Queen Wilhelmina Tulip Garden, Golden Gate Park
Day 48
Co-Walker: Jee
Neighborhoods Covered: Outer Richmond
Streets Completed: None, though we were one measly block away from knocking off Point Lobos
Last Wednesday I drove way, way, way out into the Richmond (as in 44th Avenue and Point Lobos) to walk and talk with my friend Jee. It had started out as an overcast and chilly afternoon, but by the time we reached the Great Highway, both of us had stripped off our coats and were wishing for sunglasses. That didn't last long--the wind picked up again a while later, and the sky started to cover over--but it was pleasant while it did.
Being out here again sent a few pangs knocking around inside me, because it was here at the western edge of the city, here on streets that I'd never before set foot on, here with my (then-) boyfriend at my side, that the idea for Walking San Francisco was born. I could've imagined at the time (and did) that I would actually adopt the cockamamie plan that was brewing in my head as we walked east from Sutro Heights in search of the pizza restaurant we never found, that I would indeed hoof it all over the city. What I couldn't have imagined back on that brilliant fall day (and, in fact, did not) was that with one brief and shining exception, that boy would opt himself out of my walking project, among other things.
So it was weird to be out at the edge of the world telling Jee the whole breakup story while simultaneously juggling memories of the pre-breakup world: that time at the Cliff House, that time at Sutro Baths, all of those sweet photos from Land's End....
But, of course, we don't live in the world of Memento, and I'm not relegated solely to returning to those memories I already have; I also get to collect new ones. So there's the nascent memory of Jee's hilarious and delightfully Jee-esque response to my claim that sometime soon I'll hoist myself back into the dating pool (a response that's unprintable here). There's the mental image of the bottom button of her jacket undone over her swollen belly. (Another boy!) There's the sweet thought of the Queen Wil garden explosive with tulips--a limited time offer.
And, as always, there's the sense of calmness and steadying I got--that I always get--as I looked out over Ocean Beach, past the surfers poking around in the waves, out to the unbreaking, unchanging line of the Pacific.
Co-Walker: Jee
Neighborhoods Covered: Outer Richmond
Streets Completed: None, though we were one measly block away from knocking off Point Lobos
Last Wednesday I drove way, way, way out into the Richmond (as in 44th Avenue and Point Lobos) to walk and talk with my friend Jee. It had started out as an overcast and chilly afternoon, but by the time we reached the Great Highway, both of us had stripped off our coats and were wishing for sunglasses. That didn't last long--the wind picked up again a while later, and the sky started to cover over--but it was pleasant while it did.
Being out here again sent a few pangs knocking around inside me, because it was here at the western edge of the city, here on streets that I'd never before set foot on, here with my (then-) boyfriend at my side, that the idea for Walking San Francisco was born. I could've imagined at the time (and did) that I would actually adopt the cockamamie plan that was brewing in my head as we walked east from Sutro Heights in search of the pizza restaurant we never found, that I would indeed hoof it all over the city. What I couldn't have imagined back on that brilliant fall day (and, in fact, did not) was that with one brief and shining exception, that boy would opt himself out of my walking project, among other things.
So it was weird to be out at the edge of the world telling Jee the whole breakup story while simultaneously juggling memories of the pre-breakup world: that time at the Cliff House, that time at Sutro Baths, all of those sweet photos from Land's End....
But, of course, we don't live in the world of Memento, and I'm not relegated solely to returning to those memories I already have; I also get to collect new ones. So there's the nascent memory of Jee's hilarious and delightfully Jee-esque response to my claim that sometime soon I'll hoist myself back into the dating pool (a response that's unprintable here). There's the mental image of the bottom button of her jacket undone over her swollen belly. (Another boy!) There's the sweet thought of the Queen Wil garden explosive with tulips--a limited time offer.
And, as always, there's the sense of calmness and steadying I got--that I always get--as I looked out over Ocean Beach, past the surfers poking around in the waves, out to the unbreaking, unchanging line of the Pacific.
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