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Sunrise (by blech )

why do i not have a photo of this myself? it’s my favorite view in the city, up on the corner of dolores park.  well, one of them. 

the other one is up on hyde and i’ve seen so many spectacular moonrises from there.

but this one, is close to where i grew up.  it’s not my perfect angle, the one in my mind, but it’s close.

procrastinating, i decided to watch an hour of anthony bourdain’s no reservations. the one in san francisco in 2009.  he totally gets it.

it made me nostalgic for home.  as i’ve often said, cities are like lovers and if new york is my husband, San Francisco is my first love.  i know exactly why i loved it and i know exactly why i left.

when i fled that city 8 years ago, i was filled with disdain and resigned attachment.  yeah, it’s cool, but you don’t know it like i do.  you don’t know what it was like when it was bad between us.

luckily, some time has passed and like anyone you once loved, my affection for it returned.  all the visions of quiet beauty that defines true love.

one of my favorite memories is one afternoon i was running errands in russian hill, where as a small child was close to my grandmonther’s north beach/chinatown home.  my cousin, dennis and i, two months apart in age had all day in the summers to go exploring, trying to find the cheapest candy stores and the best playgrounds.  where the hills peak, there are these like parks, which seemed like a great forest (but with paved paths and green benchs) to our urban, asian hansel and gretl.

i was 24, and was at the bottom of that hill, looking up and the thing about san francisco, is that everywhere you go there’s a view. and it’s a fantastic reminder that as you look up or down, you are a part of someone else’s scenery.  you are a small part of a big world.

then i looked up and right there in the on the corner of a city block was a peach tree in full bloom.  i felt peaceful and elated that someplace i knew so well still could surprise me.  i was a part of this great big world, but i felt like that peach tree and that moment was meant just for me.