictures I took with your camera tonight..." In that perfect, synchronistic way of things, she had captured the very moment I'd wanted not to miss.

Funny thing about our beloved Golden Gate, shown in this photo in particular: it's an ever-changing tableau, one that even the most jaded among us never tire of, and a humbling reminder of human excesses and limits. Majestic yet fragile, beautiful and ominous, a mecca or a means to an end, revealing things seen and unknown, shadow against light -- the perfect reflection of a tender and terrible heart.

Something to fear, something to love, something to live or die or hope for... Let's meet in the middle...

Capturing a Thousand Words

By Chloe Guillemot

I often laugh at my mom

For taking so many pictures.

She says I will thank her later.

Once, she took a picture

Of Claire and me

Down at Kirby Cove.

But she did more than take a picture –

She captured a single moment in time;

She captured a thousand words.

Behind our frozen faces

Full of sunshine,

The Golden Gate took up the blue sky.

Further on still,

The tall San Francisco skyscrapers

Sprang up from the ground like flowers.

The blue bay, an upside down sky,

Was still and undisturbed. Quiet.

Free of boats and sailors.

The cables between the two towers

Of the Golden Gate dipped into a smile,

Reflecting Claire’s smile and mine.

The rays of sun brought light

To everything that it touched,

A golden aura filled the air.

I try not to laugh now

When my mom takes a picture

To capture a single moment in time.

Instead, I look for colors and light,

Smiles and sun, life and more life.

I search for a thousands words.

Swing Out Sister

James and the little ones spent another memorable weekend camping at Kirby Cove, enjoying its dramatic straight-on views of downtown San Francisco through the Golden Gate. With some rope and driftwood they found at the beach, they were able to make a swing that kept the kids occupied for hours. The carefree joys of childhood!

Roughing It

After school today, I heard Wynham telling a friend that he was going to sleep under a bridge tonight. While that's not exactly technically true, he's sleeping about as close to under the Golden Gate as you can get with a sleeping bag.

James and a couple of his friends snagged a night at the much-coveted Kirby Cove campground with its million-dollar view. You have to have special passes and secret codes and such stuff just to franchise the locked gate at the top of the hill, and then you drive down a long and treacherous-looking, cliff-clinging gravel road to get to the site.

Normally I'd say "not on a school night!" but how could I deny the kids this adventure? Although now that I hear the rain starting and begin to ponder driving that gravel road at 7am -- but never mind, it's too late to rethink it. That's why they call it roughing it...

Here Comes the Sun

After days and days of downpours, the sun broke through in earnest this morning, just in time for an impromptu picnic near Point Bonita. I can't even express how overjoyed I felt to get out of the house. The bay was filled with sailboats and the City sparkled behind the Golden Gate.

We packed in a full day's worth of activities: an historical tour of a Cold War Nike Missile Site, a homespun secret agent movie in the abandoned bunkers (starring Wynham and his friend, Wiley, with a cameo appearance by Mom!), and a splash in the Pacific at Rodeo Beach. The car is filled with mud, rocks, sand and dog hairs, but everyone is well worn out and hopefully ready for a long, hot bath and a good night's sleep. Me first.